Page 153 - Design for Environment A Guide to Sustainable Product Development

132 Cha pte r Ei g h t

containers that can be recovered and reused for the same
application. In some cases, containers can be eliminated; for
example, Duke Energy was able to redesign the cable stor-
age and handling systems used for electric power lines so
that wooden reels were no longer necessary, saving over
$650,000 per year.
• Reduce the scale of manufacturing processes—By develop-
ing more eco-efficient processes with higher yields, lower
tem perature and pressure requirements, and smaller phy sica l

footprints, companies can reduce the amount of feedstocks
and auxiliary materials necessary to operate these processes.
This also results in greater productivity of assets (see Section
D.3, Design for Economic Capital).
The ultimate in source reduction is represented by the science of
nanotechnology, which seeks to develop products on a molecular
scale. However, this new technology raises concerns about health
effects of tiny particles, and nano-manufacturing may have a large
life-cycle footprint.

A.3 Design for Servicization
The most radical approach to dematerialization is to eliminate prod-
ucts altogether and provide services instead. A simple example in the
consumer realm is the substitution of a voice mail service for a physi-
cal device that records telephone messages. Some argue that “servici-
zation” is an essential strategy for decoupling economic growth from
environmental impacts. However, it must be remembered that ser-
vice industries also have an environmental footprint, since they
require physical facilities, equipment, energy, and labor (see Chapter
19). The potential benefits of servicization lie in the ability and moti-
vation of service providers to maximize the efficiency of resource uti-
lization, thereby increasing their own profitability.
One popular service-based business model is the “leased prod-
uct” concept, in which the manufacturer retains ownership and
responsibility for the physical product. For a fixed lease cost, custom-
ers receive the functionality and technical support of the product
until they are ready to upgrade, and manufacturers can then recover
the used product and maximize its residual value. Xerox has success-
fully used this model to maintain customer loyalty while saving mil-
lions of dollars in life-cycle costs (see Chapter 11). Another example is
the emergence of short-term transportation leasing services which
offer instant availability of automobiles or bicycles for short trips in
dense urban zones (see Zipcar example in Chapter 12).
In the industrial arena, a common example of service innovation
is “chemical management,” whereby specialized contractors take