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
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