Abstract
This paper discusses the possibility of the integrated environmental optimality of a series of artifacts that are reconfigurable for gradually fluctuating demands by mutually replacing their subsystems. Following general discussion, leading design of home-use cogeneration systems is explored with the optimal design techniques as an example case study. While a home-use cogeneration system is expected to efficiently provide electricity and head simultaneously, their demand levels depend on the family structure, which is systematically variable. On the other hand, since a system is composed of a generator, a heat accumulator, a boiler, etc., it can be reconfigurable by partially replacing its subsystems. In the paper, a representative situation of socially exchangeable artifacts is illustrated under several scenarios, and then some prerequisites are discussed toward their environmental optimality.
