A PCA-based method for construction of composite sustainability indicators

被引：90
作者：
Li, Tao [1 ]
Zhang, Hongchao [1 ,2 ]
Yuan, Chris [3 ]
Liu, Zhichao [1 ]
Fan, Chengcheng [4 ]
机构：
[1] Dalian Univ Technol, Sch Mech Engn, Dalian 116023, Liaoning, Peoples R China
[2] Texas Tech Univ, Dept Ind Engn, Lubbock, TX 79409 USA
[3] Univ Wisconsin, Dept Mech Engn, Milwaukee, WI 53201 USA
[4] Stanford Univ, Dept Management Sci & Engn, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
来源：
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT | 2012年 / 17卷 / 05期
关键词：
Corporate sustainability; Industry and academia surveys; Life cycle assessment; Sustainable development; Sustainability indicator;
D O I：
10.1007/s11367-012-0394-y
中图分类号：
X [环境科学、安全科学];
学科分类号：
08 ; 0830 ;
摘要：
Sustainable manufacturing is practiced globally as a comprehensive strategy for improving the sustainability performance of the manufacturing industry. While sustainability is characterized into such three dimensions as economic, environmental, and social, currently, there is no quantitative method yet to measure the so-called "sustainability" in the manufacturing industry. The objective of this research is to develop a comprehensive and effective quantitative method to measure the overall sustainability performance of manufacturing companies. In this paper, an integrated methodology is presented for the development of composite sustainability indicators based on principal component analysis (PCA). In developing this integrated approach, both industry and academia surveys are conducted to identify what sustainability indicators are favored by the sustainable manufacturing community. A unique index is then generated to measure the overall sustainability performance of industrial practices. The methodology can be used for benchmarking the overall sustainability performance of various manufacturing companies. A case study is conducted on a total of 11 global electronic manufacturing companies. The overall sustainability performance of these companies are measured, benchmarked, and ranked. The results showed that PCA is an effective approach for constructing composite sustainability indicators across environmental, economic, and social dimensions. From this research, it is found that industry and academia have different views on the sustainability measurement, evidenced by different weights put on the same indicator in industry and academia. The case study demonstrated that the methodology presented in this paper is an effective tool for comprehensive measurement of sustainability performance of manufacturing companies. Strengths and weaknesses of each company can be identified. Then, the recommended improvements can be suggested based on the study of each of the individual indicators.
引用
收藏
页码：593 / 603
页数：11
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