Eco-efficient Product Service Systems
Short Description
A more sustainable economic, ecological and social development can only be reached by a close co-operation between actors from the production and the consumption side and by political and legal framework conditions supporting the ideas of sustainability. The project's goal was to contribute to strenghten the offer of sustainable products and services (product service systems). The idea of product service systems (PSS) shifts the corporate focus from selling products to provide functions (selling services). It stands for a new way of thinking in order to minimise a product's environmental impacts during its life cycle and at the same time fulfilling the consumer's needs.
During the project a series of five workshops was held with the goal to develop a methodology for initiating, designing and implementing eco-efficient product service systems. 13 companies coming from different industry sectors (food industry, metal, plastics, building and construction, furniture, repair networks, environmental consultants) participated in the workshops. Altogether five thematic modules were covered. A short theoretical introduction to each module was followed by a mix of practical tools and group work. The structure of the workshop series was the basis of a practical guideline (manual) for sustainable products and services that was developed as one of the project's main results:
Chapter 1: A new perspective
- Introduction to sustainability, eco-design, the new way of thinking
- What are PSS? (product-accompanying and product-substituting services)
- Successful examples and PSS casestudies
- Group work: existing system vs. user system
Chapter 2: Creativity and innovation for my product
- Preconditions of innovations
- Creativity techniques for the development of new business ideas
- Practical work: Brainstorming
Chapter 3: The evaluation of PSS (Sustainability performance)
- How to evaluate the sustainability performance of PSS
- Presentation of the sustainability evaluation tool (excel-based)
- Practical work
Chapter 4: Service marketing and more
- The marketing of services and of solutions
- Cross-cutting issues for the implementation stage
- Tools and checklists for the implementation process
- Practical work
Chapter 5: A practical example
- Presentation of a practical example (casestudy)
Chapter 6: Process evaluation
- Introduction into evaluation processes
- Presentatin of evaluation checklists
Project Partners
Contact:
Mag. Barbara Hammerl
JOANNEUM RESEARCH Forschungsgesellschaft mbH
Institut für Nachhaltige Techniken und Systeme (JOINTS)
A-8010 Graz, Steyrergasse 17
Tel.: +43(0)316 876-2423
Fax: +43(0)316 876-2430
Email: barbara.hammerl@joanneum.at