USING LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT AND ANALYTICAL HIERARCHY PROCESS TO EVALUATE THE DESIGN FOR ENVIRONMENTAL OPTIONS: A CASE STUDY ON A CAR ENGINE

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Manufacturers and consumers have recently begun to recognize the need for environmental impact reduction and responsible resource use throughout the product life cycle. This research presents a decision support method for both manufacturers and owners of automobile engines to identify the most appropriate design for environment (DFE) option. The method combines life cycle assessment (LCA) and analytical hierarchy process (AHP) in the assessment process. In particular, LCA is conducted through SolidWorks sustainability (GaBi) software. Thus, a comprehensive inventory of the product’s environmental impacts, such as gas emissions and energy consumption, is identified. Then, the LCA results are used to support decision makers in determining the relative importance of the evaluation criteria in the AHP model. The AHP incorporates a multi-criteria assessment to prioritize the DFE options through pairwise comparison matrices considering two life cycle stages at the local and global levels. The life cycle stages which are evaluated in this research are usage and end of life stages. An existing car engine (Ford F-150 with six-cylinders) is used for this work to illustrate the method’s applicability. The results of this research show that CO₂ emissions and energy consumption are the most significant factors affecting the engine's environmental performance. In addition, it is clear that the usage stage contributes the most to the environmental impacts compared to the end of life stage. Whereas low impact use is evaluated as the most environmentally promising alternative for both life cycle stages. https://jer.ly/PDF/Vol-35-2023/JER-09-35-Abstract.php?f=a