ECTS credits ECTS credits: 3
ECTS Hours Rules/Memories Hours of tutorials: 1 Expository Class: 8 Interactive Classroom: 18 Total: 27
Use languages Spanish, Galician
Type: Ordinary subject Master’s Degree RD 1393/2007 - 822/2021
Departments: Chemistry Engineering
Areas: Chemical Engineering
Center Higher Technical Engineering School
Call: Second Semester
Teaching: With teaching
Enrolment: Enrollable | 1st year (Yes)
0.- Descriptive data of the subject
The subject of LIFE CYCLE MANAGEMENT OF PRODUCTS AND PROCESSES is part of Module 4 of RESEARCH AND SUSTAINABILITY. The course deals with an environmental analysis from the point of view of the life cycle of products and processes, delving into both research aspects and the transfer of knowledge to the productive sector through the application of eco-design, eco-labelling and eco-efficiency in pursuit of a sustainable circular economy.
Course: Product and process life cycle management
Language: Spanish
Tipo: Elective
Number of credits: 3.0 ECTS
Module: Research and sustainability
Professors
Gumersindo Feijoo Costa
Dept. of Chemical Engineering
E-mail: gumersindo.feijoo [at] usc.gal (gumersindo[dot]feijoo[at]usc[dot]gal)
María Teresa Moreira Vilar
Dept. of Chemical Engineering
E-mail: maite.moreira [at] usc.gal (maite[dot]moreira[at]usc[dot]gal)
1.- Objectives
The main objective is to acquire a general knowledge of the main concepts related to the sustainable design of processes and products through the study of different methodologies of environmental, economic and social analysis and evaluation.
The contents presented are those covered in the subject descriptor: ‘Life cycle analysis (ISO 14040): definition of objectives and scope, life cycle inventory and life cycle assessment. Life cycle cost analysis (LCC) and social life cycle analysis (S-LCA). Eco-innovation and eco-efficiency (14045). Ecodesign (ISO 14006) as a driver of the circular economy: strategic environmental assessment, eco-briefing and prototype design using gamestorming techniques. Ecolabels: typology, characterisation and creation. Carbon footprint (ISO 14067) and water footprint (ISO 14046) and their integration with the SDGs’.
The syllabus is divided into 2 blocks with 6 topics, which are listed below:
Section I. Life Cycle Management
Unit 1. Life Cycle Philosophy and Circular Economy. UNEP Life Cycle Initiative. Fundamentals of life cycle management. Applications. Circular Economy. Fundamentals. Business Models. Agenda 2030 - SDGs.
Unit 2. Life cycle analysis. Methodology and development phases. Application to the analysis of processes and products. Use of specific software. Case studies.
Unit 3. Economic and social analysis of the life cycle. Fundamentals of life cycle costing (LCC). Social LCA methodology (S-LCA).
Section II. Transfer to the productive sector.
Unit 4. Eco-design. Key elements to favour eco-design. Standard ISO 14006. Eco-design tools. Strategic environmental assessment. Eco-briefing. Prototypes. Case studies.
Unit 5. Eco-labelling. Definition and types of ecolabels. European ecolabel. Organisational and product carbon footprint: ISO 14064 and 14067 standards. 10 reasons for incorporating carbon footprint into business policy. Water footprint: ISO 14046 standard. Development and implementation of an eco-label in the food sector: Pescaenverde.
Unit 6. Eco-innovation and eco-efficiency. Fundamentals and evolution of the concept of eco-efficiency. ISO 14045 standard. Case studies.
Specific objectives (by sections)
The detailed contents of each block are described below, as well as the objectives to be achieved in each of them.
Section I. Life Cycle Management
This block studies the three methodologies that comprise Life Cycle Management: LCA, LCC and S-LCA, where each of them addresses the main pillars of sustainability. The first topic presents the general aspects of life cycle management, its origins and foundations, defining an integral approach to production processes that leads to an effective minimisation of their impacts.
Life cycle analysis is a methodology used to assess the environmental burdens associated with a product, process or activity, taking into account its complete cycle: ‘from cradle to grave’. Therefore, for a given activity, the problem is not only limited to ‘my’ industrial installation, but it is also necessary to define what is the pollution share of all upstream and downstream activities that ‘my’ product determines. This is made possible by identifying and quantifying raw materials, energy and waste discharged into the environment. This life cycle perspective is also applied to economic and social analysis (LCC and S-LCA).
In this section, the activities to be carried out by the students (individually and collectively) include, among others:
• Carrying out a life cycle inventory assessment using a spreadsheet.
• Preparation of a life cycle analysis using specific software (SimaPro) (team activity).
Section II. Transfer to the productive sector.
The students will deal in detail with the most important applications of life cycle analysis from the point of view of its knowledge transfer to the productive sector: Eco-design, eco-labelling and eco-efficiency. These three strategies for environmental, economic and social improvement make it possible to achieve different certifications for products that represent a competitive improvement. The topic of Ecodesign will be addressed by means of a practical case study using Gamestorming methodology. To this end, the class will work as a single team whose objective is to achieve a new product, an activity that will be carried out during the face-to-face classes.
Finally, the students will have to carry out an LCA work in teams of 2-3 people. Each team will choose the commonly consumed product (or comparison of products) that they wish to evaluate according to their concerns in the search for sustainability. The teams have to obtain all the necessary information to be able to quantify the impacts, which in turn will allow them to define the strategy for defining and simulating innovative scenarios.
Basic bibliography
Feijoo, G., Moreira, M.T. Análisis de ciclo de vida y huella de carbono. Casos prácticos. Research Gate, 2020. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.11030.50240/1. Acceso abierto en el Repositorio institucional MINERVA: http://hdl.handle.net/10347/21411
Supplementary bibliography: books
Baumann, H., Tillman, A.M. The Hitch Hiker´s Guide to LCA. An orientation in life cycle assessment methodology and application. Lund: Editorial Studentlitteratur, 2004. ISBN: 91-44-02364-2. Código BETSE: A244 15
Hunkeler, D., Lichtenvort, K., Rebitzer, G. Environmental life cycle costing. Boca Raton: Ed. Taylor & Francis, 2008. ISBN: 978-1-4200-5470-5. Código BUSC: EMC 325
Leonard, A. La historia de las cosas. Buenos Aires: Ed. Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2010. ISBN: 978-84-375-0650-0. Código BUSC: M-EMA 476
McDonough, W., Braungart, M. Cradle to cradle : (de la cuna a la cuna): rediseñando la forma en que hacemos las cosas. Madrid : McGraw-Hill, 2005. ISBN: 84-481-4295-0. Código BETSE: A234 14
Muthu, S.S. Assessment of Carbon Footprint in Different Industrial Sectors. Volume 1 & 2. Berlin: Springer, 2014. ISBN: 978-981-4560-40-5 (Vol. 1) & 978-981-4585-74-3 (Vol. 2). Código BETSE: 244 10
Reis, D. Product design in the sustainable Era. Madrid: Ed. Taschen, 2010. ISBN: 978-383-6520-94-2. Código BETSE: A132 12
UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative. Guidelines for social life cycle assessment of products. Paris: United Nations Environment Programme, 2009. ISBN: 978-92-807-3021-0. http://www.unep.fr/shared/publications/pdf/DTIx1164xPA-guidelines_sLCA…
Vence, X. Economía Circular transformadora y cambio sistémico: retos, modelos y políticas. Ed. Fondo de Cultura Económica de España, 2023. ISBN: 978-843-7508-81-84. Código BUSC: ECMAM 1092
Supplementary bibliography: scientific papers
The student will have at his/her disposal in the Virtual Campus various articles published in international scientific journals. The case studies will be part of those presented and described in depth in these articles.
In this subject, students will acquire a series of generic competences, desirable in any university degree, and specific competences specific to engineering. Within the list of competences that have been designed for the degree, students will be taught the following:
Knowledge:
• CN01. Possessing and understanding knowledge that provides a basis or opportunity for originality in the development or application of ideas, often in research context.
Skills:
• CP03. Design products, processes, systems and services for the chemical industry, as well as the optimisation of others already developed, taking as a technological basis the various areas of chemical engineering, including processes and transport phenomena, separation operations and the engineering of chemical, nuclear, electrochemical and biochemical reactions.
• CP09. Manage Research, Development and Technological Innovation, addressing technology transfer and property and patent rights.
Ability:
• HD04. Search, process, analyse and critically synthesise information from various sources in order to draw conclusions.
• HD06. Perform professionally with ethical commitment within the framework of sustainable development.
• HD10. Develop skills associated with teamwork (cooperation, leadership, active listening), and lead and define multidisciplinary teams capable of resolving technical changes and managerial needs in national and international contexts.
The theoretical contents of the course will be presented based on lectures, with the students being asked various questions to encourage their participation and facilitate learning. For this purpose, the Mentimeter software will be used, as it is focused on the use of mobile devices and tablets. A number of 4-5 questions will be posed per class. These classes will be supported using audiovisual materials with the use of PowerPoint and Excel files (problem solving and case studies).
The theoretical classes will be complemented by seminars which will consist of solving case studies on the application of the different tools presented throughout the course. Some of these tasks will be carried out in groups through cooperative learning, where the students themselves will be the ones who ‘teach/learn’ in a pro-active way towards the resolution of a specific problem. Two types of software will be used to solve these cases: Excel and SimaPro.
As a reinforcement to the tutorials, the virtual USC will be used, especially for the resolution of the practical cases, and as an agile instrument for the exchange of information between the teacher and the student.
Relationship between teaching methodologies and competence development:
[1] Evaluation of a LCI using Excel The teaching staff plays the role of a company manager who defines the challenge to be overcome: ‘Which is better to bottle water in PVC or PET from an environmental point of view? The activity will be carried out mainly during classroom hours, where students will have to propose design solutions using the tools that have been discussed in the lectures. CP03, HD04
[2] Performing an LCA suing SimaPro software The challenge to be solved is: ‘Define the appropriate improvement actions to minimise the impact of perfume’. This activity will be carried out mainly during classroom hours, where, through individual or collective dialogue with the students, they must propose design solutions using the tools that have been previously discussed in the classroom. CP03, HD04, HD06
[3] Eco-design workshop using Gamestorming techniques The Ecodesign theme will be taught through a real case study. The methodology applied will be based on Gamestorming techniques, specifically ‘The Publication’, which combines individual and collective analysis stages. The task will be carried out during classroom hours, with the students being the team that must face the challenge of creating a new product. It is a technique based on win-win principles, as the result is a product originating from (anonymous) creative ideas and, therefore, from everyone. VEA, LCA and Ecobriefing are used, combining technological, economic, social and environmental aspects. The case study corresponds to a real product and, therefore, the students grade themselves according to the proximity to the prototype defined by the company, considering only the ‘strong’ ideas considered in its development. CN01, HD06, HD10
[4] Conducting LCA work LCA work in teams of 2-4 people (during the personal working hours of the subject). Each team will choose the commonly consumed product (or comparison of products) they wish to assess based on their concerns in the quest for sustainability. The teams have to obtain all the necessary information to be able to quantify the impacts, which in turn will allow them to define the strategy for the definition and simulation of innovative scenarios. CN01, CP09, HD04, HD06, HD10
Activity-based evaluation:
• Eco-design workshop through Gamestorming (the whole class acts as a single team): 20%
• LCA work (class divided into teams of 2-3 people): 50%.
• Exam (individual): 25%
• Teacher's report (individual, depending on class participation): 5%.
Students who do not obtain a minimum of 3 points in each of the evaluable parts will not pass the course. The exam will be a multiple-choice test of 20 questions with only one true answer and 0.5 points will be subtracted for every 3 wrong answers.
Skills based assessment:
• Eco-design workshop: CN01, CP03, HD06, HD10
• LCA work: CN01, CP09; HD04, HD06, HD10
• Exam: CN01, HD04
In the second opportunity, the grades passed in the first opportunity are maintained and the student only has to take the exam for those parts he/she did not pass.
In cases of fraudulent performance of exercises or tests, the provisions of the Regulations on the assessment of students' academic performance and the review of grades shall apply.
The subject has a workload of 3.0 ECTS, with 1 ECTS credit corresponding to 25 hours of total work:
Activity Face-to-face hours
Masterclasses 8,0
Seminars 10,0
Computer classroom 8,0
Group tutorials 1,0
Examination and review 2,0
Total 29,0
In order to achieve optimum performance, it is advisable that the student has a series of additional knowledge: command of the English language at reading level and knowledge of computer applications at user level (Word, Excel, use of e-mail, consultation of web pages). The vehicle for communication with students will be the Virtual Campus.
Laptop computers will be used extensively in the course, as many of the practical cases require computer applications as a support element. The language of the course will be Spanish, in line with the strategic decision of the Master programme to attract students from abroad, specifically from Latin America.
Gumersindo Feijoo Costa
- Department
- Chemistry Engineering
- Area
- Chemical Engineering
- Phone
- 881816776
- gumersindo.feijoo [at] usc.es
- Category
- Professor: University Professor
Maria Teresa Moreira Vilar
Coordinador/a- Department
- Chemistry Engineering
- Area
- Chemical Engineering
- Phone
- 881816792
- maite.moreira [at] usc.es
- Category
- Professor: University Professor
| Friday | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 09:00-11:00 | Grupo /CLE_01 | Spanish | Classroom A6 |
| 06.03.2025 10:00-12:00 | Grupo /CLIS_01 | Classroom A6 |
| 06.03.2025 10:00-12:00 | Grupo /CLE_01 | Classroom A6 |
| 06.03.2025 10:00-12:00 | Grupo /CLIL_01 | Classroom A6 |
| 07.09.2025 10:00-12:00 | Grupo /CLIL_01 | Classroom A6 |
| 07.09.2025 10:00-12:00 | Grupo /CLIS_01 | Classroom A6 |
| 07.09.2025 10:00-12:00 | Grupo /CLE_01 | Classroom A6 |