This goal of this thesis is to present an overview of thedesigner’s situation in Swedish companies in relation toenvironmental work in the product development process. Theoverall aim is to describe the designer’s situation andhis/her potential to minimize the environmental impact ofproducts. Awareness of the environmental problems has led to a newapproach to product development, and today EcoDesign is beingintegrated in many Swedish companies. However, if products areto be improved from an environmental aspect, it is not onlynecessary to integrate the issue in the product developmentprocess, but designers themselves must also be given thepossibility of actually designing environmentally friendlyproducts. This makes the designer a key actor in EcoDesign. There are different levels of support for designers duringthe various stages of product development. The most commonenvironmental work within Swedish companies is to perform LifeCycle Assessment (LCA) or to introduce an environmentalmanagement system (EMS), most commonly ISO 14000. In order tooptimize a product from an environmental view, it is necessarynot only to know how the product affects the environment butalso how to evaluate different solutions and concepts. In orderto do this, LCA can be a support but it does not lead to thefinding of new solutions or concepts. There is control of theproduct’s content and restrictions on substances thatcannot be used. The focus of the product’s environmentalimpact is not only in the manufacturing and use phase but alsoin the end-of-life phase. This focus is due to a new type oflegislation, the producer responsibility law. The overall aimof this regulation is to increase reuse and recycling. To makethis economically possible, the present efforts to adaptproducts to recycling must be vastly increased. Finally, in order to integrate the environmental issue inthe everyday work of designers it is necessary to have thefollowing conditions:     Environmental expertise available     An evaluation tool in order to confirm and choosealternatives     Education and information for designers to spreadknowledge and to motivate them     Constant stress on the importance of environmentaladaptation     Documentation routines and guidelines connected to theproduct development process to ensure that the issue isconsidered at every step Integrating the issue in the product development process canclearly make significant environmental product improvements.For all companies, however, the overall aim is to make as muchmoney as possible, and it is evident that any major productchanges also have to lead to an increased customer benefit. Ifsignificant product changes are necessary for environmentalimprovements, further driving forces, such as governmentalregulations, may be needed in order to develop suchproducts. <b>Keywords:</b>EcoDesign, designers, environmental productdevelopment, design for environment.

The objectives of this paper are twofold: to identify engineering designers utilization of Design for Environment (DfE) methods and tools, and to investigate what basic design-related requirements a DfE method or tool should fulfill in order to become actively used in industry among engineering designers. Most of the requirements for designers are related to their aims of fulfilling product performance and minimizing development time. There are four major requirements that a DfE method or tool, as well as a common method or tool, must exhibit. First, it must be easy to adopt and implement; second, it must facilitate designers to fulfill specified requirements on the presumptive product. Third, it must reduce the risk that important elements in the product development phase are forgotten. The two latter requirements relate to a method or tool's degree of appropriateness, but also to the fourth requirement, which is considered here the most important: that the use of the method or tool must reduce the total calendar time (from start to end) to solve the task. The conclusion is that DfE methods and tools must be designed to better comply with its main users - in this case the designers

Researchers often regard remanufacturing as an environmentally beneficial end-of-life option. There have been, however, few environmental measurements performed in the area. The aim of this paper is to identify general environmental pros and cons with remanufacturing. This is done through the analysis of practical examples in remanufacturing industries. Life Cycle Assessment methodology has been used for the environmental validations. The first conclusion, based on the industrial cases and the literature review, is that remanufacturing is preferable from a material resource perspective when compared with manufacturing of new products. The second conclusion is that remanufacturing is preferable from a more overarching perspective for some of the investigated cases, but it is not possible to draw any general conclusions since the companies studied are few and benefits from remanufacturing are highly context-related.

<p>This goal of this thesis is to present an overview of thedesigner’s situation in Swedish companies in relation toenvironmental work in the product development process. Theoverall aim is to describe the designer’s situation andhis/her potential to minimize the environmental impact ofproducts.</p><p>Awareness of the environmental problems has led to a newapproach to product development, and today EcoDesign is beingintegrated in many Swedish companies. However, if products areto be improved from an environmental aspect, it is not onlynecessary to integrate the issue in the product developmentprocess, but designers themselves must also be given thepossibility of actually designing environmentally friendlyproducts. This makes the designer a key actor in EcoDesign.</p><p>There are different levels of support for designers duringthe various stages of product development. The most commonenvironmental work within Swedish companies is to perform LifeCycle Assessment (LCA) or to introduce an environmentalmanagement system (EMS), most commonly ISO 14000. In order tooptimize a product from an environmental view, it is necessarynot only to know how the product affects the environment butalso how to evaluate different solutions and concepts. In orderto do this, LCA can be a support but it does not lead to thefinding of new solutions or concepts. There is control of theproduct’s content and restrictions on substances thatcannot be used. The focus of the product’s environmentalimpact is not only in the manufacturing and use phase but alsoin the end-of-life phase. This focus is due to a new type oflegislation, the producer responsibility law. The overall aimof this regulation is to increase reuse and recycling. To makethis economically possible, the present efforts to adaptproducts to recycling must be vastly increased.</p><p>Finally, in order to integrate the environmental issue inthe everyday work of designers it is necessary to have thefollowing conditions:</p><p>    Environmental expertise available</p><p>    An evaluation tool in order to confirm and choosealternatives</p><p>    Education and information for designers to spreadknowledge and to motivate them</p><p>    Constant stress on the importance of environmentaladaptation</p><p>    Documentation routines and guidelines connected to theproduct development process to ensure that the issue isconsidered at every step</p><p>Integrating the issue in the product development process canclearly make significant environmental product improvements.For all companies, however, the overall aim is to make as muchmoney as possible, and it is evident that any major productchanges also have to lead to an increased customer benefit. Ifsignificant product changes are necessary for environmentalimprovements, further driving forces, such as governmentalregulations, may be needed in order to develop suchproducts.</p><p><b>Keywords:</b>EcoDesign, designers, environmental productdevelopment, design for environment.</p>

Thesis (M. Sc. (Human Kinetics and Ergonomics))--Rhodes University, 2005.

O aumento das exigências ambientais pela sociedade, mercado e legislação vem forçando os acadêmicos a buscarem formas de reduzir os impactos ambientais do produto durante todo o seu ciclo de vida. A integração de ferramentas de ecodesign no Processo de Desenvolvimento de Produtos (PDP) visa melhorar os requisitos ambientais do produto sem comprometer o seu desempenho, custo e características. Apesar dessa tendência, as estruturas de PDP não incorporam práticas ambientais de forma adequada. Assim, esse trabalho objetiva integrar práticas de ecodesign em uma estrutura de PDP. Para atingir esse propósito foi empregada uma análise sistemática da literatura mesclando técnicas de análise bibliométrica e de redes sociais, diagramas, mapeamento de 154 métodos de ecodesign, análise das características e questões ambientais de 80 estruturas de PDP e sistematização de 365 aspectos ambientais no PDP. Os resultados demonstram que as estruturas de PDP não enfatizam as fases de pré-desenvolvimento e pós-desenvolvimento que têm importância para redução do impacto ambiental. Portanto, foi elaborada uma proposta detalhada de integração analisando as características e contribuição de cada aspecto ambiental para minimizar o impacto ambiental do produto e sua relação com a função de cada tarefa do PDP. Na avaliação da proposta, verificou-se que nas fases de projeto conceitual e projeto detalhado houve menor aceitação quanto ao momento da integração dos aspectos ambientais, devido à interface dessas fases. Já no planejamento estratégico de projetos, planejamento de projeto e projeto informacional ocorreu desvio padrão alto nas notas, indicando divergência de opinião dos especialistas sobre o tema. Conclui-se que esse trabalho engloba um conjunto de práticas de ecodesign para suportar a tomada de decisão no PDP com objetivo de reduzir o impacto ambiental do produto durante todo o ciclo de vida. / The society, market and legislation demands for sustainability have grown then academics have to revisit the issue and to search for ways to reduce the environmental impact of the product during its life cycle. The integration of ecodesign tools in the Product Development Process (PDP) aiming at the improvement the product environmental requirements without compromising its performance, cost or characteristics. However, in spite of this tendency, the structures of PDP still do not incorporate environmental practices in their activities in a proper manner. Therefore, the proposal of this work is integrating ecodesign practices in the tasks of PDP structure. To achieve this purpose was used the systematic literature review linking techniques such as bibliometric and social networking analysis, diagrams, mapping 154 ecodesign methods, analysis of the characteristics and environmental issues of 80 PDP structures and systematization of 365 environmental aspects in the PDP. The results demonstrate that the PDP structures do not emphasize the phases of pre-development and post-development that are important to reduce environmental impact. Therefore, a detailed proposal for integration was developed by analyzing the characteristics and contribution of each environmental aspect to minimize the environmental impact of the product and its relation to the function of each task of the PDP. In assessing the proposal, it was found that the phases of conceptual design and detailed design were less accepted about time of integration of environmental aspects, due to the interface of these phases. In the strategic planning of projects, project planning and informational project were a high standard deviation in the experts evaluation, indicating divergence of opinion on the theme. In conclusion, this work includes a set of ecodesign practices to support decision making in the PDP in order to reduce the environmental impact of the product throughout its life cycle.

O mercado consumidor está cada vez mais propenso a exigir posturas corporativas sustentáveis das organizações. Nesse sentido, muitos estudos têm sido realizados sobre a incorporação destes conceitos nas organizações. A literatura apresenta diversos benefícios disponíveis para empresas com iniciativas ecologicamente corretas como benefícios financeiros, mercadológicos, valorização das ações da empresa e geração de inovações em produtos e processos, construindo vantagens absolutas sobre outras organizações. Esses benefícios têm desencadeado uma série de iniciativas voltadas para a integração de aspectos ambientais no Processo de Desenvolvimento de Produtos, particularmente, em grandes empresas. Este tipo de inovação envolve uma série de práticas, modelos de negócio e mudanças no pensamento individual e organizacional. No entanto, na maioria das empresas, prevalecem atitudes pontuais nos seus processos, com tolerância para atitudes de redução ou minimização da poluição. Estas posturas evidenciam que, apesar dos benefícios descritos, muitas empresas ainda resistem à implementação destas práticas, revelando que esta resistência pode residir nos custos ou na complexidade de implementação destas práticas. Neste contexto, o presente estudo tem como objetivo realizar uma análise sobre como ocorre a integração de aspectos ambientais no Processo de Desenvolvimento de Produtos (PDP). Para tanto, estruturou-se uma pesquisa com base na teoria vigente e na condução de um estudo de caso múltiplo com duas unidades de análise. Com o estudo de caso, o trabalho busca responder as questões de pesquisa relacionadas à como ocorre a escolha e a incorporação de métodos e/ou ferramentas de apoio no PDP. A principal conclusão do estudo é que questões como contexto mercadológico, porte, setor de atuação, severidade da legislação ambiental no setor, cultura organizacional e nível/estágio de implementação do DfE contingenciam as formas de Integração de aspectos ambientais no PDP, apontando para a necessidade de criação de um modelo contingencial para este processo. / The consumer market is increasingly likely to require sustainable corporate postures from the organizations. Many studies have been conducted on the incorporation of these concepts in organizations. The literature presents many benefits available to companies with green initiatives as financial and marketing benefits, the valuation of the company\'s stocks and products and processes innovations, creating competitive advantage. These benefits have sparked many initiatives aimed at product development focused on environmental issues, specially, in large companies. This type of innovation involves a series of methods, business models and changes in individual and organizational thinking. However, in most companies, prevail specific attitudes in their processes, with tolerance for attitudes of pollution reduction or minimization. These attitudes show that, despite the benefits described, many companies still resist the implementation of these methods, revealing that resistance may reside in costs or complexity of implementing these methods. In this context, this study aims to conduct an analysis on how the integration of environmental issues in Product Development Process (PDP) occurs. To do so, a research was structured based on current theory and conducting a multiple case study with two units of analysis. With the case study, the work seeks to answer research questions related to how does the selection and incorporation of methods and/or tools in the PDP occurs. The main conclusion of the study is that issues such as marketing context, size, sector of operation, severity of environmental legislation in the sector, organizational culture and level/stage of implementation of DfE sets out the forms of integration of environmental aspects in the PDP, pointing to the need to establish a contingency model for this process.

O mercado consumidor está cada vez mais propenso a exigir posturas corporativas sustentáveis das organizações. Nesse sentido, muitos estudos têm sido realizados sobre a incorporação destes conceitos nas organizações. A literatura apresenta diversos benefícios disponíveis para empresas com iniciativas ecologicamente corretas como benefícios financeiros, mercadológicos, valorização das ações da empresa e geração de inovações em produtos e processos, construindo vantagens absolutas sobre outras organizações. Esses benefícios têm desencadeado uma série de iniciativas voltadas para a integração de aspectos ambientais no Processo de Desenvolvimento de Produtos, particularmente, em grandes empresas. Este tipo de inovação envolve uma série de práticas, modelos de negócio e mudanças no pensamento individual e organizacional. No entanto, na maioria das empresas, prevalecem atitudes pontuais nos seus processos, com tolerância para atitudes de redução ou minimização da poluição. Estas posturas evidenciam que, apesar dos benefícios descritos, muitas empresas ainda resistem à implementação destas práticas, revelando que esta resistência pode residir nos custos ou na complexidade de implementação destas práticas. Neste contexto, o presente estudo tem como objetivo realizar uma análise sobre como ocorre a integração de aspectos ambientais no Processo de Desenvolvimento de Produtos (PDP). Para tanto, estruturou-se uma pesquisa com base na teoria vigente e na condução de um estudo de caso múltiplo com duas unidades de análise. Com o estudo de caso, o trabalho busca responder as questões de pesquisa relacionadas à como ocorre a escolha e a incorporação de métodos e/ou ferramentas de apoio no PDP. A principal conclusão do estudo é que questões como contexto mercadológico, porte, setor de atuação, severidade da legislação ambiental no setor, cultura organizacional e nível/estágio de implementação do DfE contingenciam as formas de Integração de aspectos ambientais no PDP, apontando para a necessidade de criação de um modelo contingencial para este processo. / The consumer market is increasingly likely to require sustainable corporate postures from the organizations. Many studies have been conducted on the incorporation of these concepts in organizations. The literature presents many benefits available to companies with green initiatives as financial and marketing benefits, the valuation of the company\'s stocks and products and processes innovations, creating competitive advantage. These benefits have sparked many initiatives aimed at product development focused on environmental issues, specially, in large companies. This type of innovation involves a series of methods, business models and changes in individual and organizational thinking. However, in most companies, prevail specific attitudes in their processes, with tolerance for attitudes of pollution reduction or minimization. These attitudes show that, despite the benefits described, many companies still resist the implementation of these methods, revealing that resistance may reside in costs or complexity of implementing these methods. In this context, this study aims to conduct an analysis on how the integration of environmental issues in Product Development Process (PDP) occurs. To do so, a research was structured based on current theory and conducting a multiple case study with two units of analysis. With the case study, the work seeks to answer research questions related to how does the selection and incorporation of methods and/or tools in the PDP occurs. The main conclusion of the study is that issues such as marketing context, size, sector of operation, severity of environmental legislation in the sector, organizational culture and level/stage of implementation of DfE sets out the forms of integration of environmental aspects in the PDP, pointing to the need to establish a contingency model for this process.

O aumento das exigências ambientais pela sociedade, mercado e legislação vem forçando os acadêmicos a buscarem formas de reduzir os impactos ambientais do produto durante todo o seu ciclo de vida. A integração de ferramentas de ecodesign no Processo de Desenvolvimento de Produtos (PDP) visa melhorar os requisitos ambientais do produto sem comprometer o seu desempenho, custo e características. Apesar dessa tendência, as estruturas de PDP não incorporam práticas ambientais de forma adequada. Assim, esse trabalho objetiva integrar práticas de ecodesign em uma estrutura de PDP. Para atingir esse propósito foi empregada uma análise sistemática da literatura mesclando técnicas de análise bibliométrica e de redes sociais, diagramas, mapeamento de 154 métodos de ecodesign, análise das características e questões ambientais de 80 estruturas de PDP e sistematização de 365 aspectos ambientais no PDP. Os resultados demonstram que as estruturas de PDP não enfatizam as fases de pré-desenvolvimento e pós-desenvolvimento que têm importância para redução do impacto ambiental. Portanto, foi elaborada uma proposta detalhada de integração analisando as características e contribuição de cada aspecto ambiental para minimizar o impacto ambiental do produto e sua relação com a função de cada tarefa do PDP. Na avaliação da proposta, verificou-se que nas fases de projeto conceitual e projeto detalhado houve menor aceitação quanto ao momento da integração dos aspectos ambientais, devido à interface dessas fases. Já no planejamento estratégico de projetos, planejamento de projeto e projeto informacional ocorreu desvio padrão alto nas notas, indicando divergência de opinião dos especialistas sobre o tema. Conclui-se que esse trabalho engloba um conjunto de práticas de ecodesign para suportar a tomada de decisão no PDP com objetivo de reduzir o impacto ambiental do produto durante todo o ciclo de vida. / The society, market and legislation demands for sustainability have grown then academics have to revisit the issue and to search for ways to reduce the environmental impact of the product during its life cycle. The integration of ecodesign tools in the Product Development Process (PDP) aiming at the improvement the product environmental requirements without compromising its performance, cost or characteristics. However, in spite of this tendency, the structures of PDP still do not incorporate environmental practices in their activities in a proper manner. Therefore, the proposal of this work is integrating ecodesign practices in the tasks of PDP structure. To achieve this purpose was used the systematic literature review linking techniques such as bibliometric and social networking analysis, diagrams, mapping 154 ecodesign methods, analysis of the characteristics and environmental issues of 80 PDP structures and systematization of 365 environmental aspects in the PDP. The results demonstrate that the PDP structures do not emphasize the phases of pre-development and post-development that are important to reduce environmental impact. Therefore, a detailed proposal for integration was developed by analyzing the characteristics and contribution of each environmental aspect to minimize the environmental impact of the product and its relation to the function of each task of the PDP. In assessing the proposal, it was found that the phases of conceptual design and detailed design were less accepted about time of integration of environmental aspects, due to the interface of these phases. In the strategic planning of projects, project planning and informational project were a high standard deviation in the experts evaluation, indicating divergence of opinion on the theme. In conclusion, this work includes a set of ecodesign practices to support decision making in the PDP in order to reduce the environmental impact of the product throughout its life cycle.

<p>Given a special focus on Design for Environment (DfE) methods and tools, the objectives of this thesis are to, <i>“Identify basic design-related requirements that a method or tool should fulfill in order to become actively used by engineering designers”</i>, and to <i>“Investigate how those basic requirements could be used to make DfE methods and tools more actively used in industry among engineering designers”</i>.</p><p>The research has shown that designers in general have three main purposes for utilizing methods and tools, of which the last two could be seen as subsets of the first one. The purposes are to: (1) <i>facilitate various kinds of communication within the product development process;</i> (2)<i> integrate knowledge and experience into the methods and tools as a know-how backup;</i> and (3) contribute with structure in the product development process. The low degree of follow-up implies a risk that methods and tools are used that affect the work within the company in a negative way. In order to be able to better follow-up methods and tools regarding both their utilization and usefulness, there is a need for a better definition of requirements for methods and tools.</p><p>Most of all designers’ related requirements are related to their’ aims to fulfill the product performance and keep down the development time. This can be concluded as four major requirements, that a DfE method or tool, as well as a common method or tool, must exhibit: (1)<i> be easy to adopt and implement, </i>(2)<i> facilitate designers to fulfill specified requirements on the presumptive produc</i>t, and at the same time (3) <i>reduce the risk that important elements in the product development phase are forgotten</i>. Both these two latter requirements relate to a method or tool’s degree of appropriateness. The second and the third requirements are related to the fourth requirement, which is found to be the most important: that the use of the method or tool (4)<i> must reduce the total calendar time (from start to end) to solve the task.</i> The conclusion is that DfE methods and tools must be designed to comply to a higher degree with the main users - in this case the designers’ requirements for methods and tools</p>