Design for Environment

Prepared by – Akshay shah

Submitted to – Prof.D.k.pATEL
Content Outline

o Design guide lines

o Lifecycle assessment method
o Weighted sum assessment method
o Techniques to reduce environmental impact
o Design to minimize material usage
 DfE Guidelines
 Function • Try to find solutions involving non
hazardous substances, which does not
• Create maximum function with minimum
jeopardise the functionality and cost
environmental impact
limitations of the product
• Consider what function you shall create,
 Housekeeping
not which product
• Minimise energy and resource
consumption in production phase and
 Hazardous transport through housekeeping
• Don’t use hazardous substances and
arrange closed loops for necessary ones
• If a hazardous substance cannot be
substituted consider if closed loops can
be arranged i.e. recycled and taken
care of at end-of-life
 Weight  Lifetime
• Use structural features, light weight and• Optimise the design for estimated lifetime
high strength materials to minimise weight. If
• Create strong user-product relation to
Aluminium is used, make sure it is recycled
reduce chances of the product being
 Energy replaced before it reaches its physical
lifetime
• Minimise energy and resource consumption
in the use phase  Protect
• Select sustainable energy sources e.g.• Invest in strong and resistant materials and
renewable fuels like solar cells and fuel cells suitable surface treatments to protect
products
 Upgrade
• Reduce emissions from wear
• Promote repair and upgrading, especially
for system dependent products • Choose corrosion-resistant materials to
avoid diffuse emissions
• Use a modularized design to allow for
upgrading
 Information
• Prearrange for upgrading, repair and recycling through easy accessibility,
labelling, modules and manuals
• Promote easy identification of parts that will be recycled, especially parts
containing hazardous substances e.g. by labelling or marking
 Mix
• Promote upgrading, repair and recycling by using few, simple and recycled
materials
 Structure
• Use as few joining elements as possible for ease of recycling and repair
DfE Guidelines
Life Cycle Assessment Method (LCA)
 Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) – also called Life-Cycle Analysis – is a tool for
examining the total environmental impact of a product through every step
of its life – from obtaining raw materials all the way through making it in a
factory, selling it in a store, using it in the workplace or at home, and
disposing of it
Steps for Life Cycle Assessment
1. Goal and Scope:
• Select product or activity
• Define purpose of study (comparison? improvement?)
• Fix boundaries accordingly
2. Inventory Analysis:
• Identify all relevant inputs and outputs
• Quantify and add (At this stage, data are in terms of energy consumed,
emission amounts, etc.)
3. Impact Analysis:
• Determine the resulting environmental impacts (At this next stage, the
previous data are translated in additional cancer rates, fish kill, habitat
depletion, etc.)
4. Interpretation:
• Use value judgment to assess and/or in relation to the objectives of the
study
LCA Framework
Weighted sum assessment method

 Weighted sum assessment method also known as Life cycle impact

assessment method in which one might instead of doing inventory of the
parts used in a product, one can weight them by "average" impact
weightings on environment

 It provides weightings by mass for materials, treatment processes, transport

processes, energy generation processes, and disposal scenarios.

 It provides the greatest priority for the process design and for material
selection
Worksheet for weighted sum
assessment
Various Environmental Impacts

Global Warming Resource depletion Solid waste

Water pollution Air pollution Land degradation

Environmental impacts vs Life cycle
 Techniques to reduce environmental
impact
1. Using the process for manufacturing which gives least emission while
processing
2. With the use of eco-friendly material for the product
3. Disposal of waste must be avoided where there is risk of land depletion. For
example, fly ash in power plants is now sent to the cement industries and
brick manufacturers
4. Various sewage plants must be made to filter the harmful water coming from
chemical industries
5. Using the material that can be recycled is also the way to reduce
environmental impact
6. Using an alternate energy source instead of non-renewable source
Design to minimize material usage

 Material which doesn’t affect the function of the product must avoided to
reduce the material usage

 Use recycled and recyclable industrial materials

 Use natural materials which can be returned to biological decay cycles

 Use processes which do not release toxic materials

 Capture and reuse all hazardous materials

Herman Miller’s Chair Example for
material minimize
 Zero landfill

 Zero hazardous waste generation

 Zero air emissions (VOC)

 Zero process water use

 100% green electrical energy use

 100% of sales from DfE products

 Company buildings constructed to a minimum LEED Silver certification

Various models of Herman Miller’s chair

Aeron, 1994 Mirra, 2004 Setu, 2009

Herman Miller’s Setu 2009 model

 Environmentally friendly and non-toxic materials

 41% aluminum, 41% polypropylene, 18% steel, by weight
 Use of recycled materials
 44% by weight - 23% post-consumer, 21% post-industrial
 Less material content
 20 lbs lighter than most task chairs
 Easy to disassemble
 86% easily separable materials
 Recyclable
 92% by weight
 Production line uses 100% green power
 No air or water emissions released in production
 Returnable and recyclable packaging

Source: Herman Miller, Inc.