Good product designs provide for the needs and desires of its projected users. Increasingly those users want products that don’t just fit their needs, but are good for the environment as well. By adding the principles of sustainable design to the design and manufacturing processes, engineers can not only create products that are more sustainable, but can save their companies money by reducing waste and avoiding costly litigation.
The broadening of design intent—beyond aesthetics and functionality—represents the next frontier in design. The innovations that stem from sustainable design approaches are intended to satisfy user’s needs and desires without harming the planet or people.
Let’s take a look at ways designers and engineers can incorporate green design initiatives into their current design practices.
1. Choose greener materials. Selecting the right material is a great step towards sustainable product design. New sustainable materials are emerging that will boost efficiency and reduce waste, lowering overall costs for manufacturers while meeting the needs of increasingly green-minded consumers.
These new materials include durable bioplastics, recycled content products, printed electronics, organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDS), and molded ceramics. The goal of these new materials is to lower environmental impact by using non-toxic materials that require a minimum amount of energy and water to produce, can be recycled completely or composted, and are part of a closed loop system.
One such material, Bioplastics, are derived from popanediol (PDO) obtained from bacterial fermentation of corn sugar and claim lower impact status through their use of renewable resources that sequester carbon during their growth. Another benefit is that they can be recycled at end of life. Smith Optics is currently using this material in the frames of its Prodigy ski goggles.
2. Assess the product’s lifecycle. Sustainable design doesn’t just mean creating products made of sustainable materials. It means taking a look at the entire lifecycle of a product—from the way it’s manufactured, to how it’s used, transported and disposed of at end of life.
Lifecycle analysis (LCA) tools consider the entirety of a product, process or activity, including raw materials, manufacturing, transportation, distribution, use, maintenance, recycling, and final disposal. There are several software tools that streamline the process by calculating an impact score, which is determined by looking at the individual impact of a product’s materials, manufacturing process, transportation mode, distance traveled, power usage, power source, and disposal method.
3. Start early. Designing with sustainability in mind must start at the very earliest stages of design and will require organizations to provide the proper education, tools and support to guide their design engineers to design with environmental impacts in mind from the start. It will also require a concerted effort among universities to include comprehensive programs to educate students on sustainable design practices.
