Environmental Life-Cycle Assessment of an Innovative Multifunctional Toilet
Autor(a) principal: | |
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Data de Publicação: | 2021 |
Outros Autores: | , , , , , , |
Tipo de documento: | Artigo |
Idioma: | eng |
Título da fonte: | Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
Texto Completo: | http://hdl.handle.net/10316/103884 https://doi.org/10.3390/en14082307 |
Resumo: | Innovative toilets can save resources, but have higher embodied impacts associated with materials and electronic components. This article presents an environmental life-cycle assessment (LCA) of an innovative multifunctional toilet (WashOne) for two alternative configurations (with or without washlet), comparing its performance with those of conventional systems (toilet and bidet). Additionally, two scenario analyses were conducted: (i) user behavior (alternative washlet use patterns) and (ii) user location (Portugal, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Saudi Arabia). The results show that the WashOne with washlet has a better global environmental performance than the conventional system, even for low use. It also reveals that the use phase has the highest contribution to impacts due to electricity consumption. User location analysis further shows that Sweden has the lowest environmental impact, while Germany and the Netherlands have the highest potential for impact reduction when changing from a conventional system to the WashOne. Based on the overall results, some recommendations are provided to enhance the environmental performance of innovative toilet systems, namely the optimization of the washlet use patterns. This article highlights the importance of performing a LCA at an early stage of the development of innovative toilets by identifying the critical issues and hotspots to improve their design and performance. |
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Environmental Life-Cycle Assessment of an Innovative Multifunctional Toiletbideteco-designenergy savingslife-cycle assessmenttoiletuser behaviorwashletwater savingsInnovative toilets can save resources, but have higher embodied impacts associated with materials and electronic components. This article presents an environmental life-cycle assessment (LCA) of an innovative multifunctional toilet (WashOne) for two alternative configurations (with or without washlet), comparing its performance with those of conventional systems (toilet and bidet). Additionally, two scenario analyses were conducted: (i) user behavior (alternative washlet use patterns) and (ii) user location (Portugal, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Saudi Arabia). The results show that the WashOne with washlet has a better global environmental performance than the conventional system, even for low use. It also reveals that the use phase has the highest contribution to impacts due to electricity consumption. User location analysis further shows that Sweden has the lowest environmental impact, while Germany and the Netherlands have the highest potential for impact reduction when changing from a conventional system to the WashOne. Based on the overall results, some recommendations are provided to enhance the environmental performance of innovative toilet systems, namely the optimization of the washlet use patterns. This article highlights the importance of performing a LCA at an early stage of the development of innovative toilets by identifying the critical issues and hotspots to improve their design and performance.MDPI AG2021info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://hdl.handle.net/10316/103884http://hdl.handle.net/10316/103884https://doi.org/10.3390/en14082307eng1996-1073Rodrigues, CarlaAlmeida, JoãoSantos, Maria InêsCosta, AndreiaAlém, SandraRufo, EmanuelTadeu, AntónioFreire, Faustoinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessreponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãoinstacron:RCAAP2022-12-07T21:37:22Zoai:estudogeral.uc.pt:10316/103884Portal AgregadorONGhttps://www.rcaap.pt/oai/openaireopendoar:71602024-03-19T21:20:38.971291Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãofalse |
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv |
Environmental Life-Cycle Assessment of an Innovative Multifunctional Toilet |
title |
Environmental Life-Cycle Assessment of an Innovative Multifunctional Toilet |
spellingShingle |
Environmental Life-Cycle Assessment of an Innovative Multifunctional Toilet Rodrigues, Carla bidet eco-design energy savings life-cycle assessment toilet user behavior washlet water savings |
title_short |
Environmental Life-Cycle Assessment of an Innovative Multifunctional Toilet |
title_full |
Environmental Life-Cycle Assessment of an Innovative Multifunctional Toilet |
title_fullStr |
Environmental Life-Cycle Assessment of an Innovative Multifunctional Toilet |
title_full_unstemmed |
Environmental Life-Cycle Assessment of an Innovative Multifunctional Toilet |
title_sort |
Environmental Life-Cycle Assessment of an Innovative Multifunctional Toilet |
author |
Rodrigues, Carla |
author_facet |
Rodrigues, Carla Almeida, João Santos, Maria Inês Costa, Andreia Além, Sandra Rufo, Emanuel Tadeu, António Freire, Fausto |
author_role |
author |
author2 |
Almeida, João Santos, Maria Inês Costa, Andreia Além, Sandra Rufo, Emanuel Tadeu, António Freire, Fausto |
author2_role |
author author author author author author author |
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv |
Rodrigues, Carla Almeida, João Santos, Maria Inês Costa, Andreia Além, Sandra Rufo, Emanuel Tadeu, António Freire, Fausto |
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv |
bidet eco-design energy savings life-cycle assessment toilet user behavior washlet water savings |
topic |
bidet eco-design energy savings life-cycle assessment toilet user behavior washlet water savings |
description |
Innovative toilets can save resources, but have higher embodied impacts associated with materials and electronic components. This article presents an environmental life-cycle assessment (LCA) of an innovative multifunctional toilet (WashOne) for two alternative configurations (with or without washlet), comparing its performance with those of conventional systems (toilet and bidet). Additionally, two scenario analyses were conducted: (i) user behavior (alternative washlet use patterns) and (ii) user location (Portugal, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Saudi Arabia). The results show that the WashOne with washlet has a better global environmental performance than the conventional system, even for low use. It also reveals that the use phase has the highest contribution to impacts due to electricity consumption. User location analysis further shows that Sweden has the lowest environmental impact, while Germany and the Netherlands have the highest potential for impact reduction when changing from a conventional system to the WashOne. Based on the overall results, some recommendations are provided to enhance the environmental performance of innovative toilet systems, namely the optimization of the washlet use patterns. This article highlights the importance of performing a LCA at an early stage of the development of innovative toilets by identifying the critical issues and hotspots to improve their design and performance. |
publishDate |
2021 |
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv |
2021 |
dc.type.status.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
dc.type.driver.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
format |
article |
status_str |
publishedVersion |
dc.identifier.uri.fl_str_mv |
http://hdl.handle.net/10316/103884 http://hdl.handle.net/10316/103884 https://doi.org/10.3390/en14082307 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10316/103884 https://doi.org/10.3390/en14082307 |
dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv |
eng |
language |
eng |
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv |
1996-1073 |
dc.rights.driver.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
eu_rights_str_mv |
openAccess |
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
MDPI AG |
publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
MDPI AG |
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv |
reponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação instacron:RCAAP |
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Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação |
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RCAAP |
institution |
RCAAP |
reponame_str |
Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
collection |
Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
repository.name.fl_str_mv |
Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação |
repository.mail.fl_str_mv |
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1799134098467323904 |