An interesting post in yesterday’s Environmental Leader on
‘sustainable production’ by David Dornfeld who leads the Laboratory for
Manufacturing and Sustainability (LMAS) at the University of California,
Berkeley. In “Green Manufacturing: The Next Great Leap Forward”, he reviews the
evolution of manufacturing through ‘flexible production’ in the 1980s to ‘lean
manufacturing’ and ‘mass personalization’ of the last few decades and asks how
can improved processes lead to greener manufacturing. What bigger impact on the
built environment could there be than a system of manufacturing that fully
addresses the environmental and social costs associated with the lifecycle as
well.
Dornfeld writes:
“What is the next big change? I believe it will be a move to account for the “embedded costs” associated with energy, carbon footprint, re-use and re-manufacturing leading closer to sustainable production. But, how will this be accomplished?”
Read his full essay here.
