Abstract:
Individual guidelines often exist for DfE but these are not integrated with design tools. There is no comprehensive method that can be useful for the whole life cycle of a product in various stages of its design. Few tools exist that could aid iterative changes to a design required in product development and there is a need for an integrated methodology and computational support for designers. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) [1] is arguably the most promising and scientifically defendable method for estimating environmental impacts of a product during its lifecycle [2]. Like DfE guidelines, LCA tools are not well integrated with design process and tools. Consequently, there is a need for an LCA tool integrated into the natural design process that can be applied to early as well as detailed design stages