Events

BIO:

Seung-Jin Lee is Assistant Professor in the Department of Earth and Resource Science and Department of Computer Science, Engineering and Physics at the University of Michigan-Flint. His research interests are focused on incorporating sustainability and design for environment into emerging technologies and to improve technology development, design, and infrastructure through the advancement of life cycle assessment and industrial ecology.

ABSTRACT:

How do we define, measure, assess, and predict the life cycle environmental performance or condition, or more broadly, sustainability of a product, service or system? Life cycle approaches are often used to identify performance metrics and reduce environmental impacts, but often fail to integrate various impacts in reflecting the true measures of sustainability - the social, environmental and economic. In this seminar, the motivation and importance of using integrated metrics and indicators will be introduced along with existing examples utilized by various organizations. Several applications of integrated metrics will also be discussed, including fuel cell remanufacturing, zoological parks, waste management systems, transportation fuels and consumer products, to demonstrate the effectiveness of integrated metrics in providing information on the full product system. Recommendations on future work will also be addressed.