Page 253 - Design for Environment A Guide to Sustainable Product Development

Electr onic Equipment Industries 229

SmartWay compliant carriers, making it one of the region’s clean -
est. The SmartWay program is aimed at reducing fuel consumption,
greenhouse gases, and other air emissions (see Chapter 3).
In response to customer interest, HP has certified its products to
many eco-labels around the world, including a personal computer
that was the first product to earn EPEAT gold status.* The company
has also invested considerable effort in harmonizing environmen-
tally related product standards. For example, HP was instrumental in
the multi-stakeholder process that developed the environmental per-
formance standard IEEE 1680, published by the Institute of Electrical
and Electronics Engineers in 2006. This standard integrates a wide
variety of existing regulations and standards, including U.S. Energy
®
Star and the European Union Restriction of Hazardous Substances
(RoHS) and Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) direc-
tives (see Chapter 3). It specifies 23 required and 28 optional criteria
across eight areas of environmental impact covering all product life-
cycle stages, providing a basis for buyers to assess the environmental
performance of desktop and notebook computers and displays.
HP’s strategy also includes growth through acquisition. For exam-
ple, in 2006 HP acquired Voodoo PC, a manufacturer of high perfor-
mance and personalized gaming computer systems, and in 2005 HP
acquired Scitex Vision, a manufacturer of large format printers. When
HP acquires such companies, it first ensures that their current prod-
ucts meet applicable regulatory requirements and then makes a tran-
sition to HP’s more demanding DFE standards. This transition may
take several product introduction cycles to complete. Until then, HP
does not include those products in product goals or progress reports.

Design for Environment Program
HP defines Design for Environment as an engineering perspective
in which the environmentally related characteristics of a product,
process or facility are optimized. Together, HP’s product stewards
and product designers identify, prioritize, and recommend environ-
mental improvements through a company-wide DFE program. HP’s
DFE guidelines derive from evolving customer expectations and reg-
ulatory requirements, but they are also influenced by the personal
commitment of its employees. The Design for Environment program
has three priorities:
1. Energy efficiency—reduce the energy needed to manufacture
and use HP products.
2. Materials innovation—reduce the amount of materials used
in HP products and develop materials that have less environ-
mental impact and more value at end-of-life.

*EPEAT is a rating system developed by the Green Electronics Council (see
Chapter 9).