What's Next in Sustainable Acoustic Materials?
(2020) MMKM10 20201Innovation
- Abstract
- As industries have begun to rethink the way they design, make and dispose of products for the purpose of sustainable development, manufacturers of acoustic products have been slow off the mark. The majority of acoustic products are still made of primarily virgin material made from petrochemical resources, which have a significant impact on the environment. This is problematic from an environmental standpoint, but also a commercial, as society is starting to favor materials fitting into a circular economy. Thus, consumers might break companies based on poor environmental strategy and branding.
As it is clear that well designed acoustic environments can lead to improved wellbeing, an area which has gained recognition in the later years, it... (More) - As industries have begun to rethink the way they design, make and dispose of products for the purpose of sustainable development, manufacturers of acoustic products have been slow off the mark. The majority of acoustic products are still made of primarily virgin material made from petrochemical resources, which have a significant impact on the environment. This is problematic from an environmental standpoint, but also a commercial, as society is starting to favor materials fitting into a circular economy. Thus, consumers might break companies based on poor environmental strategy and branding.
As it is clear that well designed acoustic environments can lead to improved wellbeing, an area which has gained recognition in the later years, it is important that acoustic products keep up with the new green economy.
The purpose of this thesis was to answer the question, “What’s next in sustainable acoustic materials?”, with the presumption that a truly sustainable material for an acoustic solution already exists but has not yet been applied in an acoustic product. In this thesis, already existing (or upcoming) materials were evaluated with regards to their environmental properties, their applicability in acoustic products and how the materials with the highest potential could be used in an acoustic solution.
Two distinct areas of interest characterize this thesis; firstly the material selection and its complexity regarding sustainability and secondly the development of an acoustic concept, BAUX Flight Mode, based on the aforementioned selection. The material search and selection process culminated in a list of 90 materials, which was filtered down to 12 materials with the help of a scoring system and later 3 through discussions and further analysis.
The final design proposal, BAUX Flight Mode, was based on one of these materials, Circulose, which are cellulosic pulp sheets made from textile waste. The concept makes use of these sheets by joining them together and extending them around a wooden billet fastened in a wooden base unit. An important aspect permeating the whole concept being that it is easily assembled and disassembled without the use of any additional parts, as well as being easily recyclable in an existing system.
The conclusion is that the generated design proposal is considered to provide a foundation onto which BAUX can develop a new, sustainable and unique product on the market, while at the same time offering the opportunity to redesign their business model. (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- Allteftersom företag har börjat att ompröva sättet de designar, tillverkar och avyttrar produkter inom ramarna för hållbar utveckling så har tillverkare av akustiska produkter varit långsamma ur startblocken. Majoriteten av akustiska produkter är fortfarande primärt sammansatta av nyråvara från petrokemiska resurser, vilka har en signifikant påverkan på miljön. Det är problematiskt ur både en miljömässig synvinkel, men även ur en affärsmässig, då samhället har börjat att föredra material som passar in i en cirkulär ekonomi. Således kan kunder komma att bryta ner företag baserat på dålig hållbarhetsstrategi och -marknadsföring.
Då det är tydligt att väldesignade akustiska miljöer kan leda till förbättrat välmående, vilket är ett område som... (More) - Allteftersom företag har börjat att ompröva sättet de designar, tillverkar och avyttrar produkter inom ramarna för hållbar utveckling så har tillverkare av akustiska produkter varit långsamma ur startblocken. Majoriteten av akustiska produkter är fortfarande primärt sammansatta av nyråvara från petrokemiska resurser, vilka har en signifikant påverkan på miljön. Det är problematiskt ur både en miljömässig synvinkel, men även ur en affärsmässig, då samhället har börjat att föredra material som passar in i en cirkulär ekonomi. Således kan kunder komma att bryta ner företag baserat på dålig hållbarhetsstrategi och -marknadsföring.
Då det är tydligt att väldesignade akustiska miljöer kan leda till förbättrat välmående, vilket är ett område som har fått ökad uppmärksamhet under senare år, så är det viktigt att akustiska produkter hänger med den nya gröna ekonomin.
Syftet med detta examensarbete var att besvara frågan, ”Vad är framtiden inom hållbara akustiska material?”, med antagandet att ett verkligt hållbart material för en akustisk lösning redan finns, men ännu inte har använts i en akustisk produkt. Examensarbetet utvärderar befintliga (eller kommande) material med avseende på miljömässiga egenskaper samt användningspotential i akustiska produkter och hur de materialen med högst potential kunde användas i en akustisk lösning.
Två distinkta intresseområden karaktäriserar detta examensarbete; för det första materialurvalet och dess komplexitet gällande hållbarhet och för det andra utvecklingen av ett akustiskt koncept, BAUX Flight mode, baserat på det nyssnämnda urvalet. Materialsökningen och urvalsprocessen kulminerade i en lista bestående av 90 material, vilken filtrerades ner till 12 material med hjälp av ett poängsystem och senare 3 genom diskussioner och vidare analys.
Det slutgiltiga designförslaget, BAUX Flight Mode, baserades på ett av dessa material, Circulose, vilket är ark bestående av cellulosamassa utvunnen ur textilt avfall. Konceptet använder dessa ark genom att sammanfoga dem och utvidga dem runt en rundstav i trä som är fäst i en basenhet i trä. En viktig aspekt som genomsyrar hela konceptet är att det är enkelt att montera och demontera utan ytterligare delar, samt att det är enkelt att återvinna i ett redan befintligt system.
Slutsatsen är att det genererade designförslaget anses tillhandahålla en grund för BAUX att utgå ifrån i utvecklandet av en ny, hållbar och unik produkt på marknaden, samtidigt som den erbjuder en möjlighet att rita om deras affärsmodell. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9017118
- author
- Hellqvist, Klas LU and Andersson, Anna LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- MMKM10 20201
- year
- 2020
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Sustainability, Acoustics, Materials, Sound Absorption
- language
- English
- id
- 9017118
- date added to LUP
- 2020-06-15 10:01:26
- date last changed
- 2020-06-15 10:01:26
@misc{9017118,
abstract = {{As industries have begun to rethink the way they design, make and dispose of products for the purpose of sustainable development, manufacturers of acoustic products have been slow off the mark. The majority of acoustic products are still made of primarily virgin material made from petrochemical resources, which have a significant impact on the environment. This is problematic from an environmental standpoint, but also a commercial, as society is starting to favor materials fitting into a circular economy. Thus, consumers might break companies based on poor environmental strategy and branding.
As it is clear that well designed acoustic environments can lead to improved wellbeing, an area which has gained recognition in the later years, it is important that acoustic products keep up with the new green economy.
The purpose of this thesis was to answer the question, “What’s next in sustainable acoustic materials?”, with the presumption that a truly sustainable material for an acoustic solution already exists but has not yet been applied in an acoustic product. In this thesis, already existing (or upcoming) materials were evaluated with regards to their environmental properties, their applicability in acoustic products and how the materials with the highest potential could be used in an acoustic solution.
Two distinct areas of interest characterize this thesis; firstly the material selection and its complexity regarding sustainability and secondly the development of an acoustic concept, BAUX Flight Mode, based on the aforementioned selection. The material search and selection process culminated in a list of 90 materials, which was filtered down to 12 materials with the help of a scoring system and later 3 through discussions and further analysis.
The final design proposal, BAUX Flight Mode, was based on one of these materials, Circulose, which are cellulosic pulp sheets made from textile waste. The concept makes use of these sheets by joining them together and extending them around a wooden billet fastened in a wooden base unit. An important aspect permeating the whole concept being that it is easily assembled and disassembled without the use of any additional parts, as well as being easily recyclable in an existing system.
The conclusion is that the generated design proposal is considered to provide a foundation onto which BAUX can develop a new, sustainable and unique product on the market, while at the same time offering the opportunity to redesign their business model.}},
author = {{Hellqvist, Klas and Andersson, Anna}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{What's Next in Sustainable Acoustic Materials?}},
year = {{2020}},
}