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Opinion Article

All engineers should be life cycle engineers … mindful of maintenance

[version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]
Kai Rüdele
https://orcid.org/0009-0006-3956-5510
1, Antonia Rahn2
Kai Rüdele
https://orcid.org/0009-0006-3956-5510
1, Antonia Rahn2
PUBLISHED 27 Jan 2026
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OPEN PEER REVIEW
REVIEWER STATUS AWAITING PEER REVIEW

Abstract

Following a recent keynote on life cycle engineering, a vibrant debate arose regarding the significance of maintenance for environmental footprints. It has become clear to us that this aspect is currently overlooked in broader sustainability discussions. Evidence, for example from aviation, demonstrates that maintenance activities can materially shape the environmental performance of products. In some cases, they are a significant environmental burden; in others, a powerful lever for impact reduction. Therefore, ecologically informed maintenance concepts offer opportunities to optimize the use stage. We advocate for integrating maintenance systematically into life cycle assessments and engineering decision-making to achieve more sustainable products and processes.

Keywords

life cycle assessment, service, repair, eco-design

Corresponding author: Kai Rüdele
Competing interests: No competing interests were disclosed.
Grant information: The author(s) declared that no grants were involved in supporting this work.
Copyright:  © 2026 Rüdele K and Rahn A. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
How to cite: Rüdele K and Rahn A. All engineers should be life cycle engineers … mindful of maintenance [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]. F1000Research 2026, 15:125 (https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.175822.1) First published: 27 Jan 2026, 15:125 (https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.175822.1) Latest published: 27 Jan 2026, 15:125 (https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.175822.1)

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References

  • 1.  Herrmann C, Hauschild MZ, Mativenga P: All engineers should be life cycle engineers with a mindset for absolute sustainability. Procedia CIRP. 2025; 135: 409–419. Publisher Full Text
  • 2.  Hauschild MZ, Herrmann C, Kara S: An integrated framework for life cycle engineering. Procedia CIRP. 2017; 61: 2–9. Publisher Full Text
  • 3.  Sala S, Castellani V: The consumer footprint: Monitoring sustainable development goal 12 with process-based life cycle assessment. J. Clean. Prod. 2019; 240: 118050. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text | Free Full Text
  • 4.  Oestreicher A, Rahn A, Ramm J, et al.: Sustainable engine maintenance: Evaluating the ecological impact of life limited part replacement. 34th Congress of the International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences. 2024.
  • 5.  European Commission: Commission recommendation of 9 April 2013 on the use of common methods to measure and communicate the life cycle environmental performance of products and organisations.2013. Reference Source
  • 6.  Rahn A, Pohya A, Wehrspohn J, et al.: A Modular Framework for Life Cycle Assessment of Aircraft Maintenance. AIAA Aviation Forum. 2021; 2021. Publisher Full Text
  • 7.  Stückler T, Rüdele K: Accounting for the unseen: Quantifying emissions from product development activities - A case study on variant-rich product families. Zeitschrift für wirtschaftlichen Fabrikbetrieb. 2025; 120(9): 597–602. Publisher Full Text

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Rüdele K and Rahn A. All engineers should be life cycle engineers … mindful of maintenance [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]. F1000Research 2026, 15:125 (https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.175822.1)
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Open Peer Review

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Key to Reviewer Statuses VIEW
ApprovedThe paper is scientifically sound in its current form and only minor, if any, improvements are suggested
Approved with reservations A number of small changes, sometimes more significant revisions are required to address specific details and improve the papers academic merit.
Not approvedFundamental flaws in the paper seriously undermine the findings and conclusions

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    Alongside their report, reviewers assign a status to the article:
    Approved - the paper is scientifically sound in its current form and only minor, if any, improvements are suggested
    Approved with reservations - A number of small changes, sometimes more significant revisions are required to address specific details and improve the papers academic merit.
    Not approved - fundamental flaws in the paper seriously undermine the findings and conclusions
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