Conference Agenda

For many consumer products, the use phase dominates the environmental impacts of the product. Nevertheless, many LCA do not rigorously take into account consumer behaviors and characteristics when estimating use phase emissions. This talk argues that the LCA community exhibits techno-bias that oversimplifies and underemphasizes user behavior, potentially creating misleading results due to its focus on technical system parameters. Evidence from published case studies will demonstrate how user behavior has the potential to change the directionality of an analysis, and advocates for greater integration of user behavior in a more rigorous way. The talk will provide a framework of six major ways that consumer characteristics and behavior can influence an LCA and review which of these factors are commonly incorporated in LCA, discussing which factors may be important yet are often overlooked. The framework will also provide categorization of different consumer-facing products, indicating which of the six major consumer characteristic and behavior factors may be most important to include in different kinds of products.

Consumer engagement in sustainable behaviors, such as repair, reuse, and sharing, is essential if we are to realize a sustainable future; however, substantial barriers to these behavior changes remain. This is partly due to the transition being viewed as uncertain in terms of what it entails, including the impacts on the quality of life of individuals in their role as e.g., product users. Existing transition narratives also tend to focus on “sacrifices”, such as decreased convenience and unpleasant aesthetics.

Counter such a gloomy outlook, research on Circular Economy (CE) Behaviors, such as reuse, sharing, and reductions, indicate opportunities for enhanced well-being outcomes for product users, such as when engaging in sharing pools, conducting at-home repairs, and practicing voluntary simplicity. However, these potential well-being outcomes have not been systematically studied. This entails lost opportunities for decision-makers involved in the CE transition, such as businesses, community organizations, and policymakers, to strategically and comprehensively ensure positive quality of life outcomes for their customers, community members, and constituents. Moreover, this gap leaves us without the important chance to rewrite the narrative of what a future with sustainable consumption could entail, namely one of enhanced thriving. All we need are the insights and tools to imagine and implement it.

This presentation constitutes a summary of multiple research outputs conducted using conceptual frameworks and models, verified and refined through Delphi surveys with two expert groups in CE and Quality of Life Science.

Our research reveals a first contribution: that the product user’s experience with CE Behaviors (e.g., sharing and reuse) can be regarded as consisting of different areas, such as effort, social, and social status. These areas come with their respective frictions and rewards that determine whether the experience is perceived positively or negatively. Widening the perspective, our second contribution consists of a comprehensive product user well-being (C-PUWB) framework; it clearly delineates the implications from the CE Behavior engagement as it affects different areas of the experience, such as social and moral. It also considers the indirect effect from the engagement on other areas of life, unrelated to the CE Behavior engagement, through the expenditure of (or gains to) the individual’s finite resources (i.e., time, effort, and money). Moreover, the C-PUWB Framework accounts for how product user well-being consists of levels: (1) affective outcomes (i.e., more transient pleasures and pains); (2) cognitive outcomes (i.e., assessment of events and life overall against standards), and; (3) developmental outcomes (e.g., more enduring sense of meaning, growth, and belonging). Considering this notion of product user well-being, we then identified several “key aspects” of the CE Behavior engagement as having a significant influence on product user well-being outcomes, such as the nature of social norms and the availability of support to engage in activities successfully.

These findings demonstrate a theoretical pathway towards systematically considering product user well-being in the CE transition, as well as sustainable consumption more broadly. For practitioners, it highlights specific goals (i.e., the key aspects) for ensuring higher quality of life outcomes.

Energy efficiency is a key component of decarbonization and sustainability efforts, yet gaps persist in adopting energy-saving interventions in industry despite their profitability. This has been partially attributed to the lack of perceived strategic links between energy efficiency and the primary functions of firms. Multiple benefits to energy efficiency projects beyond energy savings have been identified. Still, potential linkages are not well understood, although preliminary work has been conducted to categorize them.

We conducted a survey of U.S. manufacturing executives to better understand the linkages between strategy and energy efficiency. The survey focused on three key areas: stakeholder mapping related to energy efficiency, the relationship between sustainability goals and energy efficiency decisions, and the use of non-energy benefits to justify energy efficiency interventions. Qualitative analysis was performed to understand the effects of company and facility size on these parameters.

Preliminary findings highlight the challenges of engaging industry on energy efficiency. First, the results indicate that stakeholder mapping needs to extend beyond internal actors to include external constituents such as utilities and consultants, due to the limited emphasis on energy efficiency within companies. Second, while sustainability goals were broad among the survey population, greenhouse gas emissions targets—most closely linked to energy efficiency—were prevalent primarily among the largest firms. Likewise, larger firms sometimes demonstarted alternative processes for funding sustainability and energy efficiency projects. Third, the most commonly listed non-energy benefits were safety, improved work environment, production and quality improvements. Notably, these benefits are closely linked to the primary functions of firms.

This research contributes to deep understanding of decision-making processes around energy efficiency in U.S. manufacturing firms. Future work will include additional panel responses and interviews to further enhance our insights into this critical area. Ultimately, this is part of a wider research thrust investigating how aligning energy efficiency measures more closely with corporate strategy might increase their adoption rate.

Argan oil holds historical and cultural importance within Morocco, particularly for the Amazigh people. The argan tree is endemic to Morocco, where the climate provides ideal conditions for the tree to thrive. It is customary for women in rural Moroccan villages within the Argan tree's range to collect fallen affiyache (argan fruit) from their surrounding forests and produces both edible and cosmetic Argan oil by hand. For decades, these women have performed each stage of the production process (collection, dehusking, cracking, roasting, grinding, and pressing), making it a significant aspect of their social life within a predominantly patriarchal society.

As cosmetic argan oil has reached international markets, the increasing demand has led to the mechanization of certain processes to improve production efficiency. However, as demand grows, it is essential to consider the social impacts on the women who have long been central to this production process, alongside environmental concerns.

This study conducts a Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA), analyzing the social impacts of argan oil production on rural Amazigh women in Morocco. The functional unit is one liter of argan oil, with a cradle-to-gate system boundary encompassing all labor stages from the collection of the affiyache to the packaging of the extracted oil. The assessment follows the United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP) 2020 guidelines for S-LCA, employing a framework with stakeholder categories, impact categories, subcategories, inventory indicators, and inventory data. The stakeholders chosen for this study were: workers (with impact subcategories: working hours, health and safety, and technology), cooperatives (technology, local employment), and rural communities (access to material resources, access to immaterial resources, local employment).

The primary data collection methods included in-country interviews conducted through household questionnaires, cooperative interviews, and discussions with key informants. The 2024 research team focused on examining the location and frequency of injuries associated with Argan oil production. During fieldwork in Morocco, injury data for each production step were collected from 30 individuals, documenting injury types at the different process stages. Examples of prevalent injuries during different processes include back pain, finger injuries, heat discomfort, and wrist pain with ranging frequencies. The study also explored ergonomics in traditional production methods, and the use of protective policies and procedures within cooperatives. Age was considered as a factor in injury frequency as only women older than 45 recorded higher than 12 injuries.

Overall, the findings from 2024 expand on the impacts related to health and safety for those working traditionally in argan oil production, and in cooperatives. These results highlight the need for more safety practices and realizing worker needs during certain steps. Future work is recommended to expand the sample size and gather more data on workers involved in mechanized steps.

The energy demands of the retail sector are influenced by multiple factors, yet traditional energy models primarily focus on economic and technological variables, often neglecting the role of social behavior changes. The shift from in-store shopping to online shopping represents a significant societal transition that directly affects the demand for retail space and, consequently, energy consumption. It is widely believed that online shopping reduces the need for retail stores and lowers energy demand in retail building sector, but there is no quantitative or empirical study about it yet. This study addresses this gap by examining how changes in shopping behavior impact retail building space and energy demand in the United States.

This paper develops a regression model to predict retail building space based on in-store shopping time, which serves as a proxy for the demand for physical retail infrastructure to accommodate consumer behavior. The historical retail space data is derived by integrating information from the CoStar database and the Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS), and the shopping time data is developed based on the American Time Use Survey (ATUS). The study employs three approaches to project future in-store shopping time using historical shopping behavior data from 2003 to 2023. The first approach directly predicts in-store shopping time using historical trends, providing stable projections. The second approach derives in-store shopping time from overall shopping time, integrating interactions between in-store, online, and other shopping modes. The third approach uses online shopping time to derive in-store shopping time, employing two sub-models: one based on historical online shopping growth from 2003 to 2023 and another focusing on the rapid growth phase from 2015 to 2023. By linking these projections to retail space demand and energy intensity (energy consumption per unit area of building space), the study quantifies the cascading effects of online shopping on retail building energy demand.

Results from all three approaches indicate a consistent decline in in-store shopping time, leading to reduced retail building energy demand. Approach 1 projects a steady decline, with energy demand decreasing from 660 trillion BTU in 2023 to 588 trillion BTU in 2030, representing a 10.9% reduction. Approach 2 accounts for the dynamic interplay between different shopping behaviors, yielding projections with moderate uncertainty. By 2030, the upper bound for energy demand decreases to 605 trillion BTU, while the lower bound reduces to 581 trillion BTU. Approach 3, particularly its rapid-growth sub-model, predicts the sharpest declines. The upper bound drops to 279 trillion BTU in 2030, while the lower bound decreases significantly to 80 trillion BTU, emphasizing the transformative impact of rapid e-commerce growth. Across all models, the findings underscore the significant role of online shopping in reshaping retail energy demand, with the potential for rapid e-commerce growth to accelerate reductions in energy consumption. This study highlights the importance of integrating social behavior changes into energy demand models. The results provide insights for policymakers, urban planners, and energy managers, emphasizing the evolving retail landscape and its implications for sustainability.

Effective road-stream crossing (RSC) management is crucial for maintaining transportation connectivity, ecological health, and flood resilience. Existing frameworks often overlook the diverse priorities of stakeholders, such as structural safety for transportation agencies and ecological impacts for environmental groups. This study developed a stakeholder-informed framework to align priorities and improve RSC management’s effectiveness and equity. We convened a technical advisory committee of transportation and environmental state agencies, regional planning commissions, and nonprofit organizations to co-develop an inclusive framework considering eight management aspects: flood vulnerability, wildlife conservation and restoration, environmental quality, structural risk, road criticality, economic impact, community support and readiness, and environmental justice. Building on this framework, this study examined stakeholder preferences, collaboration dynamics, and non-financial challenges for effective RSC management.

We conducted a co-designed online survey in New Hampshire to gather data on the perceived importance of the eight management aspects, stakeholders’ collaborators, and non-financial challenges. Before launching the survey, extensive outreach via webinars and meetings ensured robust and informed participation. Survey responses were analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis (KW) test to detect significant variations in ratings among stakeholder groups. Flood vulnerability emerged as the most important aspect of consensus among all stakeholder groups. While wildlife conservation, environmental quality, road criticality, and structural risk also received high ratings, KW test results revealed significant differences among stakeholder ratings (p < 0.001). These findings underscore the importance of balancing conflicting priorities for these aspects. In contrast, environmental justice was ranked as the least important aspect, with no significant differences among stakeholder groups (H = 13.62, p = 0.255 in the KW test), highlighting gaps in integrating equity into RSC prioritization frameworks.

Network analysis evaluated stakeholder collaboration dynamics and identified the New Hampshire Departments of Transportation and Environmental Services as central actors in the cross-agency collaboration network. Additionally, content analysis of qualitative responses identified key non-financial challenges, such as regulatory barriers, project complexities, and the lack of prioritization frameworks. These findings highlight opportunities for state agencies and decision-makers to address issues that do not require financial investment, such as updating regulations, streamlining processes, and enhancing stakeholder collaboration in RSC management. This study provides actionable insights for effective, equitable, and coordinated RSC management by highlighting key priorities, stakeholder conflicts, collaboration dynamics, and non-financial challenges.