Page 17 - Design for Environment A Guide to Sustainable Product Development

xvi Pr ef a c e

these tools to their businesses. The book should be equally useful
to managers, product developers, environmental specialists, govern-
ment officials, and academics.
The global economic collapse of 2008 demonstrated that envi-
ronmental sustainability does not guarantee short-term resilience,
as many leading companies stumbled into crisis mode. Today, DFE
is no longer just a question of social responsibility; it is essential to
the revitalization and continuity of our global economy. Yesterday’s
technologies and business models will not be adequate to achieve
the quantum changes that are needed. Therefore, creative design
and breakthrough innovation are necessary for a rapid shift to an
economically sustainable path. Regulatory intervention is inevitable,
but governments absolutely need to collaborate with corporations in
developing and implementing new policies. Principled and enlight-
ened leadership from the private sector will be a critical factor in
helping to address the complexities of global warming and resource
depletion, not to mention poverty, corruption, and armed conflict.
Companies are already moving beyond enterprise boundaries to
establish industry coalitions and strategic partnerships with govern-
ments and environmental advocacy groups.
As I said above, DFE is only part of the solution, and the scope of
this book is restricted deliberately in several respects:
• The focus is on how environmental excellence creates business
value, although we touch on other aspects of sustainability,
such as human capital and stakeholder engagement.
• The focus is mainly on United States institutions and enter-
prises, although we describe broader international develop-
ments that have influenced U.S. practices.
• The focus is on design engineering, although we discuss the
roles of other functions, including R&D, marketing, logistics,
communications, and information technology.
• The focus is on the design of products and associated pro-
cesses, although we mention the major strides that have
occurred in the sustainable design of the built environment.
The ultimate purpose of DFE is to protect the capacity for humans
and other organisms to flourish together on Earth. We now recognize
that, because of unsustainable industrial patterns, natural systems
may be destabilized and quality of life for future generations may
be endangered. Fortunately, Nature is extremely resilient, and living
systems can adapt to change. If we are agile enough, then DFE can
become a cornerstone of our own successful adaptation strategy.

Joseph Fiksel