Evaluation of Life Cycle Cost Analysis Methodologies

Environmental and Economic Impact of an Innovative Biocide-Free Antifouling Coating for Naval Applications

The work provides an economic sustainability and environmental impact analysis for the validation of a biocide-free antifouling coating for marine applications able to reduce fuel consumption during navigation, CO₂ emissions, and the overall environmental impacts associated with shipping, thanks to the reduction of incrustation and the avoidance of biocides release into the water. The results, related to the life cycle of the coating of a motor yacht, with an average sailing life of 25 years, show around 8.8% reduction in overall costs compared to a conventional paint, thanks to a more efficient antifouling action, which reduces the annual fuel consumption by ~13,700 kg/y, or ~9.6%. This leads to a reduction in CO₂ emissions, associated with fuel consumption, of ~43.3 ton/y, as well as a lowering of the overall environmental impacts associated with the life cycle of the paint, by almost 10% for the most impactful damage classes, ensuring a greater environmental sustainability of the innovative coating, for the overall service life of the yacht on which it is applied.

Management accounting and new product development: a systematic literature review and future research directions

This paper systematically reviews the existing literature at the crossroads of management accounting and new product development. At present, the accumulated knowledge on this topic is fragmented. Different research settings, diverse research focuses, and the use of different research methods are amongst the main reasons for the existing fragmentation and lack of an overall, conceptually coherent view of the knowledge gained on the management accounting phenomenon in new product development environments. As a response to the current knowledge fragmentation, the purpose of this paper is to consolidate existing evidence, provide an overview of the literature’s state-of-the-art, and propose paths for its future development. As a result of the systematisation attempt, this paper recognises the threefold identity of management accounting research in new product development and proposes a conceptual framework that collocates existing contributions along a research spectrum that gradually shifts the focus from the more technical-oriented aspects of management accounting to the more sociological-oriented aspects. Accordingly, this paper identifies the following research paths and systematise their relative contributions: (1) management accounting techniques and calculations; (2) management accounting information types and roles; (3) management accountants’ involvement and roles in new product development environments. Besides allowing the systematisation of previous investigations, this paper’s three research avenues provide a ‘lighthouse’ to those who, in future, aim to contribute to the current debate and knowledge creation at the intersection of management accounting and new product development. In this regard, the final part of the paper advances nine research propositions that emanate from the literature review and outlines a research agenda with directions for future research.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Biochar Production from a Circular Economy Perspective

Climate change and environmental sustainability are among the most prominent issues of today. It is increasingly fundamental and urgent to develop a sustainable economy, capable of change the linear paradigm, actively promoting the efficient use of resources, highlighting product, component and material reuse. Among the many approaches to circular economy and zero-waste concepts, biochar is a great example and might be a way to push the economy to neutralize carbon balance. Biochar is a solid material produced during thermochemical decomposition of biomass in an oxygen-limited environment. Several authors have used life cycle assessment (LCA) method to evaluate the environmental impact of biochar production. Based on these studies, this work intends to critically analyze the LCA of biochar production from different sources using different technologies. Although these studies reveal differences in the contexts and characteristics of production, preventing direct comparison of results, a clear trend appears. It was proven, through combining life cycle assessment and circular economy modelling, that the application of biochar is a very promising way of contributing to carbon-efficient resource circulation, mitigation of climate change, and economic sustainability.

Economic Sustainability by Using Life Cycle Cost Information in the Buying Center: Insights from the Public Sector

Following the triple-bottom-line approach, sustainability comprises not only an ecologic and a social dimension but also an economic one. In that sense, economic sustainability (ES) tries to achieve a state in which present economic activities do not place a disproportionate burden on future economic activities. The time-related dimension of ES is of interest for this research, because procurement management makes use of life cycle cost (LCC), which is an instrument to measure long-term economic effects. LCC information could help to consider ES, but practice struggles to consider the information. This research addresses this issue and merges organizational information processing with organizational buying behavior theory. Empirically, it reports original insights into eight cases in the public sector. Decisions in the cases are usually made by councils (buying centers); as such, a group of people with different backgrounds must be informed with ES LCC information. The findings show ES LCC information requirements, capabilities, and fit, as well as information distribution and perception in buying centers. As such, the cases provide indications as to which decisions in the project are influenced by ES LCC information. Overall, the analysis integrates two theoretical perspectives and provides strong indications that LCC is a promising instrument to link decision making with a sustainability rational.

Sustainability Assessment for Wastewater Treatment Systems in Developing Countries

As the assessment of the economic, environmental, institutional, and social sustainability of wastewater treatment systems may have several conceivable goals and intended recipients, there are numerous different approaches. This paper surveys certain aspects of sustainability assessment that may be of interest to the planners of wastewater treatment systems. Here, the key criteria assess the system’s costs and financing, including its affordability for the users, the environmental impact, the benefits for health and hygiene, the cultural acceptance of the system and its recycled products, the technical functioning, and the administrative, political, and legal framework for its construction and operation. A multi-criteria approach may then be used to analyze possible trade-offs and identify the most suitable system for a certain location.

Life Cycle Sustainability Assessments of an Innovative FRP Composite Footbridge

Sustainable construction and the design of low-carbon structures is a major concern for the UK construction industry. FRP composite materials are seen as a suitable alternative to traditional construction materials due to their high strength and light weight. Network Rail has developed a prototype for a new innovative footbridge made entirely from FRP with the aim of replacing the current steel design for footbridges. This study conducted a life cycle analysis of this novel composite footbridge design to quantify the cost and environmental benefits. An LCA and LCC analysis framework was used to analyse the environmental impacts and cost savings of the bridge throughout its lifespan from raw material extraction to its end of life. From the results of the LCA and LCC, the FRP footbridge sustainability was reviewed and compared to a standard steel footbridge. Due to the uncertainty of the fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) structure’s lifespan, multiple scenarios for longevity at the assets-use stage were studied. The study revealed that the FRP bridge offered substantial economic savings whilst presenting potentially worse environmental impacts, mainly caused by the impact of the production of FRP materials. However, our study also demonstrated the influences of uncertainties related to the glass-fibre-reinforced plastic (GFRP) material design life and end-of-life disposal on the whole life cycle analyses. The results show that if the FRP footbridge surpasses its original estimation for lifespan, the economic savings can be increased and the environmental impacts can be reduced substantially.

Comparative Analysis of the Life-Cycle Cost of Robot Substitution: A Case of Automobile Welding Production in China

Within the context of the large-scale application of industrial robots, methods of analyzing the life-cycle cost (LCC) of industrial robot production have shown considerable developments, but there remains a lack of methods that allow for the examination of robot substitution. Taking inspiration from the symmetry philosophy in manufacturing systems engineering, this article further establishes a comparative LCC analysis model to compare the LCC of the industrial robot production with traditional production at the same time. This model introduces intangible costs (covering idle loss, efficiency loss and defect loss) to supplement the actual costs and comprehensively uses various methods for cost allocation and variable estimation to conduct total cost and the cost efficiency analysis, together with hierarchical decomposition and dynamic comparison. To demonstrate the model, an investigation of a Chinese automobile manufacturer is provided to compare the LCC of welding robot production with that of manual welding production; methods of case analysis and simulation are combined, and a thorough comparison is done with related existing works to show the validity of this framework. In accordance with this study, a simple template is developed to support the decision-making analysis of the application and cost management of industrial robots. In addition, the case analysis and simulations can provide references for enterprises in emerging markets in relation to robot substitution.

Floating Offshore Renewable Energy Farms. A Life-Cycle Cost Analysis at Brindisi, Italy

The present paper deals with the Life-Cycle Cost (LCC) of an offshore renewable energy farm that is currently a topic of interest for operators and investors. The LCC analysis refers to the Cost Breakdown Structure (CBS) considering all the phases of life span, and it has been carried out for floating offshore wind farms (FOWFs) and hybrid wind-wave farms (HWWFs). For HWWFs, this paper proposes a hybrid wind-wave energy system (HWWES), which provides the coupling of wave energy converter (WEC) with Tension Leg Platform (TLP) or Spar Buoy platform (SB). The LCC analysis has been carried out considering: (i) FOWF consisting of TLP floating platforms; (ii) FOWF consisting of a SB floating platforms; (iii) HWWF realized with the conceived hybrid system coupling the WEC with the TLP platform; (iv) HWWF realized with the conceived hybrid system coupling the WEC with SB platform. In addition to the LCC evaluation, the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) analysis has also been carried out. The site chosen for the study is off the port of Brindisi, southern Italy. This work’s interest lies in having performed a LCC analysis for FOWF and HWWF in the Mediterranean that is an area of growing interest for offshore renewable energy, and obtained results have allowed making assessments on costs for offshore energy farms.