T2-D: Teaching Manufacturing and Sustainability with the U.S. Life Cycle Inventory Database
Location
Richard Petty
Start Date
5-3-2018 1:45 PM
Description
At Murray State University, Manufacturing Processes and Materials is a freshman course designed to teach contemporary concepts in manufacturing and industrial materials. In this study, a project module, which utilizes the U.S. Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) Database and GaBi Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tool, is analyzed for its effectiveness in teaching sustainability, LCA, and fundamental manufacturing processes. Project module is based on the LCA of a simple product made of three to five components that can be easily found at a local hardware store. Students identify the material and manufacturing processes for each component and use the U.S. LCI Database and GaBi LCA software to analyze the environmental impacts. Surveys show significant impact of the project module on the students learning and interest in the concepts of sustainability, Life Cycle Assessment and manufacturing processes. The study also demonstrates the uniqueness of the tools and methods selected for this project module.
T2-D: Teaching Manufacturing and Sustainability with the U.S. Life Cycle Inventory Database
Richard Petty
At Murray State University, Manufacturing Processes and Materials is a freshman course designed to teach contemporary concepts in manufacturing and industrial materials. In this study, a project module, which utilizes the U.S. Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) Database and GaBi Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tool, is analyzed for its effectiveness in teaching sustainability, LCA, and fundamental manufacturing processes. Project module is based on the LCA of a simple product made of three to five components that can be easily found at a local hardware store. Students identify the material and manufacturing processes for each component and use the U.S. LCI Database and GaBi LCA software to analyze the environmental impacts. Surveys show significant impact of the project module on the students learning and interest in the concepts of sustainability, Life Cycle Assessment and manufacturing processes. The study also demonstrates the uniqueness of the tools and methods selected for this project module.