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Chapter 12: Design for Environment (DFE) (The Design For Environment…
Chapter 12: Design for Environment (DFE)
What is Design for Environment?
A way to include environmental considerations in the product development process and practical methods to minimize or eliminate these impacts
Can improve product quality while reducing costs while reducing environmental impacts
Energy impacts
Energy consumption, natural resource depletion,
Material impacts
Liquid discharges, gaseous emissions, and solid waste generation
Results in a more sustainable society
Should be considered early in the Product Development process
DFE has Two Life Cycles
Natural "Biological" Lifecycle
This product life cycle begins with the extraction and processing of raw materials from natural resources, and ends with the decay of organic materials
Product "Industrial" Life Cycle
After raw materials are obtained, this life cycle is followed by production, distribution, and use of the product, and ends with recycling or disposal through incineration or landfill
The two life cycles intersect with the use of natural materials in products and with the reintegration of orgnanic materials back in the natural cycle
To reach sustainability, eliminate:
Use of nonrenewable resources
Disposal of synthetic and inorganic materials that do not decay quickly
Creation of toxic wastes that are not part of natural cycles
The Two Lifecycles
Every product may have a number of Environmental Impacts over its lifetime :
Global Warming
Resource Depletion
Solid waste
Water pollution
Air pollution
Land degradation
Biodiversity
Ozone depletion
History of DFE
Traced back to the early 1970s with Papanek's challenge to designers to face social and environmental responsibilities
Term "sustainable development" first defined
Several influential DFE books published in the 1990s
Today's sustainable movement embraces a broader concept of social and ethical implications
The Design For Environment Process
includes activities throughout the product development process
Product Planning
Step 1: Set DFE Agenda
Identify the Internal and External Drivers of DFE
Product quality.
Public Image
Cost Reduction
Innovation
Operational Safety
Employee motivation
Ethical responsibility
Consumer behavior
Environmental legislation
Market demand
Competition
Trade organizations
Suppliers
Social pressures
Set the DFE Goals
Zero landfill, hazardous waste, etc.
Useful to sett goals for each product and life cycle stage
Set up the DFE Team
Often a subteam within within the overall project team
Typically consists of a DFE leader, enviro chemistry and materials expert, a manufacturing engineer, and a rep from the purchasing and supply chain organization
Concept Development
Step 2: Identify Potential Environmental Impacts of the product over its life cycle
Using charts or other helpful tools to qualitatively assess the environmental impacts over the product life cycle
Charts can represent the team's estimate of the potential types and magnitudes of environmental impacts
Step 3: Select DFE Guidelines
Guidelines help product design teamsmake early DFE decisions without the type of detailed environmental impact ananalysis that isonly possible after the design is more fully specified
Selecting relevant guidelines during the concept development phase allows the product development team to apply them throughout the development project
Example: Minimal use of resources in distribution
Minimize packaging
Use recyclable and/or reusable packaging materials
System-Level Design
Step 4: Apply DFE Guidelines to Initial Design(s)
As the product architecture is developed during the system-level design phase, some initial material choices are made along with some of the module design decisions
At this point, many more decisions are being made and environmental factors can be considered with greater precision
Decision decisions should factor in the DFE guidelines established in step 3
Detail Design
Step 5: Assess Environmental Impacts
Assess the environmental impacts of the product over its entire life cycle (to the extent possible)
Requires a detailed understanding of how the product is to be produced, distributed, used over its lifetime, and recylced or disposed
Typically done on the basis of the Bill Of Materials (BOM)
Lastly, compare the Environmental Impacts to DFE goals established in step 1
Step 6: Refine Design
Reduce or eliminate any significant environmental impacts through redesign
Repeat this process until the environmental impacts have been reduced to an acceptable level
Process Improvement
Step 7: Reflect on DFE Process and Results
How well did we execute the DFE process?
How can our DFE process be improved?
What DFE improvements can be made on derivative and future products?
The DFE Process
Chapter example: Herman Miller's Setu chair
Company commitment to minimizing environmental impacts
Formed a DFE team in 1999, responsible for developing environmentally sensitive design standards for new and existing Herman Miller products, which was supported by a product and industrial design firm known as MBDC
Long term Herman Miller DFE goals that impacted the Setu's design:
Zero landfill
Zero hazardous waste
Zero harmful air emissions
Zero process water use
All green electrical use
All sales from products created with the DFE process
Etc.
Examples of the Setu's product development are used in each step of this chapter's explanation of the DFE process
Despite applying DFE, the Setu still had some negative environmental impacts, which reflects the reality that creating a perfect product from a DFE perspective is a goal that may take years to achieve
