The New Jersey Institute of Technology's
Electronic Theses & Dissertations Project

Title:	Multi-lifecycle assessment design tools and software development
Author:	Jin, Ji
View Online:	njit-etd1999-017 (xiii, 114 pages ~ 11.4 MB pdf)
Department:	Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Degree:	Master of Science
Program:	Computer Engineering
Document Type:	Thesis
Advisory Committee:	Zhou, MengChu (Committee chair) Caudill, Reggie J. (Committee member) Hou, Edwin (Committee member)
Date:	1999
Keywords:	Electronic industries--Environmental aspects Life cycle assessment--Computer programms Pollution--Prevention
Availability:	Unrestricted
Abstract:	This thesis introduces the concept of Multi-lifecycles and a Multi-lifecycle assessment (MLCA) methodology for evaluating the energy consumption and environmental emissions of a product. MLCA quantifies materials, energy, and environmental burdens associated with end-of-life options, as well as obtains the value of returning parts and materials back to use, through demanufacturing, reengineering and remanufacturing.A Multi-lifecycle Assessment software is developed as a tool to implement MLCA methodologies. By this software, one can practice a full life-cycle analysis on a product, or compare the environmental impacts of different products. Detailed designs on MLCA software including the databases, user interfaces, and algorithm designs are presented in this thesis. The initial prototype version of the multilifecycle assessment software tool has been completed with three major components: Product Description, Lifecycle stages, and Analysis and Results.This thesis also applies the MLCA software tool to four generations of business telephones. Relevant characteristics such as raw materials, energy consumption, and environmental burdens were used to analyze the environmental performance of the telephones based on lifecycle data stored in MLCA software databases.