Abstract: This study aims to set up a method to analyse the variable office work profiles of jobs such as bankers, managers, specialists, researchers, etc. A worker's profile has to be assessed from the perspective of balanced sustainability including environmental, economic and social aspects. This paper starts with a presentation of a visionary methodology by which the environmental performance of present work profiles (taken from research reports and policy strategies by Finnish ministries) is assessed. Due to this all the work profiles presented in this paper are preliminary and only serve the purpose of illustrating the methodology. In a second step an extensive survey will be carried out in larger companies to create more detailed and empirical work profiles. At the same time, further effort has to be put into analysing alternative future work profiles and possibly to include economic and social aspects. In order to determine the environmental impact of office work, two normally independent methods are combined in this paper. A futures table is used to describe a number of alternative work profiles. This table matrix serves also as the basis to establish future scenarios of probable and possible working weeks. Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) is the tool used for figuring out the energy and material performance according to the modelled work profiles. When used together, the two methods comprise - as we call it with respect to future-oriented work scenarios - a Visionary Life Cycle Analysis (VLCA) of Office Work. The immediate results of this methodology demonstrate which working profiles are ecologically more sustainable than others. Weaknesses in behaviour patterns are detected and space for improvement is localised. In short: this methodology enables a company or single worker to analyse present work profiles and patterns and to create new visionary and sustainable work patterns. The final goal could be to provide a tool to document anybody's work profile and to show how - by changing certain habits - the individual's (environmental) performance could be improved. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Abstract: Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have relevant positive and negative impacts on environmental sustainability on various levels: First-order effects such as increasing electronic waste streams; second-order effects such as improved energy-efficiency of production; third-order effects such as a product-to-service shift in consumption or rebound effects in transport. In the simulation study described in this article, all known relevant effects on all three levels were modeled using a System Dynamics approach in combination with scenario techniques and expert consultations. The prospective study for the European Union with a time-horizon until 2020 revealed great potential for ICT-supported energy management and for a structural change towards a less material-intensive economy, but strong rebound effects in the transport sector whenever ICT applications lead to time or cost savings for transport. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Abstract: Within the last couple of years, several initiatives for the creation of national Life-Cycle Inventory (LCI) databases have been taken - in Europe e.g. in Germany, in Denmark, in Sweden and in Switzerland. This presentation describes the content of such national LCI databases from the viewpoint of the electronics industry and shows its crucial importance in the framework of the application of the integrated product policy (IPP) to this sector.
Abstract: The objectives of Task 4 âRefinement and Quantificationâ of the study on the future impact of ICT on environmental sustainability are as follows: (i) to refine and quantify the scenarios developed in Task 3 by creating a simulation model of the impact of ICT on environmental sustainability, (ii) to estimate the model parameters based on the data collected in Task 2, on additional literature reviews and expert consultation, (iii) to provide input into Task 5 âEvaluation and Recommendationsâ by identifying the factors that have most influence on the environmental indicators.
