Evaluation of design options for green product development: a combined Cuckoo search and life cycle assessment approach

Purpose: In response to the public concerns on the performance regarding environmental conservation and energy saving, manufacturers have to perform environmental impact assessments for their products. Some eco-design tools have been introduced to support the development of greener products. However, most of them require decision-makers’ qualitative judgment during the evaluation processes. In this connection, this research aims to propose a practical approach that uses Cuckoo search and life cycle assessment (LCA) to support design decision-making from the environmental perspective in the initial design stage. 

Methods: Aiming to develop a handy approach for evaluating the potential environmental impact during the initial design stage, the proposed approach combines Cuckoo search and LCA to determine the optimal design parameters by simultaneously considering multiple design constraints. A case application based on an electric kettle design is presented to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed approach. 

Results and discussion: This approach provides a fast-track way to determine the optimal parameters for several key design decisions. The result is presented in a simple form with the corresponding environmental impact value, and thus, further interpretation of the results is not required. 

Conclusions/implications: This approach offers an immediately applicable tool for the decision-makers to determine the key design parameters from the environmental perspective. A pilot case implementation on a simple electric kettle design is presented to showcase the applicability of the combined Cuckoo search and LCA approach. The proposed approach may provide a systematic way of evaluating multiple design combinations. The result obtained from the approach is reliable and able to support the decision-makers in selecting a suitable set of design parameters in view of lowering the potential environmental impact of the products.