Design for Sustainability

1. Design for Sustainability University of Limerick, Ireland

2. Design for Sustainability “Designing to improve the quality of life today, without compromising the quality of life of tomorrow”

3. Objectives Learners will: • be able to explain and defend the importance of ‘Design for Sustainability’. • appreciate the potential for change and innovation during design stage. • be able to rank materials in accordance with their environmental impact. • consider the factors involved with using recycled materials. • have a knowledge of the various techniques involved in reducing the environmental impact of products.

4. Importance of “Design for Sustainability” Design for Sustainability aims: “to take all global and regional socio-economic concerns into account in products and services, meeting the needs of society now and in the future, moving from a product to a service oriented system.” • In order to design sustainable products and services, innovation, creativity and new ideas are required by designers.

5. Importance of “Design for Sustainability” On a global scale current design of products are seen to hinder Sustainability. Designers ironically increasing focus on disposables. e.g. razors, nappies, pens, packaging. 4 R’s regarding design for sustainability: RepairRefineRedesignRethink Movement towards rethinking situations and function radically changing towards achieving needs through different means.

6. Repair -> Rethink SustainabilityBenefits Adapted from:[Thompson and Sherwin, 2001]

7. Examples of Success • The “BayGen” radio was renowned for eliminating the need for batteries. – (example of ReDesign) • A “FRIA cooling chamber” (refrigerator) was designed and developed, which can be built into a house in a north facing exterior wall. – (example of ReThink) [Tischner and Charter, 2001]

8. Impact Ranking of General Materials

9. Using Recycled Materials Using recycled materials instead of virgin materials significantly reduces the Impact rating of a product. Guidelines for designing with recycled plastics: • Specify thicker walls or features that enhance rigidity in a design where increased strength must compensate for reduced strength in material. • Select applications where color is not critical when recycled plastics come with a variety of colorants. Additional colorants may mask the original color of the material.

10. Design for Recyclability Product design can make a significant contribution to recyclability. Here are some criteria to follow: • Reduce the quantity of different types of materials. • Select materials that are in mutually compatible groups, e.g. for plastics – ABS, PET or PVC, PMMA • To aid recycling, avoid materials which are difficult to separate such as laminates, fire-retardants and fiberglass reinforcements. • Avoid polluting elements such as stickers that interfere with recycling, or glues. • Use materials which can be easily recycled.

11. Design for Disassembly “To ensure easy accessibility for inspection, cleaning, repair and replacement of vulnerable/sensitive sub-assemblies or parts.” • Use fasteners such as snap, screws/‘smart screws’ or bayonet, instead of welded, glued or soldered connections. • Position joints so that the product does not need to be turned or moved for dismantling. • Indicate on the product how it should be opened non-destructively, e.g., where and how to apply leverage with a screwdriver to open snap connections.

12. Design for Light-weight • This strategy focuses on optimising the volume and weight of materials so less energy is used during production, transport and storage. • Products are often deliberately designed to be heavy or large in order to project a quality image. For Example: • Use reinforcing ribs instead of using thick-walled components. • Reduce the volume in transportation: Consider foldable or stackable designs and final product assembly at the retail location or by the end-user.

13. Design for LightWeight Case Study (outline): S.C. Johnson Wax has saved over $5 million by “lightweighting” its candle and aerosol products. It reduced the weight of its Glade candles by six per cent, decreasing material use by 1,536 tons and increasing shipping efficiency without a reduction in the life or quality of the candles. As well, it reduced the amount of material used in its aerosol products, cutting plastic use by 1,200 tons and packing material by 600 tons.

14. Design for Less & Reduction of Consumables • Application of design that will lead to lower, or more efficient use of consumables such as water, oil, filters, cleaners during a product’s life span. • Design the product to minimize the use of auxiliary materials, e.g., use a permanent filter in coffee makers instead of paper filters. • Minimize possible leaks from machines that use high volumes of consumables by, for example, installing a leak detector.

15. Re-manufacture & Re-furbishing Considerations • Design a modular product structure so that each module can be detached and re-manufactured in the most suitable way. • Design parts/components to facilitate ease of cleaning/repair and retrofitting prior to re-use. • Indicate parts/components that must be lubricated or maintained in a specific way through color coding or integral labels. • Consider the tooling requirements for re-manufacturing in the physical design of parts/components.

16. Comparing Different Sustainable Solutions The Spider Diagram on the Right shows two different design solutions. Their effectiveness can be compared and contrasted. More indicators can be added into the Spider Diagram. [Tischner, 2001]

17. Further Information • ISO 14062 (Design for the Environment) covers the integration of environmental aspects into product design, improving the environmental performance of products. Useful Links: http://www.sis.se/upload/631709776611250000.pdf http://www.scientificjournals.com/sj/ehs/Pdf/aId/5718 http://www.fivewinds.com/uploadedfiles_shared/DesignForEnvironment040127.pdf http://www.iso.org/iso/en/aboutiso/introduction/index.html

18. References [1.] Thompson, P. and C. Sherwin, 'AWARENESS' Sustainability by industrial design, in Sustainable solutions :developing products and services for the future, M. Charter and U. Tischner, Editors. 2001, Greenleaf Publishing: Sheffield, UK. [2.] Tischner, U. and M. Charter, Sustainable Product Design, in Sustainable solutions :developing products and services for the future, M. Charter and U. Tischner, Editors. 2001, Greenleaf Publishing: Sheffield, UK. [3.] Tischner, U., Tools for Ecodesign and Sustainable Product Design, in Sustainable solutions :developing products and services for the future, M. Charter and U. Tischner, Editors. 2001, Greenleaf Publishing: Sheffield, UK.