JP2003157341A - Environment load assessment method and device therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate the registering procedures for environment load information to be collected for environment load assessment. SOLUTION: This environment load assessment device comprises an environment load assessment unit 10 consisting of a search condition input part 11, an environment load information search part 12, an environment load assessment part 13 and an output part 14 and an environment load information storage unit 20 consisting of an environment load information input part 21 and an environment load information storage part 22. The environment load assessment unit 10 and the environment load information storage unit 20 are separated from each other, and the environment load information storage unit 20 is decentralized and arranged at an environment load information collection position such as a product manufacturing line to be assessed. The environment load information search part 12 searches information for the environment load information storage part 22 in the environment load storage unit 20.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for evaluating the environmental load of a product, and more particularly to an environmental load evaluation method and apparatus for evaluating the environmental impact of a product from its manufacture to its disposal over its life cycle. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art From the viewpoint of global environment conservation, it has been required to accurately evaluate the influence of various products such as industrial products on the environment and reduce the environmental load.

Conventionally, the environmental load of a product has been evaluated by paying attention to a part of the whole manufacturing process of the product and examining the presence or absence and the amount of harmful substances in the process. It was However, the method described above cannot be applied to the case where the environmental load is to be evaluated for items such as carbon dioxide emission amount and exhaust heat amount which are small in each process but cannot be ignored as a whole.
Further, the environmental load when the product is distributed, when the product is used, or when the product is discarded cannot be ignored, but the environmental load including these cases cannot be evaluated by the above method.

In order to reduce the environmental load, it is necessary to design the product in consideration of the environmental load over the life cycle of the product from manufacturing to disposal. It is necessary to quantify the environmental load over the cycle. A method called Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been studied as a method for evaluating the environmental load over the life cycle.

In the pile-up method, which is the most general life cycle assessment method, the life cycle from the production of a certain product to the disposal is divided into steps such as raw material extraction, raw material production, product production, use and disposal, and each step is linear. Defined as those that are connected together, determine the values of the environmental load items that occur in each process, and sum them to obtain the total environmental load value of the target product. FIG. 11 shows an example of a model obtained by linearly connecting such steps used in the stacking method. Here, the process group for the product A is shown.

As a method for evaluating the environmental load based on the life cycle assessment, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-121588 discloses the environmental load in the manufacturing process from raw materials to commercialization, and the product is used after it is put on the market. The environmental load in the process of use, the environmental load in the process of disposal that calculates the recycled materials that are discarded or dismantled, and the sum of the environmental load of each is calculated. Environmental load and the environmental load in the manufacturing process of products that need to be input in that process, and the environmental load of the manufacturing process from the input coefficient matrix (matrix) and the environmental load intensity vector obtained from the input-output table Etc. are disclosed. In the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-121588, it is difficult to trace the raw materials necessary for a certain final industrial product to the ultimate step by step. The table is used.

When a single-line model is used for the rough process as shown in FIG. 11, the environmental load evaluation of a complicated electric product or mechanical product composed of a large number of parts should be performed. Is almost impossible. Therefore, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-311760 by the inventors of the present application, for each of the process group related to the manufacture of the target product and the process group related to the disposal of the target product, the target product is taken as a root, and a single process There is disclosed a technique of expressing a connection relationship between each unit process by a tree structure having a unit process having a section and calculating an overall environmental load value of a target product by using an environmental load value generated in each unit process. .

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a tree structure model. In the tree structure model shown here, assuming that the product A is manufactured from the part D and the part E, the process of manufacturing the part D and the process of manufacturing the part E are parallel to each other upstream of the process of manufacturing the product A. In addition, a step of collecting the raw material B used when manufacturing the part D and a step of transporting the collected raw material B are arranged upstream of the step of manufacturing the part D. The step of collecting the raw material C used when manufacturing the component E and the step of transporting the collected raw material C are arranged upstream of the step of manufacturing the raw material C. further,
When disposing of the product A, it is assumed that the decomposition product F and the decomposition product G are obtained by decomposing the product A, and a process of disposing the decomposition product F and a process of disposing the decomposition product G downstream of the process of decomposing the product A. Are arranged in parallel.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the environmental load evaluation apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-311760. This environmental load evaluation device is used to evaluate the environmental impact of the product from its manufacture to its disposal over its lifetime. These are expressed as a combination of these unit processes, the values of the environmental load items generated in each unit process are obtained, and these are summed to calculate the total environmental load value of the target product.

The structure of the environmental load evaluation apparatus shown in FIG. 13 will be described. The environmental load evaluation apparatus is roughly divided into an input section 57 for inputting data used for calculating an environmental load value, and input data. An environmental load information storage unit 56 that accumulates, an environmental load evaluation unit 53 that calculates a total environmental load value of the target product, and an output unit 54 that displays information regarding the content of each process and the calculated total environmental load value of the target product.
It consists of and. The contents input to the input unit 57 are
It is information about the content of each process, information about the connection relationship between each process, the environmental load item generated in each process, and the environmental load value in each environmental load item. The environmental load information storage unit 56 stores each information and item input to the input unit 57 and the environmental load value. The environmental load evaluation unit 53, based on the connection relation of each process stored in the environmental load information storage unit 56,
The total environmental load value of the target product is calculated by using the environmental load value generated in each process.

FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining the format of the data stored in the environmental load information storage unit 56 of the environmental load evaluation apparatus shown in FIG. 13. FIG. 14A is a data showing a unit process for manufacturing the target product. And (b) shows an example of data showing a unit process relating to the disposal of the target product. In FIG. 14A, assuming that one product is formed from m raw materials in the target unit process, the product name and product information about the product (information related to the product itself or the manufacturing process) , M raw material names, n environmental load item names, and n environmental load values. In addition, in FIG. 14 (b), it is assumed that m decomposed products are obtained from one product in the target unit process,
The product name, product information about the product (information associated with the product itself and the disassembling process), m disassembled product names,
It includes n environmental load item names and n environmental load values. By accumulating data for each unit process in this way, the life cycle of the product to be evaluated is described as a tree-structured joint that is branched into the manufacturing side and the disposal side based on that product, and It becomes possible to obtain the total environmental load value of the target product based on the connection relationship of each unit process. Furthermore, in this environmental load evaluation device, the environmental load value of each unit process obtained for the evaluation of a certain product can be reused for the evaluation of the environmental load value of another product.

Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 7-311792 discloses a CAD (Computer Aided Design) system used for product design by providing a relational database storing information on assembly / disassembly and environment information,
An environmental evaluation device is disclosed that is excellent in decomposability and supports the design of products with a low environmental load.

Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-16663 by the inventor of the present application
The publication discloses that by providing an image information storage unit for the environmental load evaluation apparatus shown in FIG. 13, each process can be easily grasped and an error in data input can be prevented.

However, each of the above-mentioned conventional environmental load evaluation devices and environmental evaluation devices has a problem that the registration procedure of the environmental load information collected for environmental load evaluation is complicated. These environmental load evaluation devices and environmental evaluation devices are
Each of them has a kind of database, and environmental load information is registered in this database. The environmental load information to be registered is generally collected on the product manufacturing line, the parts / materials manufacturing line, the product disposal / recycling line, etc. In addition, since it is generally different from the place where a database is installed and the environmental load evaluation is actually performed, the conventional environmental load evaluation device requires data transfer on a paper base and data input to the database, and The load information registration procedure is complicated. In particular,
When trying to evaluate the environmental load of products such as automobiles and personal computers (hereinafter abbreviated as PCs) that are composed of a large number of parts with this conventional environmental load evaluation device, it takes time and effort to collect environmental load information. However, there is a problem that the collection of environmental load information itself becomes unrealistic.

FIG. 15 shows a life cycle of a personal computer by a model having a tree structure. In this figure, a quadrangle with a white-painted side having a uniform thickness represents a process, and a quadrangle with a black-painted center portion in the left-right direction represents a product. The final manufacturing process of a personal computer (indicated as PC in the figure) is the process of assembling and assembling the housing, hard disk device (HDD), board (motherboard), power supply unit, etc. As a matter of course, the hard disk device manufacturing process, the power supply unit manufacturing process, and the like are arranged. In the process of disposing of used PCs, if the PCs are to be disassembled by open loop recycling, there is a recovery process for gold (Au) contained in integrated circuits (ICs), and final disposal of waste materials as waste. There is a process. When disposing of waste materials, it is necessary to know the amount of harmful substances such as lead (Pb, mostly derived from solder) contained therein depending on the disposal method. In order to collect the money, we have to know the amount of money contained in the personal computer. In this way, as part of the environmental impact assessment, it is important to understand the amounts of constituent substances (gold and lead in the above example) contained in the target product.

Considering the modern PC manufacturing, the PC manufacturer may manufacture the chassis and the motherboard in-house, but the hard disk device and the power supply unit should be externally procured from the parts manufacturer. However, although the specifications and the like specify the performance of the hard disk device and the power supply unit, the manufacturer of the hard disk device and the power supply unit entrusts other than the specified items. For this reason, personal computer manufacturers are not fully aware of what parts are used inside the hard disk drive, and the power consumption and carbon dioxide emissions associated with manufacturing the hard disk drive, Does not have any knowledge about the amount of power consumption associated with the manufacture of the components that make up a hard disk drive. On the other hand, changes in the internal configuration of the hard disk drive (for example, changes in circuits and parts used) are frequently made, and even with the cooperation of the parts manufacturer, the life cycle of the PC With regard to the assessment, it is practically difficult for the PC manufacturer to collect all environmental load information on the upstream side (manufacturing side), and even if it is collected, the environmental load information is old information. Often. Even in the downstream side (disposal / disposal side) of the PC life cycle assessment, gold (Au) is recovered at the time of disposal, and lead (P) contained in the waste (P
Information on the upstream side is necessary to understand the amount of harmful substances such as b).

After all, in the conventional environmental load evaluation apparatus, it is premised that the manufacturer of the product to be evaluated (eg, automobile, personal computer) collects and accumulates all the environmental load information for evaluation. When it is applied to a product that uses a large number of parts, it takes a lot of time and effort to collect environmental load information, so that the environmental load evaluation itself may not be performed.

[0018]

As described above,
The conventional environmental load evaluation system has the problem that the procedure for registering the environmental load information collected for environmental load evaluation is complicated, and that it is actually applied to products consisting of many parts (PCs, automobiles, etc.). There is a problem that it is difficult.

An object of the present invention is to provide an environmental load evaluation method and device for improving the productivity and maintainability of the environmental load evaluation device and facilitating the registration procedure of the environmental load information collected for the environmental load evaluation. Another object of the present invention is to provide an environmental load evaluation method and apparatus capable of accurately evaluating the environmental load of a product including a large number of parts.

[0020]

The environmental load evaluation method of the present invention is an environmental load evaluation method for evaluating the total environmental load value of a target product, and the The total environmental load value is calculated by accumulating environmental load information in the process and searching each environmental load information according to the search condition via the network.

In this environmental load evaluation method, the environmental load information is made to include reference information for referring to environmental load information about other processes directly referenced by the process, and when calculating the total environmental load value. Searches the environmental load information directly related to the target product according to the search conditions, recursively searches other environmental load information based on the reference information included in the searched environmental load information, and searches the environmental load information It is preferable to calculate the total environmental load value based on Also, instead of obtaining the total environmental load value,
The amount of constituent substances contained in the target product may be calculated.

The first environmental load evaluation apparatus of the present invention is an environmental load evaluation apparatus for evaluating the total environmental load value of a target product, and inputs and stores environmental load information in each process related to the target product. An environmental load information storage unit and an environmental load evaluation unit that retrieves the environmental load information stored in the environmental load information storage unit and calculates a total environmental load value of the target product.

The second environmental load evaluation device of the present invention is an environmental load evaluation device for evaluating the total environmental load value of a target product, and is provided for each process related to the target product, and environmental load items in the process. A plurality of environmental load information storage units that store environmental load information including and environmental load evaluation unit that retrieves the environmental load information stored in each environmental load information storage unit and calculates the total environmental load value of the target product And the environmental load information includes reference information for referencing environmental load information about other processes directly referenced by the corresponding process, and the total environmental load evaluation unit determines whether the target product is subject to the search condition. Calculate the total environmental load value by searching the environmental load information that is directly related to, and recursively searching other environmental load information based on the reference information included in the searched environmental load information. That. In this environmental load evaluation device, the amount of the constituent substance contained in the target product may be obtained instead of the total environmental load value.

In the present invention, the environmental load evaluation unit and the environmental load information accumulating unit constitute an environmental load evaluating apparatus so that the environmental load evaluating unit can retrieve the environmental load information accumulated in the environmental load information accumulating unit. ing. With this configuration, the environmental load information storage unit can be placed separately from the environmental load evaluation unit, and the environmental load information storage unit can be installed on the product manufacturing line, the parts / material manufacturing line, and the product. It can be installed at a place where environmental impact information is collected, such as a line for disposal and recycling. As a result, according to the environmental load evaluation device of the present invention, it becomes easy to register and update the environmental load information.

Further, in the present invention, the environmental load information is made to include reference information for referring to the environmental load information of the other process directly referenced by the corresponding process, and in evaluating the total environmental load value, According to the search conditions, the environmental load information directly related to the target product is searched, and other environmental load information is recursively searched based on the reference information included in the searched environmental load information. It becomes possible to quickly and accurately calculate the total environmental load value without knowing in advance where the environmental load information for each is.

[0026]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

<< First Embodiment >> FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention.
It is a block diagram showing the structure of the environmental load evaluation apparatus of the embodiment. This environmental load evaluation device is provided with a search condition input unit 1
1. From the environmental load evaluation unit 10 including the environmental load information retrieval unit 12, the environmental load evaluation unit 13 and the output unit 14, and the environmental load information storage unit 20 including the environmental load information input unit 21 and the environmental load information storage unit 22. It is configured. This environmental load evaluation device includes an environmental load evaluation unit 1
0 and the environmental load information storage unit 20 are separated, and the environmental load evaluation unit 10 includes an environmental load information search unit 12 for searching information in the environmental load information storage unit 22 of the environmental load information storage unit 20. It is characterized by being provided.

In the environmental load evaluation unit 10, the search condition input unit 11 is used to input a search condition for environmental load evaluation, and the environmental load information search unit 12 uses the search condition input from the search condition input unit 11. First, the environmental load information storage unit 22 is searched, and the environmental load evaluation unit 13 performs an environmental load evaluation based on the result searched by the environmental load information search unit 12 to calculate the total environmental load of the target product. The value is calculated, and the output unit 14 displays the result obtained by the environmental load evaluation unit 13 and outputs it to the outside. In the environmental load information storage unit 20, the environmental load information input unit 21 is used to input environmental load information used for environmental load evaluation, and the environmental load information storage unit 22 is used to input the environmental load information input unit 21. Holds load information.

In this environmental load evaluation apparatus, the environmental load information accumulating unit 20 is installed at an environmental load measuring point such as a manufacturing line of a product to be evaluated, a manufacturing line of parts / materials, a line for discarding / recycling the product. Furthermore, it is possible to automate the collection of environmental load information by using a manufacturing, processing, and recycling facility equipped with the environmental load information storage unit 20.

FIG. 2 shows a configuration in which environmental load information storage units are installed at a plurality of environmental load measurement points, such as a product manufacturing line for products to be evaluated, a manufacturing line for parts / materials, and a line for discarding / recycling products. It is a block diagram shown. An environmental load information storage unit 20 is provided at each environmental load measurement location, and the plurality of environmental load information storage units 20 are connected to the environmental load evaluation unit 10 via a network 30. In the environmental load evaluation unit 20, the environmental load information searching unit 12 searches and collects the environmental load information in each environmental load information accumulating unit 20 via the network 30 based on the specified search condition, and collects the collected environment. The environmental load evaluation unit 13 calculates the total environmental load value of the target product based on the load information.

The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to specific examples. Here, as an example of environmental load evaluation, for life cycle assessment (LCA),
The case of analyzing the carbon dioxide emissions associated with the production of products will be described.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the structure of data stored in the environmental load information storage unit 22 of the environmental load evaluation apparatus. The environmental load information accumulating unit 22 stores environmental load items such as carbon dioxide emissions, BOD (biological oxygen demand), solid waste amount, resource consumption amount, energy consumption amount, etc. A set of item value and unit is saved. The value of the environmental load item is input from the environmental load information input unit 21.

The operation of the environmental load evaluation apparatus of the present embodiment when analyzing the carbon dioxide emissions associated with the production of products will be described. First, in the environmental load evaluation unit 10, “carbon dioxide emission amount” is specified as a search condition from the search condition input unit 11. Then, the environmental load information search unit 12
Environmental load information storage unit 2 of environmental load information storage unit 20
Search for the numerical value and unit of carbon dioxide emissions held in 2. The result is displayed on the output unit 14 through the environmental load evaluation unit 13.

When there are a plurality of environmental load measurement points, a plurality of environmental load information accumulating units 20 may be provided and installed at each environmental load measurement point as described above. In that case, the operation of analysis of carbon dioxide emissions associated with production of a product is as follows. First, the search condition input unit 11 specifies “carbon dioxide emission” as a search condition and one or a plurality of environmental load information storage units 20 to be searched. Then, the environmental load information retrieval unit 12 sequentially retrieves the numerical value and unit of the carbon dioxide emission amount held in the environmental load information storage unit 22 of the designated environmental load information storage unit 20. The environmental load evaluation unit 13 obtains the sum of the retrieved numerical values of carbon dioxide emissions, and the result is displayed on the output unit 14.

As in the case of carbon dioxide emissions, according to the environmental load evaluation apparatus of the present embodiment, the amount of air pollutants emitted, the amount of water pollutants such as BOD, the amount of solid waste,
Resource consumption and energy consumption can be evaluated. Further, as another environmental load evaluation, it is possible to analyze the amount of materials contained in the product and the amount of harmful substances contained in the product.

<< Second Embodiment >> Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the environmental load evaluation device according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

In the case of the first embodiment described above, a case where a plurality of environmental load information storage units are arranged in a network and the environmental load evaluation unit acquires environmental load information from the environmental load information storage unit via the network It is assumed that the environmental load evaluation unit knows in which environmental load information storage unit the environmental information to be searched is located. However, in the case of manufacturing a personal computer or an automobile as described in the section of the above-mentioned conventional technique, it is difficult to know in advance which environmental load information storage unit the necessary environmental load information is in.
In other words, in the case of PC manufacturing, the PC manufacturer knows the source of the hard disk drive and power supply unit built into the PC manufactured by itself, and the values of the power consumed when assembling at the PC. However, since the origin of each component included in the hard disk device is not known, it is not normally known whether there is an environmental load information storage unit corresponding to the individual component. Therefore, in this embodiment, when performing an environmental load evaluation for a certain product, first, the range that can be understood (a manufacturer of the product should be able to know the primary supplier of the component and the amount of power consumed by itself, etc.). A)) and collect the environmental load information, and use the information contained in the collected environmental load information (which is a kind of link information) to know if there is further environmental load information in the next stage. By collecting the environmental load information at the stage of, and repeating this process, all the environmental load information necessary for the environmental load evaluation is collected.

The environmental load evaluation apparatus shown in FIG. 4 is different from the environmental load evaluation apparatus shown in FIG. 3 in that the total environmental load evaluation unit 15 is connected to the network 30 instead of the environmental load evaluation unit, and the network 30 is further addressed. The difference is that the management server 31 is connected. Although only one total environmental load evaluation unit 15 is shown in the figure, a plurality of total environmental load evaluation units 15 may be connected to the network 30.

The total environmental load evaluation unit 15 has a structure in which the environmental load evaluation unit and the environmental load information storage unit 20 in the first embodiment are integrated.
It has an environmental load information search unit 12a, an environmental load evaluation unit 13a, and an environmental load information storage unit 22a, and is connected to a client terminal 16 for inputting search conditions and environmental load information and outputting a search result. As is clear from this explanation,
The comprehensive environmental load evaluation unit 15 has the function of the environmental load evaluation unit in the first embodiment.
The environmental load information retrieving unit 12a is an environmental load information accumulating unit of each comprehensive environmental load evaluating unit 15 (including the comprehensive environmental load evaluating unit 15 in which the environmental load information accumulating unit 12a is provided) according to the input search condition. 22a and the environmental load information storage unit 22 of each environmental load information storage unit 20 are searched to obtain necessary environmental load information, and it also has a function of performing a search on the network 30 as a search robot. That is, it has a function of searching the next environmental load information by using the reference information (link information) included in the environmental load information. As in the case of the first embodiment, the environmental load evaluation unit 13 performs the environmental load evaluation of the target product based on the result of the search by the environmental load information search unit 12a, and the environmental load information storage unit 22a. Holds the environmental load information input from the client terminal 16. As the client terminal 16, for example, an ordinary personal computer can be used.

The address management server 31 uses TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / I) on the Internet.
DNS (Domain Name) used to subtract the IP address from the domain name when communicating using the Internet Protocol
Similar to the (System) server, it resolves network addresses. In the case of this embodiment, each comprehensive environmental load evaluation unit 15 and each environmental load information storage unit 20.
Are assigned network addresses so that they do not overlap. The address management server 31 is used to obtain a network address from the environmental load information storage unit information included in the environmental load information. In the case of this embodiment,
The comprehensive environmental load evaluation unit 15 and the environmental load information storage unit 20 can be arbitrarily connected to the network 30 by their respective businesses. However, in order to avoid duplication of network addresses and environmental load information storage unit identifiers, which will be described later, appropriate network addresses, etc. are assigned from appropriate institutions, just as when connecting a WWW (World Wide Web) server to the Internet. It is preferable to do so.

In the present embodiment, the total environmental load evaluation unit 15 is installed in a business place or the like for environmental load evaluation, and the environmental load information storage unit 20 is used in the manufacturing line of the product to be evaluated and the parts used in the product. It is installed at the business site of the manufacturer of raw materials, the line that disposes and recycles the product, and the business site of the waste disposal company. In the case of the present embodiment, as the parts manufacturer who installs the environmental load information storage unit 20, not only the parts manufacturer directly used to manufacture the product to be evaluated, but also the parts manufacturer directly used to manufacture the product. There are manufacturers of parts used for the parts that are used, and manufacturers of parts on the upstream side. On the disposal side (downstream side) of the product, not only the primary disposal operator but also each stage up to the final disposal operator,
The environmental load information storage unit 20 is installed.
Of course, since the total environmental load evaluation unit 15 has a function as the environmental load information storage unit 20, the total environmental load evaluation unit 15 may be arranged instead of the environmental load information storage unit 20. That is, when considering a tree structure model in the life cycle assessment, at least one of the comprehensive environmental load evaluation unit 15 and the environmental load information storage unit 20 corresponds to each of all nodes (processes) appearing in the model. To be deployed.

Although it may be considered that the environmental load information storage unit 20 is arranged at a large number of places in this way in terms of cost, in the present embodiment, the environmental load information storage unit 20 is a specific product. It is not provided to obtain the environmental load information of, but it is assumed that a process such as manufacturing, processing, disposal, and transportation is performed at the place where the environmental load information storage unit 20 is installed, and the environmental load information related to the process. It is provided to store the. That is,
Even if different products have the same process, the same environmental load information storage unit 20 can be used. If the environmental load information storage unit 20 is widely arranged throughout the society, various products (same It is possible to easily evaluate the environmental load (not necessarily manufactured by the manufacturer). As will be apparent from the search method described later, each comprehensive environmental load evaluation unit 15 includes all environmental load information storage units 20 required for environmental load evaluation.
Need not be known in advance, and the existence of such environmental load information storage unit 20 need not be known in advance. When the actual environmental load evaluation is performed, all the necessary environmental load information is gathered by the acquired environmental load information and the address resolution by the address management server.

FIG. 5 shows the environmental load information storage units 22, 22a.
It is a figure which shows an example of the data structure accumulate | stored in. Each data is specified by the environmental load information storage unit identifier and is roughly divided into reference information and attribute information. The environmental load information storage unit identifier is assigned to identify a plurality of environmental load information storage units 20 (or the total environmental load evaluation unit 15), and consists of unique numbers and character strings.

The reference information is a portion for storing a reference relationship with another environmental load information storage unit 20 (or the total environmental load evaluation unit 15), and is composed of a set of environmental load information storage unit identification information and a coefficient. The other environmental load information storage unit 2 is used as the environmental load information storage unit identification information.
The identifier assigned to 0 (or the total environmental load evaluation unit 15) is stored, and as the coefficient, a numerical value indicating the degree of contribution of the environmental load information stored in the environmental load information storage unit is stored. For example, in the case of a product A composed of three parts B, “B” (specify the part B in the environmental load information storage unit identification information and coefficient of the environmental load information storage unit related to the manufacturing process of the product A, respectively. Do)
And “3” are stored, which indicates that the contribution of the environmental load information of the environmental load information accumulating unit related to the part B is three.

On the other hand, the attribute information is a part for storing the environmental load information, for example, carbon dioxide emission amount, BOD (biological oxygen demand amount), solid waste amount, resource consumption amount, energy consumption amount, harmful substances. Environmental load items such as the content of potential substances (lead), the quantity of these environmental load items, and a set of units are stored as attribute information.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining modeling of steps in this embodiment. Each process is separated into process information and configuration information. Process information, such as raw materials, process emissions (such as carbon dioxide), reference products and reference utilities that are input to that process, but not included in the product at that process, but used in that process (for example, cleaning) Solvent). On the other hand, the configuration information includes information on the configuration of the reference product, which is the output in the process, for example, information about how much iron is contained and how much lead is contained. In the present embodiment, the process information and the configuration information are stored as attribute information in the environmental load storage units 22 and 22a for each process.

Next, an environmental load analysis procedure in this environmental load evaluation apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the environmental load information storage unit A that stores the environmental load information of the product A to be analyzed is searched, and the quantity vA of environmental load such as carbon dioxide emissions and the unit uA are searched (step 101). Then, the set of the environmental load information storage unit identification information B and the coefficient cB recorded in the environmental load information of the product A in the environmental load information storage unit A is searched (step 102). Next, in another environmental load information storage unit B designated by the searched environmental load information storage unit identification information B, the environmental load quantity vB and unit uB are searched (step 10).
3). Since the environmental load information storage unit is installed for each business operator, for example, the unit of quantity may be different if the environmental load information storage unit is different. Therefore, it is checked whether or not the unit uA and the unit uB are equal (step 104), and if they are not equal, the quantity vB is converted so that the unit becomes uA (step 105). Then, in step 106, v = vA + vB · cB
To calculate the environmental load value v. Next, it is checked whether or not the environmental load information accumulating unit B is accumulating a combination of another environmental load information accumulating unit identification information and a coefficient (step 107). If not, the process is terminated and accumulated. If so, the process returns to step 102 to recursively search for another environmental load information storage unit. By executing the above processing for all the sets of the environmental load information storage unit identification information and the coefficient of the environmental load information storage unit A, the total environmental load value of the product A can be calculated.

Next, with reference to FIG. 8, the above-mentioned processing will be specifically described by taking as an example the case where the amount of carbon dioxide (CO 2) emitted in a manufacturing process of a certain product is obtained. In FIG. 8, the numbers in brackets [] indicate the procedure numbers, the bold arrows indicate the carbon dioxide value searching operation by the environmental load information searching unit (search robot) 12a, and the thin arrows indicate other searching operations and Indicates the data input / output operation.

First, a search condition (in this case, a carbon dioxide emission value) is input from the client terminal 16 to the total environmental load evaluation unit 15 (procedure 1). Then, the environmental load information retrieval unit 12a of the comprehensive environmental load evaluation unit 15
Searches the environmental load information storage unit 22a in the comprehensive environmental load evaluation unit 15 (procedure 2), and obtains a carbon dioxide emission value as environmental load information (procedure 3). If the carbon dioxide emission value is known at this stage, it is returned to the client terminal 15 (procedure 4), but generally, the carbon dioxide emission value in the entire manufacturing process is unknown at this stage. Therefore, the environmental load information retrieving unit 12a refers to the environmental load information storage unit identification information included in the environmental load information obtained in step 3 and responds to the address management server 31 with the environmental load information storage unit identification information. To inquire about the network address of the environmental load information accumulating unit 20 (procedure 5), search the environmental load information accumulating unit 22 of the environmental load information accumulating unit 20 (procedure 6), and use carbon dioxide in the environmental load information accumulating unit 20. Obtain emissions (procedure 7). The same procedure is repeated for another environmental load information storage unit 20 (procedures 8 to 10), and when the carbon dioxide emission amount in the entire manufacturing process is obtained, the value is obtained from the comprehensive environmental load evaluation unit 15 to the client. The data is transferred to the terminal 16 (procedure 16), and the process ends. Here, the explanation was given for obtaining the carbon dioxide emission amount throughout the manufacturing process of a certain product, but by the same procedure, the carbon dioxide emission amount required for the disposal of the product and the specific parts of the product It is possible to determine the amount of carbon dioxide emission related to production. It goes without saying that the environmental load values for the environmental load items other than the carbon dioxide emission amount can be obtained by the same procedure.

The method for obtaining the environmental load value in the second embodiment has been described above. However, the environmental load information accumulating units are dispersedly arranged in a large number of parts manufacturers, and each parts manufacturer has a plurality of types of parts. Considering the case of manufacturing a product, even if the environmental load information storage unit is logically provided for each component type and process, physically, only a limited number of environmental load information storage units are available at each business site. It is preferable that In addition, it is necessary to prevent inconsistencies or discrepancies in the environmental load information storage unit identification information and the environmental load information storage unit identifiers between multiple businesses. Therefore, by including the business name and product number in the environmental load information storage unit identification information and the environmental load information storage unit identifier, it is possible to physically reduce the number of environmental load information storage units and to use various parts. It is preferable to be able to handle the processes and processes. When physically limiting the number of environmental load information storage units in this way, the physical environmental load information storage unit is identified by the network address, and the logical environmental load information storage unit identifier is used to identify the logical environmental load information storage unit. Identify the information storage unit.

Further, in the second embodiment, as a model of each process, a model consisting of process information and configuration information is used as shown in FIG. 6, and the configuration information is useful such as gold which can be recollected. Information about how much substance is contained and how much harmful substance is contained depending on the disposal method such as lead can be included. Therefore, items such as gold and lead can be listed as environmental load items.
Thereby, the amount of gold that can be recovered at the time of disposal and the amount of lead that will be contained in the waste can be evaluated.

Next, an example of inputting search conditions and displaying search results on the client terminal 16 in the second embodiment will be described. The client terminal 16 can input and display based on a GUI (graphical user interface).

FIG. 9 (a) is a screen for designating from which viewpoint the environmental load value is to be searched. The product whose trader name is ABC and whose product name is C123 (here, Assuming a personal computer), you can select either product information, configuration information, or process information. The display of "environmental load evaluation system" in the upper center of the screen is the name of the environmental load evaluation device here and serves as the title of the screen. The selection is performed by clicking the corresponding item with a pointing device such as a mouse. The product information is information associated with the product itself, the manufacturing process, and the disassembling process. The configuration information is
Information about what the product is made up of, that is, what is actually included in the product, process information that is not included in the product but is used or discharged in the process for that product. Information about things. The configuration information and the process information here correspond to the configuration information and the process information in the model shown in FIG. 7.

If the configuration information is selected on the screen shown in FIG. 9 (a), a screen for inputting under what condition the search is to be made appears as shown in FIG. 9 (b).
If you select "All" here, it means that you have selected to search the configuration information of the target product as a whole.
If is selected and individual parts are selected, it means that the retrieval of the configuration information of the corresponding parts is selected. If "HDD" is selected here, the component "HDD" is selected, and if "component 1" or "component 2" immediately below "HDD" is selected, "component" that is a component of the HDD is selected. This means that "1" or "part 2" has been selected. Further, the right side of the screen is an area for designating which environmental load item is to be searched. "CO2" is carbon dioxide, "Cu" or "P".
"b" corresponds to lead and copper, respectively. In the illustrated example, a search is instructed for the amount of copper and lead for the component “HDD”. Then, by clicking the "Search" button, the search is started according to the procedure described above.

When the search is completed, a result display screen as shown in FIG. 9C is displayed. In the figure, it is displayed that the component “HDD” contains 15 g of copper and 114 g of lead.

On the other hand, when "process information" is selected on the selection screen shown in FIG. 9A, a screen as shown in FIG. 10A is displayed. Similar to the case of the configuration information, it is possible to select whether to obtain a numerical value for all processes or a numerical value for a designated process, and to specify which environmental load item to search. Here, it is instructed to search for carbon dioxide emissions and power consumption through all processes. The search result for such a search condition is shown in FIG.
It is shown in (b). The figure shows that the carbon dioxide emission amount through the whole manufacturing process is 2 kg per product, and the power consumption amount is 12 kWh.

[0058]

As described above, according to the present invention, the environmental load evaluation unit and the environmental load information storage unit constitute the environmental load evaluation apparatus, so that the environmental load information storage unit can be separated from the environmental load evaluation unit. It has become possible to place the environmental impact information storage unit in the place where environmental impact information is collected, for example, in the product production line, the parts / materials production line, or the product disposal / recycling line. This has the effect of facilitating registration and renewal. In addition, since the environmental load information storage unit can be managed independently, the environmental load information can be easily updated, and based on the latest environmental load information,
There is also an effect that more accurate environmental load evaluation becomes possible.

Further, according to the present invention, the environmental load information is stored by using the equipment installed in the product manufacturing line, the parts / materials manufacturing line, the product disposal / recycling line, etc., which is equipped with the environmental load information accumulating unit. It becomes possible to automate the collection of information, and there is an effect that the work involved in collecting environmental load information is made more efficient.

Further, in the present invention, the environmental load information is made to include reference information for referencing the environmental load information of the other process directly referenced by the corresponding process, and in evaluating the total environmental load value, According to the search condition, the environmental load information directly related to the target product is searched, and other environmental load information is recursively searched based on the reference information (link information) included in the searched environmental load information. Thus, for example, when each parts manufacturer installs its own environmental load information storage unit, it can calculate the total environmental load value quickly and accurately without knowing where the environmental load information for each process is in advance. The effect is that you will be able to.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an environmental load evaluation apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an environmental load evaluation device in which a plurality of environmental information storage units are connected via a network.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration of data stored in an environmental load information storage unit.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an environmental load evaluation device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration of data stored in an environmental load information storage unit.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a model of a process.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an environmental load analysis procedure.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a method of executing environmental load evaluation via a network.

9A to 9C are diagrams showing examples of display screens.

10A and 10B are diagrams showing examples of display screens.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a model used in a life cycle assessment by a conventional stacking method.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a model having a conventional tree structure.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional environmental load evaluation device.

14A and 14B are diagrams illustrating an example of data stored in an environmental load information storage unit of the environmental load evaluation apparatus illustrated in FIG.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a life cycle model of a personal computer having a tree structure.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Environmental load evaluation unit 11 Search condition input section 12,12a Environmental impact information search unit 13,13a Environmental Load Evaluation Department 14 Output section 15 Comprehensive Environmental Impact Evaluation Unit 16 Client terminal 20 Environmental load information storage unit 21 Environmental impact information input section 22,22a Environmental impact information storage unit 30 network 31 Address management server 101-107 steps

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. An environmental load evaluation device for evaluating a total environmental load value of a target product, comprising: an environmental load information storage unit for inputting and storing environmental load information in each process relating to the target product; An environmental load evaluation unit that retrieves the environmental load information stored in the load information storage unit and calculates the total environmental load value of the target product, and a network that connects the environmental load information storage unit and the environmental load evaluation unit And an address management server which is connected to the network and resolves the network address of the environmental load information storage unit to be referenced based on the reference information of the environmental load evaluation unit, wherein the environmental load information storage unit is An environmental load information input section for inputting environmental load information in the corresponding process, and an environmental load information input section for inputting environmental load information. And an environmental load information storage unit that stores information, wherein the environmental load information storage unit includes an environmental load information storage unit identifier for identifying a plurality of environmental load information storage units and a total environmental load evaluation unit, and other An environmental load evaluation device characterized by storing reference information for storing a reference relationship between an environmental load information storage unit and a total environmental load evaluation unit, and attribute information for storing environmental load information of the process. 2. The environmental load evaluation apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of the environmental load information storage units, and each of the environmental load information storage units is arranged at an execution point of a process related to the target product. . 3. The environmental load information storage unit identification information, wherein the reference information stored in the environmental load evaluation unit stores identifiers assigned to other environmental load information storage units or a total environmental load evaluation unit, and The environmental load evaluation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the environmental load evaluation unit comprises a set with a coefficient for storing a numerical value indicating a degree of contribution of the environmental load information stored in the environmental load information storage unit. 4. The environmental load evaluation device according to claim 1, wherein the attribute information stored in the environmental load evaluation unit is an environmental load item, a quantity and a unit of the environmental load item. 5. The environmental load evaluation device according to claim 1, wherein the environmental load evaluation unit includes an environmental load information search unit that searches for environmental load information in the environmental load information storage unit. 6. The environmental load evaluation unit, a search condition input unit for inputting a search condition, and an environmental load information search unit for searching for environmental load information in the environmental load information storage unit based on the input search condition, The environmental load according to claim 1, further comprising: an environmental load evaluation unit that calculates a total environmental load value of the target product based on the retrieved environmental load information; and an output unit that outputs the calculated total environmental load value. Evaluation device. 7. An environmental load evaluation method for evaluating a total environmental load value of a target product, wherein environmental load information including environmental load items in the process is accumulated for each process related to the target product, The environmental load information includes an environmental load information storage unit identifier that identifies multiple environmental load information storage units and a total environmental load evaluation unit, and reference information that stores a reference relationship between other environmental load information storage units and a total environmental load evaluation unit. The environmental load information storage unit identifier for the environmental load information of the process to be searched according to the search condition, including the attribute information for storing the environmental load information of the process, obtaining the network address from the environmental load information storage unit identifier, Using the network address, obtain the reference information and attribute information of the environmental load information of the process to be searched, and write it in the reference information. An environmental load evaluation method for recursively acquiring attribute information of environmental load information by a recorded environmental load information storage unit identifier and calculating a total environmental load value based on all the attribute information. 8. An environmental load evaluation method for evaluating the amount of a constituent substance contained in a target product, the environment including configuration information relating to the amount of the constituent substance in the process for each process related to the target product. Accumulation of load information, and the environmental load information refers to other environmental load information storage units and total environmental load evaluation units and environmental load information storage unit identifiers that identify multiple environmental load information storage units and total environmental load evaluation units. The reference information for storing the relationship and the attribute information for storing the environmental load information of the process are obtained, and the environmental load information storage unit identifier of the environmental load information of the process to be searched is obtained according to the search condition. A network address is obtained from the network address, and the network address is used to refer to the environmental load information and the attribute information of the process to be searched. Environmental load information accumulating unit identifier recorded in the reference information to recursively acquire the attribute information of the environmental load information, and calculate the amount of the constituent substance based on all the attribute information. Evaluation methods. 9. The environmental load evaluation method according to claim 7, wherein the attribute information is an environmental load item and the quantity and unit of the environmental load item.