Page 34 - Design for Environment A Guide to Sustainable Product Development

Intr oduction 13

Checklist for Getting Started with DFE (continued)

• Do we have appropriate accountability and reward
sys tems to provide incentives for meeting environmental
improvement goals?

Existing Experience
• What accomplishments have we made in “green” design,
and what practical issues and barriers have we en -
countered?
• Have we performed any life-cycle assessments for pro-
ducts and/or facilities?
• Have we established programs and expertise in material
recycling, resource conservation, waste reduction, or asset
recovery?
• Have we implemented any initiatives in pollution pre-
vention and environmentally conscious manufacturing?
• Have we attempted to introduce environmental perfor-
mance measurement and management systems into our
operations?
• Have we developed any useful enabling technologies for
DFE, such as computer-based modeling or decision
sup port tools?

Strategic Opportunities
• Can we describe a business case that indicates DFE will
contribute to our profitability or business development?

• Can we identify desirable environmental improvements in
specific products or processes?
• Have we considered key partnerships or alliances with
suppliers or customers that are needed to pursue DFE
opportunities?
• Is it valuable for us to enhance environmental awareness
among our employees, customers, suppliers, commu ni ties,
or other stakeholders?
• Are we prepared to move toward life-cycle environmental
accounting systems that use an activity-based structure to
reveal “true” costs and benefits?