ECO-DESIGN
DESIGN FOR ENVIRONMENT (DFE)
BY
H.M.K. BANDA.
H.M.K. Banda_([Link]. Hons . First-class) _ 2022. 1
INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
On completion of this module, the students
should have a fundamental understanding of:
• Concept behind Eco-Designing.
• Design For Environment.
• Environmental Impacts in Eco-Design.
• Eco-Design Drivers.
• Design for Environment Process.
• Eco-Design & Recycling.
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ECO-DESIGN
“Designing to improve the quality of life today,
without compromising the quality of life of
tomorrow”
Eco-design can be defined as an activity aimed
at lowering the environmental load of products /
functionalities over their life cycle
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DESIGN FOR ENVIRONMENT (DFE)
• Design for environment (DFE) is a way to include
environmental considerations in the product
development.
• Effective DFE practice can maintain or improve
product quality and cost while reducing
environmental impacts
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6
H.M.K. Banda_([Link]. Hons . First-class) _ 2022.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
1. Global warming.
• Scientific data and models show that the temperature
of the earth is gradually increasing as a result of the
accumulation of greenhouse gases, particulates, and
water vapor in the upper atmosphere.
• This effect appears to be accelerating as a result of
emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4),
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), black carbon particles,
and nitrogen oxides (NOx) from industrial processes
and products.
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[Link] Depletion
Many of the raw materials used for production, such
as iron ore, gas, oil, and coal, are non-renewable
and supplies are limited
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3. Solid Waste.
• Products may generate solid waste throughout
their life cycle. Some of this waste is recycled,
but most is disposed in incinerators or landfills.
• Incinerators generate air pollution and toxic ash
(which goes into landfills). Landfills may also
create concentrations of toxic substances,
generate methane gas (CH4), and release
groundwater pollutants.
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4. Water pollution:
• The most common sources of water pollution are
discharges from industrial processes, which may
include heavy metals, fertilizers, solvents, oils,
synthetic substances, acids, and suspended
solids. Waterborne pollutants may affect
groundwater, drinking water, and fragile
ecosystems.
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5. Air pollution:
• Sources of air pollution include emissions from
factories, power generating plants, incinerators,
residential and commercial buildings, and motor
vehicles.
• Typical pollutants: CO2, NOx, sulfur dioxide (S02)
and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
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6. Land degradation:
• Land degradation concerns the adverse effects that
raw material extraction and production, such as
mining, farming, and forestry, have on the
environment.
• The effects include reduced soil fertility, soil erosion,
salinity of land and water, and deforestation.
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7. Biodiversity:
Biodiversity concerns the variety of plant and
animal species, and is affected by land clearing
for urban development, mining, and other
industrial activities.
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8. Ozone depletion:
• The ozone layer protects the earth against the
harmful effects of the sun's radiation.
• It is degraded by reactions with nitric acid (created
by the burning of fossil fuels) and chorine
compounds (such as CFCs).
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ECO-DESIGN DRIVERS
What drives designers, designing firms to design
for environment?
•There are both internal and external factors
1. Internal drivers - individual motives.
2. External drivers - include environmental
regulations, customer preferences, and the
offerings of competitors.
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INTERNAL DRIVERS
• Product quality: A focus on environmental
performance may raise the quality of the product
in terms of functionality, reliability in operation,
durability, and repairability.
• Public image: Communicating a high level of
environmental quality of a product can improve;
company’s image.
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• Cost reduction: Using less material and less
energy in production can result in considerable
cost savings. Generating less waste and
eliminating hazardous waste results in lower
waste disposal costs.
• Innovation: Sustainable thinking can lead to
radical changes in product design and may foster
innovation across the whole company
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• Operational safety: By eliminating toxic
materials, many DFE changes can help improve
the occupational health and safety of employees.
• Employee motivation: Employees can be
motivated to contribute in new and creative ways
if they are able to help reduce the environmental
impacts of the company's products and operations
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• Ethical responsibility: Interest in sustainable
development among managers and product
developers may be motivated in part by a moral
sense of responsibility for conserving the
environment and nature.
• Consumer behavior: Wider availability of products
with positive environmental benefits may accelerate
the transition to cleaner lifestyles and demand for
greener products.
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EXTERNAL DRIVERS
• Environmental legislation: Companies must not only
understand the myriad regulations in the various
regions where they operate and sell products, but also
be able to anticipate future legislation.
• Market demand: Designers or companies operate in a
business environment of increasingly well-informed
industrial customers and end users who may demand
sustainable products.
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• Suppliers: Suppliers influence company behavior by
introducing more sustainable materials and processes.
• Social pressures: Through their social and
community contacts, managers and designers may be
asked about the responsibility that their business takes
for the environment.
• Competition: Sustainability activities undertaken by
competitors can lead to pressure for more emphasis
on
DFE
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DESIGN FOR ENVIRONMENT
PROCESS
Step 1: Set the DFE Agenda: Drivers, Goals, and
Team
• The DFE process begins as early as the product
planning phase with setting the DFE agenda.
• This step consists of these activities: identifying the
internal and external drivers of DFE and setting the
environmental goals for the product.
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Step 2: Identify Potential Environmental
Impacts.
• Within the concept development phase, DFE
begins by identifying the potential environmental
impacts of the product over its life cycle.
• One lists for each life cycle stage the anticipated
key environmental impacts. The stage with the most
potential environmental impacts calls for more
focus.
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Step 3: Select DFE Guidelines.
• Guidelines help product design teams to make
early DFE decisions without the type of detailed
environmental impact analysis that is only possible
after the design is more fully specified.
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Step 4: Apply the DFE Guidelines to the Initial
Product Design.
Apply the relevant DFE guidelines (selected in step
3) at this point so that the initial product design may
have lower environmental impacts.
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Step 5: Assess the Environmental Impacts
• Assess thoroughly, the environmental impacts of
the product over its entire life cycle.
• Then compare the environmental impacts to the
DFE goals established in the planning phase.
• This requires a detailed understanding of how
the product is to be produced, distributed, used
over its lifetime, and recycled or disposed at the
end of its useful life.
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Step 6: Refine the Product Design to Reduce or
Eliminate the Environmental Impacts
• The objective of this step is to reduce or eliminate
any significant environmental impacts through
redesign.
• The process repeats until the environmental
impacts have been reduced to an acceptable level
and the environmental performance fits the DFE
goals.
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Step 7: Reflect on the DFE Process and
Results
Reflect on the whole process:
• How well was it executed?
• How can the DFE process be improved?
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RECYCLING
• Recycling is the process of collecting and
processing materials that would otherwise be
thrown away as trash and turning them into new
products.
• Recycling can benefit your community and the
environment
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ADVANTAGES OF RECYCLING
• Reduces the amount of waste sent to landfills and
incinerators.
• Prevents pollution by reducing the need to collect
new raw materials.
• Conserves natural resources i.e. water and
minerals.
• Saves energy - e.g. the paper recycling process
uses up to 50% less energy than making it from
raw materials.
• Help in job creation
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REDUCE AND RE-USE
• Reduce and Reuse - The most effective way to
reduce waste is to not create it in the first place.
• Making a new product requires a lot of materials
and energy As a result, reduction and reuse are the
most effective ways you can save natural resources,
protect the environment and save money better than
recycling
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RE-USE AND RECYCLE
Electronic stuff can be reused or recycled
• TOO much electronic junk in Malawi – Limbe.
• For instance, for every million cell phones we
recycle, 16 tons of copper, 350kg of silver, 35kg
of gold and 15kgs of palladium can be
recovered¹.
1. [Link]
donation-and recycling
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THE END
BY
H.M.K. BANDA.
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