ACLODS – A Holistic Framework for Environmentally Friendly Product Lifecycle Design

Abstract

Design for Environment (DfE) is an approach to design where all the environmental impacts of a product are considered over the entire life cycle of a product. Most DfE tools are conceptual in nature, and there is little adoption of these in industry. This chapter discusses the development of a holistic framework that should help in both generation and evaluation of environmentally friendly product life cycle proposals. The overall approach is to investigate literature to analyse the existing guidelines, methods, tools and methodologies for environmentally friendly product design, in order to identify the requirements for a holistic framework for design to reduce the environmental impact of a product lifecycle proposal. An ideal framework to satisfy these requirements is proposed.