Page 91 - Design for Environment A Guide to Sustainable Product Development

70 Chapter Five

There have been many efforts to characterize the different market
segments that comprise “green” consumers [2]. One segment that has
generated a great deal of attention in the green marketing community
is LOHAS, an acronym for Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability,
which includes products and services related to health and fitness,
the environment, personal development, sustainable living, and social
justice. According to the Natural Marketing Institute, the LOHAS
market in the United States exceeds $200 billion. Consumers in
this seg ment are known as “Cultural Creatives” and tend to be pro-
gressive, thought ful individuals who are concerned with corporate

social re sponsibility. (While understanding consumer attitudes is
important fo r setting DFE requirements, the intricacies of green mar-
keting are beyond the scope of this book.)
As customer expectations and economic conditions change, new
technologies can disrupt existing markets. Once-obscure techniques
for renewable energy generation, such as biologically based fuels
derived from plant residues or algae, have attracted the hordes of
venture capitalists who previously were captivated by the digital
revolution. Large pick-up trucks and sport-utility vehicles are being
abandoned, as automakers hastily retool their plants to build smaller
cars with fuel-efficient or hybrid engines. Manufacturers of clothing,
cosmetics, foods, beverages, office products, and many other con-
sumer staples have rushed to embrace natural, organic, and eco-
friendly materials while reducing and recycling their packaging.
Video-conferencing solutions have exploded as business travel be -
comes more expensive and inconvenient. Many of these trends are
examined in Part 3 of this book.
Sustained innovation is always a challenge for established com-
panies who are market leaders, and even more so in times of rapid
change. Those that excel at innovation, companies, such as 3M and
Apple, have spent considerable effort at establishing disciplined yet
flexible internal processes that encourage creativity while systemati-
cally weeding out and refining the truly worthy concepts. In contrast,
companies that react impulsively to external changes may be unable
to achieve genuine innovation and find that they cannot compete
effectively. In particular, adding environmental features to products
cannot be approached as a quick fix or a simple overlay. To be truly
successful at DFE, it is essential that companies embed an under-
standing of environmental performance into their core product devel-
opment processes.

Integrated Product Development
Manufacturing firms in the United States have almost universally
recognized the need to establish clearly defined business processes
for new product development and introduction. With increasing
competitive pressures and rapidly changing markets, reduction in