DESIGN FOR

ENVIRONEMNT

4/8/2024 1
The IMPORTANCE of the DESIGN STAGE

 70% of costs of product development, manufacture and use are decided in early
design stages

 For Example ,
GM truck transmissions: 70% of costs
decided at design stage

Rolls Royce: 80% of costs decided at design stage,

as determined from an average among 2000 parts

Likewise, it is clear that most decisions that affect future

environmental impacts are made at the design stage.
The IMPORTANCE of the DESIGN STAGE
The IMPORTANCE of the DESIGN STAGE
The IMPORTANCE of the DESIGN STAGE
Major design considerations:
 Industrial designers need to mind:
 Functionality and performance (product must do the job)
 Manufacturability, logistics (one should be able to make the
product)
 Reliability, safety (there must be some quality standard)
 Cost, market penetration (product needs to be competitively
priced)
Environmental issues

 1. Pollution
 2. Global Warming
 3. Natural Resource Depletion
 4. Waste Disposal
 5. Ocean Acidification
 6. Ozone Layer Depletion
What is Design for the Environment (DfE)?
➢ Design for the Environment is a systematic way of incorporating
environmental considerations into product and process design
together with performance, cost, legal, health and aesthetic
requirements. All these requirements shape the design of the final
product or process, and the environmental considerations must fit into
the design process with these other factors .
➢“Design for Environment focuses on efforts by producers and
manufacturers to reduce product or process impact on the environment”

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DEFINITION
 “A design process that must be
considered for conserving and
reusing the earth’s scarce resources;
where energy and material
consumption is optimized, minimal
waste is generated and output waste
streams from any process can be
used as the raw materials (inputs) of
another” (Billatos and Basaly,
1997).”
What is Design for the Environment (DfE)?

There are three unique characteristics of DfE:

❑ The entire life cycle of a product is considered
❑ DfE is applied early in the product development process (although
continuous improvement of all processes is recommended)
❑ Decisions are made using principles such as "industrial ecology"
and integrative "systems thinking”

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What is Design for the Environment (DfE)?
Ecodesigners design a product life cycle, not just a product. Knowledge of
your product’s life cycle will help your designers prevent environmental
accidents and liabilities by designing products to minimise environmental
impacts

The diagram above shows an example of an idealised, simplified design process.

The designers start with a large design “space” which diminishes throughout the
design process. The diamond shapes represent the generation of options and
subsequent selection during each phase.
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Advantages of DfE for Business and the Environment

➢ Global initiatives are starting to require greater product responsibility from

producers. In Europe, new regulations have been passed that require
producers to take more responsibility by providing for the disposal, or
recycling, of their products at the end of their useful life. Labelling products
with environmental performance data could be a way of distinguishing
between items based on their environmental performance.

➢ Regulators, consumers, environmental groups and industry trade

associations now expect companies to develop environmentally sound
products and processes. Design for Environment (DfE) provides a method for
meeting these demands

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What is Design for the Environment (DfE)?

Potential benefits to the manufacturer include:

➢ Improved designs
➢ Increased innovation
➢ Reduced costs and time-to-market, becoming more cost-effective
➢ Improved market position
➢ Greater ability to compete, add value and attract customers
➢ Reduced regulatory concerns
➢ Reduced environmental impacts and future liability
➢ Improved environmental performance
➢ Increased knowledge of the interactions between processe

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DfE and Small to Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)

➢ The EU is encouraging the use of eco-design by SMEs and is developing a

framework environmental policy for products, services and processes.
These days SMEs that acknowledge their environmental responsibilities
have several advantages over large firms when greening their business.
Generally they are less bureaucratic, are more able to respond quickly to
change and have more efficient internal communication channels.
➢ Design for Environment (DfE) can be an effective tool to help SMEs become
more innovative and environmentally responsible. However, DfE often
appears too costly and complex to implement. Guidance has therefore been
developed specifically for SMEs.
➢ The DfE procedure can be broken down into a number of steps. Following this
procedure can simplify the analysis and decision-making process.

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Design for ENVIRONMENT OBJECTIVEs

Environmental
Human health and Sustainability of natural
protection—assurance
safety—assurance that resources—assurance that
that air, water, soil,
people are not human
and ecological systems
exposed to safety consumption or use of natural
are not adversely
hazards or chronic resources does not threaten
affected due to the
disease agents in their the availability of these
release of pollutants or
workplace environments resources for future
toxic substances.
or personal lives. generations.
Driving Forces
Customer
Satisfaction
International
Standards

Product Stewardship
Design for Competitive
Pressures
Environment
Risk Management

Enterprise
Sustainable Integration
Development
16
Major questions arising in
DESIGN FOR ENVIRONMENT

1. Product or process?

Make the same product in a different way

Make essentially the same product, but with different materials
Make a different product that fulfills the same function

2. At which level?

Micro scale: Part of a product

A unit of production
Meso scale: The entire product
The entire factory
Macro scale: Meeting the function (service) in a new way
Rethinking the industry-environment relation (social concerns)
 Primary goal:
SUSTAINABILITY
(responsibility toward future generations)

Basic approach:
INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY
(imitation of nature)

Imitation of ecosystem: In addition:

ECO-INDUSTRIAL PARKS GREEN TECHNOLOGIES
(closing material loops, (pollution avoidance rather
energy efficiency) than pollution treatment)

POLLUTION PREVENTION DESIGN FOR ENVIRONMENT

(green processes) (green design)

DESIGN FOR PROCESS DESIGN FOR PRODUCT

Improved operating Practices, Technology Changes, Change of materials
DESIGN FOR PROCESS
Example of Design for Environment applied to a
manufacturing process
• Less air to be dust-free and less chance
of dust intrusion;
• In the absence of personnel inside the
controlled volume,
one can also take advantage of an
oxygen-free (pure nitrogen)
atmosphere
to reduce oxidation or other
undesirable side effect.
Basic dfe principles
Seven basic principles for companies that wish to integrate DFE into their innovation practices

1. Embed life-cycle thinking into the product development process.

Cont…
2. Evaluate the resource efficiency and effectiveness of the overall system.
Concept of Eco-efficiency
“delivery of competitively priced goods and services that satisfy human needs and bring quality of
life while progressively reducing environmental impacts of goods and resource intensity throughout
the entire life cycle.”

3. Select appropriate metrics to represent product life-cycle performance.

4. Maintain and apply a portfolio of systematic design strategies.
5. Use analysis methods to evaluate design performance and trade-offs.
6. Provide software capabilities to facilitate the application of DFE
practices.
7. Seek inspiration from nature for the design of products and systems.
DFE Process
Qualitative METHODS + TOOLS ASSOCIATED
Method Description Tool
checklist Questionnaire concerning Eco design checklist
from raw material to
disposal
Environmental Effect Relation between product EEA-Form
Analysis (EEA) and environmental
consequences
Product design Matrix Relationship product MET-MECO Matrix
operations and
environment
Quality Function Relation of voice of Weight of importance
Deployment for customer, engineering tables, environment house
Environment (QFDE) matrix, of quality
Improvement possibility (F)
Quantitative METHODS
Method Stage Description

Life-Cycle Assessment Goal and Scope Type of information needed

How data is organized
How result will be
displayed
Life-Cycle Inventory Input/outputs data
collection
Life-Cycle Impacts Impact calculation

Interpretation Result interpretation

Data deduction
Qualitative Vs Quantitative
Dfe examples
Dyson Air blade
80% Energy saving
64% Faster
Removes 99.9% Air bacteria

Ford U Model cradle to cradle concept car

Hybrid electrician Transmission
45 miles/galon
300 miles near 0 emissions
99% reduction in carbon dioxide
0% waste desposal9 recycling or decomposed part )
Cont…
➢ BMW and Volkswagen are both using DFE to study the disassembly and
recycling of recovered materials in automobiles. BMW has a goal of eventually
making automobiles out of 100% reusable and recyclables parts.
➢ Hewlett Packard design some of its inkjet printers under a DFE framework.
The outer casings include post-consumer plastic from recycled telephones. The
modular architecture and use of few permanent screws make the printers easy
to disassemble for repair or recycling. Any plastic larger than 3 grams is
identified and marked by type. Components of the printer are molded using a
thin-walled process so less material is needed. Power down and sleep modes
means 50% less energy is used by these printers than comparable inkjet
printers.
Design for disassembly
▪ Definition: A process by which a product and its parts can
be easily:
❖Reused
❖Re-manufactured
❖Refurbished or
❖Recycled
Reasons for Disassembly

❖ Enable maintenance
❖ Enhance serviceability
❖ End-of-life
(EOL) objectives such as product
reuse, remanufacture, and recycling
Types of Disassembly
❖ Destructive disassembly
❖ Reverse Disassembly
 Two types of reverse disassembly:
❖Total
❖Selective
DfD Breakdown
❖ There are two levels of strategy in DFD
1. Product Disassembly
i.e. Disassembling a computer in order
to reuse switches, boards, circuits, etc

2. Material Disassembly
i.e. Using the plastic in a computer for the outer shell of another
computer, i.e. melting it down
Why use DfD?
❖ Reduce Costs
1. Facilitate maintenance and repair
2. Facilitate part/component re-use, i.e. recovering materials
❖Reduce Waste Disposal
1. Assist material recycling

❖Increase Product Quality

1. Assist product testing and failure-mode/end-of-life analysis
How do you implement DfD?
❖ Parts Connection
Use joints, snaps, or screws instead of welding, soldering or glue
❖ Parts Standardization
The product can be disassembled with minimal work and use minimal
tools, i.e. the same size screw throughout the whole product
❖ Parts Placement
Put parts that are likely to wear out at the same time near each
other so they can be easily replaced simultaneously
What industries use DfD?
❖ Construction
❖ Technology
❖ Furniture Manufacturing
❖ Electronic Manufacturing
❖ Automobile Manufacturing
Workplace Examples of DfD:

• Reducing the number and types of materials used

• Using single plastic polymers
• Using molded-in colors and finishes instead of paint, coatings or
plating
• Relying on modular designs for ease of disassembly of dissimilar
recyclable materials
Is it easy to disassemble your product?
❖ What are the additional operations required for disassembly?
∆ fracturing
∆ drilling
∆ ungluing
∆ heating
∆ lubricating
❖ What are the bonding and fastening methods of parts and components?
∆ insert molding
∆ cohesion
∆ adhesion
∆ mechanical fastening
∆ friction fitting
Cont…
❖ What are the tools required for disassembly?
∆ special tool
∆ simple tool
∆ by hand
❖What is the level of difficulty for disassembly?
∆ technician needed
∆ assistant needed
∆ deformation required
∆ hold-down required
∆ difficult access
∆ difficult to view
Design for Recyclability & REMANUFACTURE

Re-use:
The series of activities, including collection, separation, and in some cases processing,
by which products are recovered from the waste stream for new use in their original intended manner.
Remanufactured components fall under the classification of re-use.
(Germans refer to this as “product recycling”.)

Recycle:
A series of activities, including collection, separation, and processing, by which
products or other materials are recovered from or otherwise diverted from the
solid waste stream for use in the form of raw materials in the manufacture of new
products.
Materials diverted for use as an energy source are considered separately
under the category of energy recovery
WHY REMANUFACTURING/RECYCLING?

❖ Reduces energy costs and environmental impact of:

1. Raw materials and natural resources

2. Manufacturing products

3. Shipping components and final product

❖ What are the environment savings?

1. Saves enough natural resources.

2. Saves enough energy to power 6 million automobiles!

Approximately 85% of the energy expended in the manufacture of an
original product is preserved in the remanufactured product.

❖ Remanufacturing Reclaims ❖ Recycling Reclaims

•Material •Material

•Energy from Casting, Machining, etc.

•Labor from original processes
•Capital

•Function/Design Intent

Source: MAI PPT

Recyclables vs. non-recyclables
Class of Recycling Recycling Examples
non-renewable technically economically
material feasible? feasible?
I Yes Yes Most industrial metals
, Catalysts, some
solvents
II Yes No Packaging materials,
Refrigerants,
some solvents
III No No Coatings, pigments
Fuels, lubricants
Problem! None of these Pesticides, herbicides,
materials is renewable! fertilizers
Reagents, explosives,
detergents
Ecologic Benefit of– Automotive Parts(Delco CS 130 100A alternator)

❖ Material analysis for ❖ Benefits from remanufacturing one

Delco CS 130 100A alternator:
1.Kwh used to create one NEW
alternator:61.1 Kwh
2.CO2 emissions to create one NEW
alternator:66.6 lbs
thousand produced Delco CS 130 100A
alternators each year:
1.Annual energy savings:37,700 Kwh
2.Annual CO2 savings:51,357 lbs
Putting recycled materials in new products (Closing the loop)

Recycled plastics (shown in green) in the BMW 3-series

Design for energy efficiency
Use manufacturing processes and produce products which
require less energy
Useful Energy
Energy Output
Energy Input
Conversion
Energy Dissipated
to the Surroundings

Useful Energy Output

Efficiency =
Total Energy Input
CONT..

25% Of the gasoline is used to propel a

car, the rest is “lost” as heat. i.e an
efficiency of 0.25 (25%)
Equipment (lighting, HVAC, consumer appliances) are more & more energy
efficient

Lighting efficiency with Consumer appliances : Photovoltaic cells are

LEDs : from 20 toward 150 Appliances complying with integrated to architecture.
lumen / W the energy performance They provide 15% of 1000
labels are from 10 to 40% W/m2
more efficient Global prices are less than
2€/W (target 2020)
Yet 1000 MW installed in
Japan

Heat pumps : from 20% to

25% of performance
increase with speed driven
compression motor
Cont…
Savings:
Renovation and  Energy consumption
upgrading of Improvements in :
Increase of net
existing installation  Curative maintenance financial result
 Predictive maintenance
Environmental Regulations
❖ India has provided for the protection and improvement for the
environment in its constitution and has taken several steps in
planning and policies to overcome the environmental problems.
❖ According to the World Bank report (2007), by any benchmark,
India has an extensive environmental management system with a
comprehensive set of environmental laws, regulatory
instruments, and institutional frameworks to implement
environmental policy objectives.
 There are over two hundred laws for the prevention and control
of industrial pollution include the following:
❖ The Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974
❖ The Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Cess , Act, 1977
❖ The Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981
❖ The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986
❖ The Hazardous Waste (Management and Handling) Rules 1989, 2003, 2008
❖ The Bio – Medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules 1988, 2003
❖ The Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules 2000
❖ The Plastics Manufacture and Usage Rules, 1999
❖ The Noise Pollution (Regulation & Control) Rules, 2000
❖ The Batteries (Management and Handling) Rules, 2001
❖ Environmental Impact Assessment Notification, 2006
❖ National Environmental Policy, 2006
❖ Fly Ash Management Rule, 2008
Brief on Few Important ACTS

❖ENVIRONMENTAL(PROTECTION)ACT,
1986
 It was introduced as an umbrella legislation that provides a holistic
framework for the protection and improvement to the environment.
 In terms of responsibilities, the Act and the associated Rules required for
obtaining environmental clearances for specific types of new / expansion
projects (addressed under Environmental Impact Assessment
Notification,2006) and for submission of an environmental statement to the
State Pollution Control Board.
Cont..
❖ AIR(PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF POLLUTION)
ACT1981
 Decisions were taken at the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held
in Stockholm in June1972, in which India participated, to take appropriate steps for the
preservation of the natural resources of the earth, which , among other things, includes
the preservation of the quality of air and control of air pollution.
 Therefore it is considered necessary to implement the decisions foresaid in so far as they
relate to the preservation of the quality of air and control of air pollution
Cont..

❖WATER(PREVENTION&CONTROL)ACT, 1974
 The objectives of this Act is to provide for the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution
and the maintenance or restoration of the whole someness of water for the establishment,
with a view to carrying out the purposes aforesaid, of Boards for the prevention and
control of water pollution, for conferring on and assigning to such Boards powers and
functions relating there to and for matters connected there with.