Design for Environment Strategies Adapted from Design for Environmental Sustainability (Vezzoli &Manzini)

Min. Resource Consumption (5) Min. Energy Consumption (5.2.6) Pre-production and production: • Use materials with low production

energy • Use energy efficient processes

and equipment • Use cogeneration • Increase engine efficiency

o Use speed regulators to optimise efficiency

o Use optimal size o Facilitate maintenance

• Use efficient workplace heating, illumination and ventilation

• Use online collaboration tools with remote work sites

Distribution: • Use high storage density

configurations • Concentrate products • Design for onsite assembly • Min. product & packaging weight • Decentralize activities to reduce

transportation distances • Use local material & energy

Use: • Encourage collective use • Use energy efficient tech. • Use passive energy sources • Integrate energy recovery systems • Facilitate the user to reduce

energy consumption • Use power-off and/or intelligent

energy consumption utilities

Min. Materials Consumption (5.2.1-5.2.5) Pre-production and production: • Min. material content

o Reduce physical dimensions o Remove components with

little functionality o Digitise

• Min. in-process waste o Reduce material scrap o Use computer simulation in

design, modelling & prototyping

Distribution: • Avoid unnecessary packaging • Integrate packaging into product

Use: • Use tech. with increased material

consumption efficiency • Use passive material sources • Use a cascade approach for

materials consumption • Facilitate user reduction of

material consumption • Min. default consumption • Automate the process to reduce

material consumption

Use Low Impact Resources (6) Use Low Impact Energy Sources (6.2.2, 6.3.2) • Use renewable and/or low

emission energy resources • Use a cascade approach to energy

consumption • Match requirement with quality of

energy source

Use Low Impact Materials (6.2.1, 6.3.1) • Use renewable and/or non-toxic

materials • Use scraps of production

processes • Use components from disposed

products • Use recycled materials • Use bio-degradable materials • Min. the risk of necessary toxins • Avoid materials and processes

that emit toxins during pre-production or production

• Design products that do not consume toxic materials

• Avoid materials that emit toxins during usage or disposal

Optimize Product Lifetime (7) Design for an appropriate lifetime (7.6.1) • Use components with equal

lifetime • Facilitate replacement of

components with differing lifetimes

• Design material durability based on product intended lifetime

Design for reliability (7.6.2) • Min. # of components

Facilitate upgrading & adaptability (7.6.3) • Facilitate onsite upgrading • Design modular and dynamically

configured products

Facilitate maintenance, repairs, cleaning, and re-manufacture (7.6.4 – 7.6.5, 7.6.7) • Facilitate component access and

disassembly • Facilitate replacement of

expendable components • Equip products with diagnostic

systems • Facilitate on-site maintenance,

repairs and cleaning • Use modular and replaceable

standard parts • Min. maintenance needs

Facilitate re-use (7.6.6) • Strengthen fragile components to

allow reuse • Simplify access and disassembly

of reusable components • Replace disposable parts with re-

usable ones • Use re-fillable and re-usable

packaging • Design products for secondary use

Intensify Product Use (7.6.8) • Design products and services for

shared use • Design multifunctional products • Design on-demand products and

services • Min. surplus of products

Extend Material Lifetime (8) Use the cascade approach (8.2.1) • Facilitate recycling of materials in

products with lower mechanical requirements

• Facilitate recycling of materials in products with lower aesthetical requirements

• Facilitate energy recovery from materials through combustion

Use materials with efficient recycling tech. (8.2.2) • Use materials that more easily

recover original performance characteristics after recycling

MIE315: Design for Environment 1 Spring 2014

Design for Environment Strategies Adapted from Design for Environmental Sustainability (Vezzoli &Manzini)

• Avoid composite materials or, when necessary, choose easily recyclable ones

• Use geometrical solutions to increase polymer stiffness instead of reinforcing fibres

• Use thermoplastic over thermoset plastics

• Use heat-proof thermoplastic polymers over fireproof additives

• Design considering the secondary use of the materials once recycled

Facilitate end-of-life collection and transportation (8.2.3) • Facilitate product retrieval • Min. overall weight • Min. cluttering and improve

stackability of discarded products • Design for compressibility of

discarded products • Provide the user with information

about the disposing modalities of the product or its parts

Material identification (8.2.4) • Codify different materials to

facilitate ID • Provide information: material age,

times recycled, and additives used • ID toxic or harmful material • Use std. material ID systems • Use high visibility codifications • Codifying during production

Min. the # of different incompatible materials (8.2.5) • Integrate functions to reduce # of

materials & components • Use 1 material / product • Use only 1 material but in

different forms to achieve functionality

• Use recycling compatible materials within the product

Facilitate cleaning (8.2.6) • Avoid unnecessary coating

procedures • Avoid irremovable coating

materials • Facilitate removal of coating

materials • Use coatings that are compatible

with the material to be coated • Avoid adhesives or choose ones

that are compatible with materials to be adhered

• Use dyeing of internal polymers, rather than surface painting

• Avoid using additional materials for marking or codification

• Codify materials during moulding • Codify materials using lasers

Facilitate composting (8.2.7) • Use materials that degrade in the

expected end-of-life environment • Facilitate separation of non-

degradable materials • Avoid combining non-degradable

materials with products that are going to be composted

Facilitate combustion (8.2.8) • Avoid use of materials that hinder

combustion • Facilitate separation of materials

that hinder incineration • Avoid materials that emit toxins

during incineration • Avoid additives that emit toxins

during incineration

Design for Disassembly (9) Facilitate disassembly and separation (9.2.1) • Prioritize the disassembly of toxic

and dangerous components or materials

• Prioritize the disassembly of components or materials with higher economic value

• Prioritize the disassembly of fragile components

• Use modular structures to simplify separation of sub-assemblies

• Min. # of dependent connections • Simplify the disassembly

procedure • Use a sandwich system of

disassembly with central joining elements

• Avoid difficult-to-handle component shapes

• Avoid asymmetrical components • Avoid joining systems that require

simultaneous interventions for opening

• Min. # of fasteners • Min. # of fastener types • Avoid difficult-to-handle

fasteners

• Design accessible entrances for disassembly

• Design accessible disassembly points

Use reversible joining systems (9.2.2) • Use two-way snap-fit fasteners • Use fasteners opened with

common tools • Use fasteners opened with special

tools, when opening could be dangerous

• Use fasteners of materials that become reversible only in determined conditions

• Use screws with hexagonal heads • Avoid self-tapping screws • Use fasteners of a material that

can be recycled with the fastened materials

• Avoid metallic inserts in plastics

Use permanent joining systems that can be separated (9.2.3) • Avoid permanent fasteners on

incompatible materials • Use ultrasonic and vibration

welding with plastics • Avoid adhesives • Use easily removable adhesives

Co-design special technologies and features for crushing separation (9.2.4 to 9.2.6) • Design breaking paths for

separation of incompatible materials

• Provide product with a device to separate incompatible materials

• Use joining elements that allow for chemical or physical destruction

• Provide accessible breaking points

• Provide product with information on the characteristics of crushing separation

• Use materials that are separable after crushing

MIE315: Design for Environment 2 Spring 2014