Forecast of the energy and material demands of a paint shop by an assistant-supported parameterized material flow based decision support system

Abstract

Nowadays there is a big movement to a new way of thinking. The goal of a sustainable development is becoming a basis for a green economy. “A Green Economy can be defined as an economy that results in improved human well-being and reduced inequalities over the long term, while not exposing future generations to significant environmental risks and eco-logical scarcities.” [UNEP 2010, p. 5] This means, a green economy would inherit the goals of low resource usage, low production of harmful substances and to be social responsible. Resource efficiency as a central subject creates a link between ecology and economy together with each other. Saved raw materials lead in most cases to a cost reduction and at the same time to improvements of the companies’ environmental performance. But on the way to improve the resource efficiency of a company it is necessary to create a needed transparency of the looked on processes. Transparency is essential for improving the resource efficiency, but it is particularly hard to create [Jasch 2009, p. 3].