Green Product Design

Abstract

Most of the environmental impacts of a product are determined by the Paul Reaves Comrie product designer, who is a major determinant in AT&T's manufacture of Janine C. Sekutowski green-that is, environmentally responsible-products. This paper presents some elements of "green design,'' an activity termed design for environment (DFE). DFE incorporates two types of activities: generic and specific. Generic activities are reliable general guidelines for environmentally preferable approaches, such as the minimization of energy use; specific activities are related to individual products, such as the choice of particular materials. AT&T has developed and applied a DFE evaluation methodology to its telecommunications products. These products generally rate reasonably well from a DFE standpoint, but assessments show a number of areas in which improvements can be made. These can be implemented not only by product designers, but also by manufacturing engineers and supply line managers.

Upcycled and low-cost sustainable business for value-added textiles and fashion

“…The designer has a huge impact on the overall environmental impact of clothing: Eighty percent of a product's environmental and economic costs are committed by the final design stage before production begins. 45 If designers are aware of the full environmental impact of their creative decisions over the lifecycle of a product, they can efficiently bring about change. 46 Therefore designers must prioritize environmental sustainability in their creative thinking 47 and use their creativity to develop new products, new services and new ways of doing business.…”

Collaborative Circular Design. Incorporating Life Cycle Thinking into an Interdisciplinary Design Process

“…In developing material flows for the recycling of textiles within the circular economy, where waste streams provide the feedstock for new fibres, a multi stakeholder and interdisciplinary approach is required. The design stage has been identified as a key area to address life cycle impacts of products, with a suggested 80 to 90% of product life cycle impacts determined at this stage through the material and process choices made by the designer (Graedel et al, 1995). Ellams (2016) explains that though an important framing for the role of design in reducing the LCA of products, this estimate is based on the idea that design determines between 70-90% of product manufacturing costs, for real reduction in LCA impacts methods and tools to support designers in the interdisciplinary understanding for material and process choices they make at design stage and the life cycle implications of these on end of life re-cycling are vital in enabling the future recycling and recirculation of material resources.…”

Design e sustentabilidade ambiental: abordagens biológicas para inovar aplicadas a materiais têxteis

“…Estima-se que decisões tomadas durante as atividades projetuais sejam responsáveis por oitenta a noventa por cento dos custos ambientais e econômicos de um produto (GRAEDEL ET AL., 1995). Esse pressuposto estabelece uma relação explícita entre design e sustentabilidade ambiental.…”