Enhancing Industrial Sustainability by Improving Resource Efficiency

Authors

Presenter(s)

Dillip Thangamani

Files

Description

With ever increasing energy and raw material costs, coupled with environmental regulations and increasing customer awareness of corporate sustainability efforts, industries are seeking to increase energy and resource efficiency. Over the past decade, the University of Dayton’s Industrial Assessment Center (UD-IAC) has developed a systematic methodology and analysis tool to help industry become more energy efficient. The publicly-available Efficiency Guidebook (EEG) is a comprehensive tool that integrates examples and computational resources for improving energy efficiency. This study describes a parallel effort to improve industrial resource efficiency by developing a methodology for improving resource efficiency and incorporating it into a free publically-available software tool called the Resource Efficiency Guidebook (REG). The methodology focuses on six types of resources: water, raw material, chemical agents, process scrap, packaging waste, and equipment and applies seven principles of resource efficiency to these resources. The result is a prioritized Integrated Resource plus Principles Matrix that guides manufactures through the resource efficiency process. REG combines the Integrated Resource plus Principles Matrix with real-world saving examples and spreadsheet calculators. Case studies with scenario analyses demonstrate the effectiveness of the REG at cost-effectively improving resource efficiency and reducing waste.

Publication Date

4-9-2015

Project Designation

Graduate Research

Primary Advisor

Jun-Ki Choi, J. Kelly Kissock

Primary Advisor's Department

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Keywords

Stander Symposium project

Disciplines

Arts and Humanities | Business | Education | Engineering | Life Sciences | Medicine and Health Sciences | Physical Sciences and Mathematics | Social and Behavioral Sciences

Recommended Citation

"Enhancing Industrial Sustainability by Improving Resource Efficiency" (2015). Stander Symposium Projects. 666.
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/stander_posters/666