Reducing the environmental footprint of interior wood doors in non-residential buildings – part 2: ecodesign

• Based on previous LCA results, selected targets for environmental improvement are particleboard components, transportation and end-of-life.
• Switching from road to rail transportation, whenever possible, is beneficial to the overall environmental impact of the door.
• The reutilization of the door core in the door manufacturing process proved a great benefit due to the avoidance of new raw materials production.
• Developing services around door recovery and remanufacturing seems promising in reducing doors environmental impacts.

Ecodesign is a concept that emerged few decades ago as a response to the larger concept of sustainable development. Multiple tools exist to address ecodesign. Life Cycle Assessment, a comprehensive, robust and recognized evaluation tool, enables to identify the product environmental profile. Based on previous LCA results on interior wood doors, this paper aims at proposing an ecodesign strategy based on the generation and evaluation of alternative scenarios. The three selected targets for environmental improvement are particleboard components, transportation and end-of-life. For the particleboard manufacturing, the use of adhesives based on bio-sourced resources was not very conclusive, except for the use of pine tannins in panel manufacture that showed promising results. Concerning transportation issues, switching from road to rail transportation, as well as having a local supplier, decreased the overall environmental impact of the door. The most notable alternative was the end-of-life recycling scenario. The reutilization of the door core in the door manufacturing process proved a great benefit due to the avoidance of new raw materials production. Developing services around door recovery and remanufacturing seems promising in reducing doors environmental impacts. This scenario would be readily viable and realistic.