Page 211 - Design for Environment A Guide to Sustainable Product Development

Analysis Methods for Design Decisions 189

FIGURE 9.6 Alternative boundaries for life-cycle accounting in product design.

perspective on contributions to shareholder value, and environmental
accounting “in the large,” which seeks to develop appropriate prices
for goods and services commensurate with their environmental foot-
print. The former is already being practiced in some form by many
firms and is eminently feasible. The latter, also known as “full-cost
pricing,” is much more ambitious and controversial and will require
broad political consensus to become realistic.

Cost/Benefit Analysis
For purposes of trade-off analysis, financial costs and benefits can be
analyzed using conventional methods, such as discounted cash flow
analysis or net present value. It is possible to introduce nonfinancial
costs and benefits, such as greenhouse gas emission reduction, and

FIGURE 9.7 Alternative boundaries for life-cycle accounting in facility design.