Eco-design
guidelines and LCA are important supply side tools within
IPP. The integration of environmental considerations into
the design process is an efficient way of reducing the products
overall environmental impact.
Specifically,
decisions taken during the design of products and services
largely determine their potential impacts on the environment.
Materials, shape, weight, manufacturing process, durability
etc are crucial aspects that must be considered in detail
in order to prevent or minimise the environmental impacts
of the resulting product or service.
Eco-design
(also known as “Design for the Environment”, “Green Design”,
“Environmentally Oriented Design”, or “Eco-innovation”) is
a powerful tool that enables businesses to improve their
environmental performance through the reduction of the environmental
impacts of their products, processes and services. Eco-design
involves the introduction of environmental considerations
in the ‘traditional’ design and development of products or
services with the aim of improving their environmental performance
without altering their concept.
Along
eco-design process, other important requirements are taken
into account i.e. quality, legislation, costs, functionality,
durability, ergonomics, aesthetics and health and safety
considerations. As a result, the eco-designed products are
innovative, have better environmental performance and are
of a quality at least as good as the market standard.
Eco-design
adopts an integrated
approach to
the relationship between products and services and the environment
via:
- Considering
the whole Life Cycle of the product or service.
- Considering
all the elements that a product needs to develop its function
(consumables, packaging, energy networks etc).
- Taking a
multi-criteria approach for assessing all different environmental
impacts that can be generated by a product system along its
life cycle.
The
application of eco-design can benefit business, users and
society since its goal is to obtain more efficient products
in an economic as well as environmental dimension.
The definition
of eco-design is also displayed
under: http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/eco_design/index.htm
The
Center for Sustainable Design UK: http://www.cfsd.org.uk
The
Austrian Eco-design Information point: http://www.ecodesign.at
/index.en.html
Examples
of green design can be found under: http://www.biothinking.com/index.htm
< back to IPP Instuments
|
