Page 94 - Design for Environment A Guide to Sustainable Product Development

Managing Envir onmental Innovation 73

aspect of total quality management, DFE fits naturally into the IPD
process. DFE is essentially an application of the above IPD approach
to environmental performance. As stated above, the basic imperative
of DFE is undeniably valid: “Get it right the first time.” In other
words, anticipate environmental performance issues during design,
thus avoiding costly changes in the future. It sounds simple, but to
put this principle into systematic practice typically requires a sub-
stantial organizational commitment.
Despite the many examples of successful DFE efforts described in
Part 3 of this book, the current state of practice can be characterized
as mainly opportunistic. Well-motivated and well-informed teams
may be able to identify product improvements that are environmen-
tally beneficial or that reduce life-cycle costs. However, many of the
early successes in environmental performance improvement were
the result of companies finding the “low-hanging fruit”—projects
for which benefits were evident and barriers were few. In order for
DFE to mature and be integrated into company practices, two types
of permanent change are needed:
1. Organizational norms must be established that encourage
superior environmental performance. This requires evolving
from a broad corporate “mission statement” to setting achiev-
able environmental improvement goals and to making em -
ployees accountable for meeting or exceeding these goals.
2. Business processes must be modified to accommodate en -
vironmental performance criteria. This requires integrating
environmental quality metrics and assessment tools into
standard engineering practices, as well as developing mana-
gerial accounting systems that recognize environmental costs
and benefits.

Even though many companies have announced high-level com-
mitments to sustainability and environmental excellence, they often
encounter passive resistance at middle management levels. Imple-
mentation of environmental innovation processes can be hampered
by the same types of barriers that afflict any change initiative:
• Resources are limited for starting new projects.
• Organizational and cultural inertia tends to favor “business
as usual.”
• Environmental issues are poorly understood among both
managers and employees.
• Existing accounting systems are inadequate for reflecting
environmental value.
• Product teams have a fear of compromising product quality
or production efficiency.