Application of Life Cycle Measures to Increase Efficiency of Domestic Cooling Appliances

Abstract

Eco-design refers to systematic incorporation of environmental factors into the product design and development with the aim to reduce environmental impact of products throughout their whole life cycle. Electric power consumption of electrical and electronic equipment is one of the principal environmental aspects throughout the product exploitation time. The objective of this study is the application of eco-design methodology for development of improvement of domestic cooling appliances. Refrigeration systems as energy using products have a negative impact on the environment: emissions to air (including greenhouse gases), soil, water, and energy consumption on the whole. Reduction in energy consumption in product use phase is a very important issue due to both environmental impact when equipment operates and to costs of electricity. The accomplished analysis demonstrates the way how global problems related to refrigeration systems could be resolved using the life cycle assessment (LCA) as a measure for finding out significant environmental impact during all product life time.