Green Portfolio
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Transcript of Green Portfolio
Who we are Product innovators and green advocates.
Our expertise in design strategy, design innovation, product
realization, and brand expression allow us to help clients
clearly define their goals, differentiate themselves from
competitors, lessen their impact on the environment, and
offer solutions that are wholly relevant to consumers.
We are a product innovation firm. We are in a unique position to affect positive environmental change.
To create strategies and products that affect change and promote sustainable thinking.
Our mission.
Who we are Committed to promoting sustainability.
When you’re considering the redesign of an existing product, we can help you find ways to make it greener. We begin with a
life-cycle assessment, an analysis of the materials, energy, wastes,
and emissions that go into the manufacture, distribution, use, and
disposal of the product. Armed with this data, we can determine
where best to focus our efforts.
The results at times may be counterintuitive. For example, in some
cases the benefits of using a biodegradable part may be more than
offset by a loss of durability that curtails the life of the product.
Altitude has both the knowledge to make an informed decision
and the experience to make the correct decision.
A good thing made better.Purchase
O.O.B.E.
Set-
upCleaning
Use
Material Acquisition
Retire / Reclaim
Mai
ntain
ance
Manufacturin
gDistribution
Preparation
Marketing (the 4Ps)
M
laim
Design
Altitude
Manufacturer
RecyclerPartnerInvolvement
Life-cycle assessment
1x Change Making existing products more sustainable.
A new product line or an emerging technology presents an exciting opportunity. We can incorporate sustainability into its
DNA. To do so, we must consider the big picture. What are consumers
looking for? What behaviors and habits must the product address?
How can we marry the latest innovations in materials and processes
with these consumer concerns to minimize environmental impact
and maximize appeal? How can we extend the product’s lifespan?
Is there something we can remove that won’t alter the product’s
effectiveness but eliminates waste? In exploring the answers to these
questions, we draw upon our breadth of experience as consultants.
We are constantly exposed to new ideas. An aspect of one project
could apply to another, cross-pollinating across industries.
Green from scratch.
5x Change Making inherently sustainable products.
Design can be a powerful tool for modifying or changing behavior. Success hinges on developing a deep understanding of
current behavior, the values and motivations that shape experience,
and the emotional connections that make an experience both
meaningful and desirable. Altitude’s Design Strategy Team
uncovers these critical insights and uses them as the framework
for conceiving of products or services that instill new behaviors
and experiences. The “magic” lies in satisfying expected value
and emotional demands while sparking change.
Greening behavior.
10x Change Making products that promote green behavior.
150
250
200
0
50
100
Air Travel 45% Commuting 21%
Carbon Footprint 2007 (228 MTe CO2)
Natural Gas 18% Electricity 16%
MTe
128MTe
59MTe 52MTe
47MTe
Global warming is just one of several environmental impact categories that we collectively need to address, but it is one of the best known and best documented. We decided that
Altitude’s Green Initiative should begin with a calculation of how we
are contributing to climate change. How much carbon are we putting
into the atmosphere each year? We totaled our utility use and our
modes of transportation, among other things. We discovered that
Altitude generated 163 metric tons of CO2 in 2007.
Now that we have this data, we have embarked on a second phase
of work: to make the numbers relevant to our daily lives. If we can
make the extent of our carbon emissions tangible to each of us—to
make it really resonate—then we stand a greater chance of making
the behavioral changes necessary to lessen our impact.
Our footprint. 285 MTe CO2 (8.11 MTe CO2 per employee)
In 2008, Altitude emitted the equivalent
of 285 MTe CO2 into the atmosphere, or
roughly 9.93 MTe CO2 per employee.
2008 Impact.
What we’re doing Measuring our impact.
Even with our recycling program a lot of our garbage ends up, well, in the trash. Just how much? Alex Tee, our Green Initia-
tive point man, got curious. He saved all of Altitude’s recycling and
garbage for the month of July. To his surprise, our recycling made up a
relatively small percentage of the pile.
To make this point hit home, Alex initiated “Trash Month.” For one
month, participating Altitude staffers saved their trash and recycling.
All communal trash cans and recycling bins were removed, even in
the restrooms. As Alex puts it, “people would be confronted by their
consumption on a daily basis.”
The results? The experiment certainly got us to think. Most of us were
stymied about what to do with damp paper towels in the bathroom. A
few of us secretly threw away trash in others’ receptacles. Some were
astonished at how much trash we accumulated, while others thought
the amount of trash was small. Even more telling, after the month
was over and trash pickup resumed, we went back to our old habits.
Trash Month really showed us the challenges of affecting long-term
behavior change.
Trash month.
What we’re doing Studying our habits.
When a client of ours asked us to design a new coffee maker, we decided to take the opportunity to view the product through a green lens. The first step in analyzing the environmen-
tal impact of a product is to set appropriate boundary conditions,
which in this case included both the product itself, as well as the
use phase. With the impacts understood, we could make informed
decisions and incorporate sustainable features, which are not only
environmentally responsible, but also economically viable.
We refined the most impactful aspects of the coffeemaker, such as the
heating element, non-insulated glass carafe, the ubiquitous clock and
digital interface, among other things. By thinking beyond the plastic
we were able to discover a cooler way to stay warm and deliver an
improved product experience with reduced environmental harm.
The results? Environmental Savings – 53,059 Millipoints
New take on a familiar friend.
What we’re doing ‘Green from scratch’ case study.
Responsibility to all.Altitude Inc.
363 Highland Avenue Somerville, MA 02144
www.altitudeinc.com
At Altitude, we believe in being accountable—not just to our clients and colleagues, but also to the environment and greater humanity. This is why we have launched our Green Advocacy
Initiative. It is a commitment to educating ourselves about the is-
sues and to being part of the solution. It is a pledge to infuse our
innovation process with sustainable thinking.617.623.7600
What we’re doing Being accountable.
a product innovation firm