Page 112 - Design for Environment A Guide to Sustainable Product Development

Principles of Design for Envir onment 91

FIGURE 6.3 Design for Environment: four principal strategies.

discarded products, refurbishing or remanufacturing prod-
ucts and components at the end of their useful life, facilitat-
ing disassembly and material separation for durable products,
and finding economical ways to recycle and reuse waste
streams. Industrial ecology approaches fit within this strat-
egy and are discussed separately below. Revalorization goes
hand in glove with dematerialization, since repeatedly cycling
materials and resources within the economy reduces the need
to extract them from the environment.
4. Design for Capital Protection and Renewal—Assure the
availability and integrity of the various types of productive
capital that are the basis of future human prosperity. Here
“capital” is used in the broadest sense. Human capital refers
to the health, safety, security, and well being of employees,
customers, suppliers, and other enterprise stakeholders [4].
Natural capital refers to the natural resources and ecosystem
services that make possible all economic activity, indeed, all
life. Economic capital refers to tangible enterprise assets includ-
ing facilities and equipment, as well as intellectual property,
reputation, and other intangible assets that represent eco-
nomic value (see Chapter 4). Capital protection involves
maintaining continuity and productivity for existing capital,
while renewal involves restoring, reinvesting, or generating
new capital to replace that which has been depleted. Thus
renewal may include attracting new talent, revitalizing eco-
systems, and building new factories.