Page 172 - Design for Environment A Guide to Sustainable Product Development

Design Rules and Guidelines 151

famed Aeron chair. The company is also recognized as a leader in sustain-
able facility design. Herman Miller’s headquarters was one of the first “green”
office and manufacturing complexes built in the United States, and the
enhanced workplace led to noticeable increases in employee satisfaction
and productivity. The company has set ambitious goals for the year 2020:
to eliminate solid and hazardous wastes as well as air and water emissions,
to use 100% green electrical energy, to construct buildings to a minimum of
LEED silver certification, and to have 100% of its sales from DFE-approved
products.

Product Safety, Integrity, and Efficacy
A commitment to product stewardship implies making environmen-
tal, health, and safety considerations an integral part of designing,
manufacturing, marketing, distributing, using, recycling, and dispos-
ing of products. This type of life-cycle commitment requires careful
consideration of a broad range of possible scenarios and engagement
with suppliers, customers, and other stakeholders. Points to consider
during the design phase include the following:

• Ensure supply integrity—The globalization of material pro-
curement has created vulnerabilities in the supply chain for
many products, and there have been many examples of prod-
uct contamination with harmful substances (e.g., melamine
from China). To avoid such incidents, manufacturers should
establish programs to screen and audit their suppliers, and
ensure that all product constituents can be obtained from reli-
able sources.
• Specify benign materials—Designers should strive to avoid
materials or ingredients that contain persistent, toxic, and/or
bioaccumulative materials (see Section B.2, Design for Haz-
ard Reduction). Substitution of benign materials that are
non-toxic and biodegradable will reduce the burden of dis-
closure and exposure to potential liability, which is a risk
even if no actual harm occurred.
• Prevent product abuse or misuse—Communication of proper
procedures for product use is essential, including placement
of warning labels where appropriate. Incorporation of safety
features, such as child-proof closures for medicines and elec-
trical surge protectors, has become a common practice.
• Ensure responsible waste disposal—Designers should strive
to enable end-of-life recovery or recycling (see Section C.3,
Design for Recyclability). However, they should also anti -
cipate alternative customer behaviors and waste disposal
scenarios, and try to ensure that the potential for improper
disposal is minimized. For example, inkjet printer cartridges
often come with a postage-paid envelope for mailing back
the used cartridge.