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Revision as of 22:51, 4 February 2007

Design for Environment refers to procedures and processes for analyzing the environmental impact of a product throughout its life cycle and making design changes to reduce impact. Full accounting of the environmental impact of a product throughout its life is called life cycle assessment. DFE is one approach that designers can take toward sustainable development.

Environmental Issues

Major environmental issues affected by design choices include:

• Climate change
  • Green house gasses (CO₂, etc)
• Air pollution
  • Acid rain (SO₂, NO_x)
  • Smog (O₃, PAHs)
  • Hazardous air pollutants (Pb)
  • Particulate aerosols (soot)
• Ozone depletion
  • CFCs
• Water polution
  • Toxics (metals and VOCs
  • Oxygen demand, (eutrophication)
  • Nutrients, salts, thermal
  • Microbial hazards
• Water depletion
• Solid waste
  • Landfill resources and containment
  • Spills and illegal dumping
  • Hazardous waste
• Resource depletion
• Biodiversity
• Distribution of wealth

Strategies for DFE

While a full, detailed study may be necessary in many cases in order to assess environmental aspects of a product to determine which design changes will make significant reductions in environmental impact, some heuristics and rules of thumb can be successful in improving products. In practice, improving a design with respect to environmental metrics involves:

• Understand the product
• Understand its impact (LCA)
• Do something about it (DFE)

The DFE Strategy Wheel is one example of a framework for thinking about strategies to reduce environmental impact.

The DFE Strategy Wheel is based on the United Nations Environmental Program’s PROMISE Manual and adapted by the National Research Council of Canada. It provides a basic framework that you can use systematically to review the entire life cycle of a product. It is a tool that can:

• Stimulate the creative design process.
• Assist in visualizing current environmental performance.
• Highlight opportunities for improvement.

Optimizing your product’s performance will require a balance of functional, economic and environmental elements. The Strategy Wheel begins with new product concepts, and covers design, materials selection, production, distribution, and the use and end of a product’s life. Although the strategies are numbered consecutively based on a product’s life cycle, you will find the sequence for implementing the strategies is not the same for every product. In other words, there is no one way to use of the strategies that is “right”; the sequencing depends on the needs of your organization and the product’s production.

1. New Concept Development

• De-materialization
• Increase Shared Use
• Provide a Service

2. Physical Optimization

• Integrate Functions
• Optimize Functions
• Increase Reliability and Durability
• Easy Maintenance and Repair
• Design for Modularity
• Promote Product-User Relationships

3. Material Selection

• Leaner Materials
• Renewable Materials
• Low Energy Content Materials
• Recycled Materials
• Recyclable Materials
• Reduce Material Use (weight and vol.)

4. Optimize Production

• Chose Alternate Production Processes
• Fewer Production Steps
• Lower/Cleaner Production Energy Consumption
• Less Production Waste
• Fewer/Cleaner Production Consumables

5. Optimize Distribution

• Less/Cleaner/Reusable Packaging
• Energy Efficient Transport Mode
• Energy Efficient Logistics

6. Product Use

• Lower Energy Consumption
• Cleaner Energy Sources
• Reduce Consumables
• Cleaner Consumables
• Reduce Consumable Waste

7. End of Life

• Reuse of Product
• Re-manufacturing / Re-furbishment of Product
• Recycling of Materials
• Safer Incineration
• Design for Disassembly