Trans RINA, Vol 153, Part C1, Intl J Marine Design, Jul - Dec 2011 BOAT DESIGN WITH A POSITIVE IMPACT
C K Schiffer, LADIDA design, France (DOI No: 10.3940/rina.ijmd.2011.c1.6) SUMMARY
The industrial-scale production of pleasure boats started in the '70s and their lifespan is 30-50 years. It is expected that this mass of pleasure boats coming to their end-of-life, will soon pose an environmental and economic problem.
Recently boat disposal initiatives have started to be put in place. In order for these efforts to have an effect, the boats need to be designed for dis-assembly (DfD): they need to be built so that they can be disassembled at the end of their useful life. The challenge is to design boats in a cradle-to-cradle perspective. What makes DfD so effective is that creative problem solving is placed in the hands of those who are best able to find a solution: marine designers and naval architects themselves. This paper discusses the problems faced and opportunities arising for the industry.
NOMENCLATURE
DfD Design for disassembly EBDIG European Boat Design Group PIB Positive impact boat LCA Life cycle analysis ISO International Standards Organisation GRP Glass fibre reinforced plastic
1. INTRODUCTION
Designers are creators. They will create hundreds of yachts during their working life, they will specify the materials, conceive comfortable yachts
with safe
ergonomics, imagine boats that will appeal and sell due to their styling. Designers will create people’s dreams. Designers have an impact.
The notion that design has anything to do with pollution is not immediately obvious. Virtually every product
is
the result of significant planning and design. Pollution and waste are functions of design. We like to think about our designs after-life as little as we like to think about our own mortality. Mortality though, is the great imperative of natural creation - Products created by humans are not exempt. Just as we create, we are required to design an end to our creation’s life.
The first boats are only starting to come to their end-of- life. The problem will become more visible. Boats are abandoned or cut up and the composite is then down- cycled at best to be used as filler and fuel for the concrete industry. As the deconstruction of boats is in itself an energy and labour intensive process, it currently makes no economical sense to dismantle GRP yachts.
Until recently it was possible to dispose of boats as household waste. EU legislation applies in theory to all end-of-life-vehicles and it is a matter of time before it will be enforced to the leisure boating industry.
Since April 2011 French boats have to be disposed according to the same regulations than caravans and mobile homes [1].
The costs for the recycling of the end-of-life-boats are a factor that boat buyers will increasingly take into account when doing their purchase decision.
The Fédération des Indutries Nautiques, has put in place a network of recycling centres for boats. According to Figure 2 the number of abandoned boats is not yet important, but will grow steadily as has the boat production in France since the late 60s
Figure 1: abandoned boats 1.1 OVERSUPPLY OF AGING BOATS
Since the beginning of mass production of GRP Yachts in the 1960s millions of boats have been produced.
Marinas are getting saturated and berthing space is clogged up by abandoned boats. GRP has excellent properties, it is ultra durable, fairly light weight and economical; yachts have an average life expectancy around 40 years.
The single biggest obstacle to the sale of new boats is the gigantic oversupply of used boats.
©2011: The Royal Institution of Naval Architects
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