Sustainability and Eco Design Flashcards
Why is eco-design important?
When designing the product, you are deciding how it will be manufactured, used etc. Most of the decisions made in the future will come as a result of the design.
what are planetary boundaries?
The capacity of the planet to support production and consumption processes is limited by the so-called ‘planetary boundaries’
Define sustainable development/sustainability
Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Define sustainable design
Approach to creating products and services while considering environmental, social and economical impacts from the initial phase to the end of life.
Define Eco-Design
Design activity which aims to integrate environmental considerations into existing product design and development.
Typically starts with an LCA
Define eco-innovation
Innovation fuelled by environmental issues - new products and processes which provide customer and business value while significantly decreasing the environmental impact.
Eco innovation looks at fulfilling the needs/function of a task in a more environmentally friendly way. e.g electrolux washing machine
Give an example of a leading company in eco design
Philips electronics.
Does eco design encourage a linear or cyclical model of production. Provide further information.
Cyclical model as mow we look beyond waste and try to find ways to recycle the materials so that they can re-enter the production process.
What is a lifecycle analysis? (definition)
Products of calculating the environmental inputs and outputs required and generated by a products lifecycle
What is an eco-indicator?
Shows what the design priorities should be. If most of the environmental impact comes from when the device is in use, this is what should be targeted rather than looking at the recycling process (for example)
Define eco efficiency
Value added / Environmental impact
Products functional unit/sum of the environmental impact
How do you define the functional unit?
It is the amount of functionality delivered by a product.
This is quantitative and qualitative: What is delivered and how much of it delivered?
E.g. if one pen is made of more sustainable materials but only lasts 1/4 as long, it may not be more eco-efficent.
What is ‘user-efficent design’?
Reducing the environmental impact of user behaviour through the design of products. The basis of it involves calculating the minimum amount of energy required to fulfil the function. We can then calculate how much of an impact different human behaviours have on the overall impact. This lets us determine which behaviours are most impactful and start designing to avoid that behaviour from occurring.
How can smart products help devices reduce their impact despite the increased impact from electronics?
Implementing tech early in the design phase can be good to reduce the large impacts caused by some human behaviours. An example is the Samsung fridge with the screen on it to show the contents. This reduces the number of times people open the fridge, and therefore reduces the energy loss.
What does a LCA for design consist of?
- Input data about the products and its whole lifecycle
- Software to give an environmental score for your product
