| 1. |
- Baumann, Henrikke, 1964, et al.
(författare)
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Switching the focus from product function to business profit: Introducing Business Model LCA (BM-LCA)
- 2022
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Ingår i: Proceedings of LCM 2021. - : EDP Sciences. ; 349
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Recent years have seen much interest in business models as vehicles towards sustainability, cf. [1]. Conventional LCA, however, fails to properly capture the environmental impacts of a business model. Here, we introduce the background and the principles of Business Model LCA, a new LCA methodology for the assessment of environmental performance of business models. Methodological innovations are based on an understanding of the difference and relatedness between product and business. The key innovation is that BM-LCA centres its analysis on the ’business model’ instead of the ’product function’ as in conventional LCA. This requires the functional unit to represent the business (e.g., as ‘profit per time unit’) and the need to couple the monetary flows of the business to the material and energy flows of the product system via a set of ’coupling’ equations. BM-LCA contributes to environmental business analysis and could open up a new avenue of research where LCA and business analysts collaborate on business model innovation for sustainability.
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| 2. |
- Böckin, Daniel, 1989, et al.
(författare)
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Business model life cycle assessment: A method for analysing the environmental performance of business
- 2022
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Ingår i: Sustainable Production and Consumption. - : Elsevier. - 2352-5509. ; 32, s. 112-124
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper introduces business model life cycle assessment (BM-LCA), a new method for quantifying the environmental impacts of business models. Such a method is needed to guide business decisions towards decoupling economic activity from environmental impact. BM-LCA takes the business model itself as the unit of analysis and its economic performance as the basis of comparison. It can be applied to any type of business model involving material or resource use. In BM-LCA, monetary flows are coupled to material and energy flows. The methodology expands on conventional life cycle assessment (LCA) by elaborating the goal and scope definition and dividing it into two phases. The first descriptive phase details the business models to be compared. It includes a mapping of product chain actors and identifying business operations and transactions related to the product. The second coupling phase defines a profit-based functional unit and sets up the coupling equations expressing the economic relations to the product. Thereafter, conventional LCA procedures are followed to assess environmental impacts. The key innovation on LCA methodology is the development of a functional unit that captures the economic performance of a business model and links it to a product system. BM-LCA provides thus an important link between LCA and business competitive advantage.
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| 3. |
- Böckin, Daniel, 1989, et al.
(författare)
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Environmental assessment of additive manufacturing in the automotive industry
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of Cleaner Production. - : Elsevier BV. - 0959-6526. ; 226, s. 977-987
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- 3D-printing, also known as Additive Manufacturing (AM), is an emerging technology with suggested potential to decrease environmental impactsin the manufacturing industry. Potential benefits from implementing the technology include reduced product weight, transportation and material losses, as well as improved functionality and possibility for printing of spare parts. Possible drawbacks are increased energy use in production and the slow printing process. As the technology is expected to grow significantly, it is important to assess potential environmental effects of implementation. In this study a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is used in the case of Powder Bed Fusion (PBF) of the metal parts of an engine in a light distribution truck. Conventional manufacturing is compared to scenarios with 3D-printing, one representing the present state of development of 3D-printing technology and one representing a possible future state. The results show that, in the future case, PBF potentially improves life cycle environmental performance by redesigning components for weight reduction. However, a clean electricity source was required as well as technological development allowing for printing of large components, with low-impact raw materials. When instead assessing AM in its present state of development, results showed only moderate or negligible environmental improvements. To achieve the future potential environmental benefits from AM it is important to use clean electricity and to develop the technology to be able to use low-impact feedstock materials such as low-alloy steel (avoiding materials based on e.g. nickel). Industries implementing AM should seek to exploit the benefits of the technology, such as weight reduction and functionality improvements as well as the potential offered for printing spare parts for remanufacturing and repairing.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Böckin, Daniel, 1989, et al.
(författare)
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Environmental assessment of two business models - a life cycle comparison between a sales and a rental business model in the apparel sector in Sweden
- 2020
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This report presents and applies a new method for environmentally assessing business models from a life cycle perspective. The method is meant to be useful for companies to guide their business decisions toward decoupling of economic activity from environmental impact. The basis of the method is an integrated economic and environmental perspective and a functional unit based on profit is employed, after which Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology is carried out. This Business Model LCA is applied on a Swedish company and their current business model (sales) compared to an alternative business model (rental). Jackets are chosen as the products to represent the business of the company. Results indicate that a company can achieve more decoupling by renting jackets instead of selling them, although the results are sensitive to some economic parameters (like rental efficiency and rental price) and to customer habits, which can significantly compromise the overall performance of the rental model. The central feature of the developed method is that, by coupling the economic and physical flows of a business model, it allows a company to directly see the impact of business decisions on their environmental performance and plan their activities accordingly.
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| 6. |
- Böckin, Daniel, 1989, et al.
(författare)
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How product characteristics can guide measures for resource efficiency - A synthesis of assessment studies
- 2020
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Ingår i: Resources, Conservation and Recycling. - : Elsevier BV. - 0921-3449 .- 1879-0658. ; 154
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A circular economy aims at decoupling value creation from resource throughput. For circular economy to contribute to environmental and resource improvements, there is need for critical assessments regarding in what general situations, beyond individual cases, solutions may lead to improvements. On the product-level, there is need for synthesized knowledge accounting for a wide range of contexts and environmental impacts. We investigate what resource efficiency (RE) measures result in reduced physical flows and environmental impacts, depending on the characteristics of products and their life cycles. The study is limited to physical measures on a product system level, irrespective of manner of implementation. A library of comparative assessments (primarily life cycle assessments and material flow analyses) was built, covering a wide range of products and RE measures. A framework was formulated for analysing for which product characteristics a measure tends to improve RE, and under which contexts there are trade-offs to take into account. For example, sharing of products is best suited for durable and infrequently used products that tend not to reach their full technical lifetime. A trade-off is that sharing can increase transportation for accessing shared stock. The identified key product characteristics were: whether products are consumable or durable, active or passive, typically used for their full technical lifetimes or discarded before being worn out, the product’s frequency of use and whether function remains at a product’s end of use. Pace of development matters for suitability of measures for active, durable products, while complexity is relevant for restorative measures and recycling.
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| 7. |
- Böckin, Daniel, 1989
(författare)
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Learning from assessments of resource efficiency measures and their impact on resource use and the environment - Based on a case of additive manufacturing and a review of assessment studies
- 2018
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Resource efficiency measures have the potential to reduce the environmental and resource impacts of the current linear economy by decreasing the physical flows of material and energy associated with producing and using products and services. In order to investigate this potential, there is a need for assessments from a systems perspective, which for example enables the identification of possible trade-offs between different measures and aspects of resource efficiency depending on the product characteristics. The research was carried out in two parts, firstly by synthesising the learnings from a large number of assessment studies. The analysis was built on typologies formulated for mapping resource efficiency measures and product characteristics to the environmental and resource outcomes of the measures in each case. This resulted in a number of findings detailing under which conditions that resource efficiency measures yield environmental and resource benefits, as well as when there are possible trade-offs and limitations. Furthermore, some product characteristics were identified that are key in determining when resource efficiency measures are effective, namely whether products are durable, consumable, complex or whether they have significant impacts from extraction and material production or from their use. Products with significant impacts from the use-phase are called active products and give rise to trade-offs that are discussed in detail, specifically regarding under which conditions there are environmental and resource benefits from extended use or from reducing use-phase impacts. The second part of the research was a life cycle assessment of one such active product, namely 3D-printed truck engines. The aim was to investigate the resource efficiency potential of this emerging technology. Results showed that 3D-printing could lead to net improvements in life cycle impacts, by allowing redesigns of components for lower weight and thus lower fuel consumption. However, the conclusions were only valid under certain conditions, such ascareful material choice and a low-fossil electricity mix for the printing process, without which 3D-printing resulted in environmental deterioration compared to conventional manufacturing. Some results could be generalised to other applications and industries, for example the importance of a low-fossil electricity mix for 3D-printing, which is valid for any application of 3D-printing. In conclusion, useful knowledge on resource efficiency measures was produced both by synthesising many assessment studies and carrying out a single assessment study, especially on the topics of active products and additive manufacturing.
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| 8. |
- Böckin, Daniel, 1989
(författare)
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Towards empirically grounded guidance for resource efficiency: Applying, developing and synthesising environmental assessments
- 2021
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Numerous solutions have been proposed to mitigate environmental damage, including resource efficiency and the vision of circular economy. Suggested solutions are often formulated as guidelines and heuristics like in the EU waste hierarchy, so-called R-hierarchies for resource efficiency and various guidelines for circular business models. However, these are often formulated on a conceptual basis without empirical support. Hence, it is often unclear in what contexts they are valid and how they can be interpreted for different types of products and applications. Systemic environmental assessments are necessary, and have been widely employed, to provide more solid empirical support for guidelines and for investigating the efficacy of suggested solutions. There is also a need for the results and learnings of those assessments to be easily understandable and usable for guiding decision-making towards reducing environmental impact within, say, product design and business management. The purpose of this dissertation is to 1) formulate empirically grounded guidelines for resource efficiency and 2) test existing guidelines and heuristics in specific cases. The first aim is addressed by synthesising assessments of resource efficiency measures in literature. This revealed in what circumstances each measure can yield environmental benefits, depending on product characteristics, as well as when there are possible trade-offs and limitations. Several product characteristics were identified as of key importance for the efficacy of measures, including whether products are durable or consumable, active or passive, used for their full technical lifetime, used frequently or not and finally the product’s complexity and pace of development. The second aim is addressed by carrying out a prospective life cycle assessment (LCA) scrutinising the expectations of metal 3D printing for reducing automotive environmental impacts. The results showed that 3D printing can potentially reduce future life cycle impacts, by allowing redesign of components for lower weight and thus lower fuel consumption. However, this is only valid with low-fossil electricity for the printing process and developments towards printing with low-impact materials like low-alloy steel. The second aim is further addressed by testing the potential environmental benefits of alternative business models. The method business model LCA method (BM-LCA) was developed for this purpose, taking the business itself as the object of analysis. The method uses economic performance as the basis of comparison, thus allowing a business to calculate the environmental consequences of business decisions. BM-LCA was applied to an apparel company, comparing selling and renting jackets. The results show that renting enabled sustained economic performance while reducing environmental impacts. This depended, however, on the sustainability of the transport and energy systems, as well as on business model parameters like price and rental efficiency, and on customer habits. This dissertation shows that environmental assessments can be used to provide an empirical foundation for improved resource efficiency guidelines and to test the validity of heuristics Two key contributions and innovations are emphasised. The first is the formulation of empirically grounded guidelines based on key product characteristics. The second is the formulation and testing of BM-LCA, a method for assessing decoupling business from environmental impact.
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| 9. |
- Böckin, Daniel, 1989, et al.
(författare)
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What makes solutions within the manufacturing industry resource efficient?
- 2016
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Ingår i: Presented at the 12th Biennial International Conference on EcoBalance, in Kyoto, Japan, 3-6th October 2016..
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The linear mode of production and consumption has dominated the last century. Raw materials are extracted and assembled into products that are discarded after only a short life. This entails a net flow of material from the earth’s crust into diluted stocks spread over society and in nature. To achieve long term sustainability, a move towards a resource efficient (RE) economy needs to take place.Such resource efficiency can be achieved in an abundance of ways that relate to production efficiency (e.g. reducing scrap rate), more efficient use of product (e.g. sharing, prolong life, energy efficiency) or closing the loops (reverting material flows back into the product-chain). But, from a life-cycle perspective, how effective are resource efficient solutions in actuality? There is a lack of generic understanding of when a RE solution in fact leads to a net improvement in resource efficiency, and under which conditions (such as product characteristics, enablers etc.) that they are successful.A related paper presents an analytical framework that aims at analysing and understanding RE solutions. The present work presents a pilot study which, using this framework, systematically analyses a number of different assessment studies (e.g. Life Cycle Assessments, Lice Cycle Costings, Material Flow Analyses) and thus provides an overview and an understanding of which different solutions are suitable under different sets of conditions or product types. The selection of case studies is limited to RE solutions within the manufacturing industry such as remanufacturing of engines, functional sales of washing machines and reuse of electronic equipment.The study is expected to contribute to a generic understanding of what characterises RE solutions and the trade-offs they bring, thus clarifying what makes different solutions effective and not. Furthermore, this knowledge can be utilised as guidelines when planning or designing new solutions to be RE.
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| 10. |
- Goffetti, Giulia, et al.
(författare)
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Towards sustainable business models with a novel life cycle assessment method
- 2022
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Ingår i: Business Strategy and the Environment. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0964-4733 .- 1099-0836. ; 31:5, s. 2019-2035
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Business model (BM) innovation for sustainability is hampered by a lack of tools for environmental assessment and guidance at the BM level. Conventional life cycle assessment (LCA) neglects the economic and socio-technical mechanisms within a BM, and tools based on the BM canvas (BMC) cannot provide recommendations substantiated by environmental data. Here, a new method, BM-LCA, is applied to a case comparing the selling and renting of jackets, using profit as basis of comparison. Results identify how business parameters influence environmental performance, permitting analysis for decoupling within a business practice. This is made possible by the unique way the method links physical life cycle and the monetary flows of a BM. Usefulness of BM-LCA is discussed relative to BM innovation, business strategy and similar tools. BM-LCA provides insights into a broad range of BM elements and emerges as useful for business strategy. By measuring BM environmental performance, it helps determine what BM to compete with and support critical analysis of business against greenwashing. BM-LCA also enables identification of BM elements in greatest need of environmental innovation. BM-LCA appears as a promising tool for guiding business companies towards sustainability, filling a space between LCA and BMC. The method offers a practical way for business and LCA experts to merge their respective knowledge.
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