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Sustainable System Design Lab
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The lab designs artifact systems suited to a sustainable society.
AboutAbout the lab
Designing artifact systems for a sustainable society.
The lab studies how artifact systems suited to a sustainable society should be envisioned, and systematizes methods for designing them.
It systematizes design methodologies for the life cycle of artifacts and for product-service systems from the perspectives of the global environment, society, and the economy.
The underlying disciplines are design engineering, life cycle engineering, and environmental studies.
The foundation of the lab's cutting-edge research is compiled in "Sustainable Systems Design", written by Professor Kobayashi Hideki.
Key terms
- Life Cycle Assessment
- A method for assessing environmental impact across the entire life cycle, from production to disposal. It is based on life cycle thinking.
- Carbon Neutrality
- A slogan for bringing net CO2 emissions across society as a whole to zero. It has been set as a goal under the Paris Agreement.
- Circular Economy
- A package of economic policies restructured with the aim of establishing Europe's competitive advantage.
- Well-being
- A term often rendered in Japanese as "happiness". It is one angle for thinking about issues of social sustainability.
NewsLab news
An undergraduate student received the Hatakeyama Award from the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
Lecturer Murata received the Encouragement Award for Research Achievements from the Design Engineering & Systems Division of the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
An undergraduate student received the Eiji Muto Award from the Japan Society for Design Engineering
ResearchResearch themes
The lab aims to build an academic framework for the design and management of artifact systems suited to a sustainable society. Its core is life cycle thinking, which judges matters across the entire life cycle from production to disposal, and it also conducts life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate environmental impact.
*Illustrative imageAssessing Carbon Neutrality and Circularity
The lab quantifies the effects of new technologies and products on the environment and society, and also analyzes their side effects. It develops life cycle simulation methods that trace the flow of products and parts, and evaluates them from the perspectives of both carbon neutrality and the circular economy.
Design for Well-being
To achieve sustainability in developing as well as developed countries, the lab proposes a "living-sphere approach" that rethinks the relationship between people's fundamental needs and product functions. It is also advancing research on region-oriented design, which reflects the regional characteristics of culturally different developing countries in product specifications.
MembersFaculty
The Sustainable System Design Lab consists of faculty, master's and undergraduate students, and secretaries.As of 2026
- ProfessorHideki Hideki
- LecturerHidenori Murata
VoicesStudent voices
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Life Cycle Thinking Product System” The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) / Public domain (cropped)
- Assessing Carbon Neutrality and Circularity: “Recycling Grandma's Way” Elise Motalli / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Materials Design and Process Engineering Lab): “FZU 3Dprinting 4” René Volfík / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Micro Dynamics Lab): “Universal testing machine” Ganitz / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Biomaterials Science Lab): “Bone Tissue” Andreacise / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Joining Interface Mechanisms Lab [Joining and Welding Research Institute]): “Friction stir welding data monitoring at NASA MSFC (Marshall Space Flight Center) in a video by NASA-MSFC 05” NASA/MSFC / Public domain (cropped)
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