Page 394 - Design for Environment A Guide to Sustainable Product Development

Summary 369

2. Evaluate the resource efficiency and effectiveness of the
overall system.

3. Select appropriate metrics to represent product life-cycle
performance.
4. Maintain and apply a portfolio of systematic design

strategies.
5. Use analysis methods to evaluate design performance

and trade-offs.

6. Provide software capabilities to facilitate the application
of DFE practices.
7. Seek inspiration from nature for the design of products
and systems.
Chapter 7: Performance Indicators and Metrics. An environ-
mental performance measurement process is essential for estab-
lishing product requirements, evaluating design improvements,
communicating with stakeholders, and benchmarking of perfor-
mance results. Ideally, environmental performance should be
integrated with a company’s existing measurement and re ward
systems. There are many dimensions of environmental perfor-
mance, and companies need to identify the most important aspects
that fit their business. Performance indicators and metrics should
be chosen carefully with the intended audience in mind. Aggre-
gation and weighting schemes should be constructed with care
to avoid bias and oversimplification.
Chapter 8: Design Rules and Guidelines. DFE guidelines can be
organized into four major strategies.
A. Design for Dematerialization—Minimize material through-
put as well as the associated energy and resource con-
sumption at every stage of the life cycle.
B. Design for Detoxification—Minimize the potential for ad -
verse human or ecological effects due to waste and emis-
sions at every stage of the life cycle.
C. Design for Revalorization—Recover residual value from
materials and resources that have already been utilized in
the economy, thus reducing the need for virgin resources.
D. Design for Capital Protection and Renewal—Ensure the
availability and integrity of human, natural, and economic
capital that are the basis of future prosperity.
Chapter 9: Analysis Methods for Design Decisions. Design
teams need analysis methods to support screening of design alter-
natives, assessment of design performance, and trade-off compar-
ison. There are a variety of analysis methods available, including
tangible evaluation; qualitative assessment using checklists or