Hållbarhet värderas allt högre utav konsumenter och allt fler företag satsar på ett utökat hållbarhetsarbete. Detta innebär att företag borde utveckla sitt hållbarhetsarbete för att bli eller fortsätta att vara konkurrenskraftiga. Konsumtionen av livsmedel står för 25 % av hushållens klimatpåverkan. Inom dagligvaruindustrin finns därmed en stor potential för förbättring. För ett utvecklat hållbarhetsarbete krävs innovativa lösningar. Design som process har visat sig kunnabidra med detta. Dock har studier visat på att trots att företag värderar design högt så implementeras det inte i samma utsträckning. Potentialen som design innehar riskerar därmed att gå förlorad av aktörerna på marknaden. Uppsatsen ämnar till att undersöka vilka faktorer som är viktiga för att design skall implementeras för att utveckla hållbara produkter inom dagligvaruindustrin. Studien är en multipel fallstudie med en kvalitativ ansats. Tre intervjuer har genomförts med europeiska företag som verkar på den svenska dagligvaru- och livsmedelsmarknaden. Studien visade på vikten av att företag genomsyras av hållbarhet och har en hög förståelse fördesign. Det är av vikt att såväl design som hållbarhet implementeras i början av produktutvecklingsprocessen som även kallas för Front-End. / Sustainability is increasingly valued by consumers and more companies are expanding the incorporation of sustainability in their work. This means companies should develop the incorporation of sustainability in their work to stay or become competitive on the market. The consuming of groceries accounts for 25 % of the households climate influence. Within the fast moving consumer goods industry there is therefore a potential of improvement. To develop the incorporation of sustainability in a company requires innovative solutions. Design as a process has been able to contribute with exactly this. Although, studies have shown that even though companies value design highly it is not implemented to the same extent. The potential that design possesses is therefore at risk of being lost by the actors of the market. The thesis intends to explore which factors that are important for design to be implemented to develop sustainable products in the fast moving consumer goods industry. The study is a multiple case study with a qualitative approach. Three interviews have beenmade with european companies that are active on the swedish fast moving consumer goodsindustry market. The study showed that it is of importance for a company to be permeated by sustainability andto have a high understanding of design. Furthermore, it is of importance that design as well assustainability is implemented in the beginning of the product development process that is also known as Front-End.

This thesis describes and demonstrates a method for consolidating, developing, and using green design guidelines for the innovation of greener products. Life cycle analysis (LCA) is one well-accepted tool for quantifying the environmental impacts of a product so designers can identify areas for redesign effort. However, LCA is a retrospective design tool that requires detailed design information that isn’t known until designs are near completion. Alternatively, green design guidelines provide proven techniques for designing greener products. They can be used during the early stages of design, when many decisions fundamental to innovation and environmental impact are made and before LCA is viable. This thesis extends the work already done in green design guidelines, by updating the current knowledge base and introducing a method for extending the set of existing guidelines to encompass new and emerging areas of sustainability. While guidelines have been created from prior experience in design for environment and life cycle analysis, they have not been maintained as a shared and coordinated repertoire of green design solutions. Instead, sets of guidelines are scattered throughout the literature, contain overlaps, operate at different levels of abstraction, and have varying levels of completeness. For example, some areas of green design guidelines, such as design for disassembly, are well established, while other areas of green design guidelines, such as minimizing energy consumption during use, are still being explored. Additionally, while numerous examples of green design guidelines exist, many of the guidelines have no documented validation of their life cycle impacts. The work for this thesis began with the compilation of a dynamic knowledge base of green design guidelines. This set of guidelines is a consolidation and updating of the green design guidelines already available in literature and can be used as a starting poinrt for future improvements and extensions as the field develops. A standard method was then proposed and tested for creating guidelines in currently undeveloped areas of green design, particularly energy consumption during the operation of a product. The method employs reverse engineering techniques and life cycle analysis to identify green requirements and develop corresponding, new green design guidelines. A case study of electric kettles demonstrated the usefulness of the method by yielding four new guidelines and four, corresponding, energy saving re-designs. For this example, the redesigns showed that guidelines can reduce energy consumption, but may incur tradeoffs with other life cycle stages. Calculation of tradeoffs revealed a range of net life cycle impact values that were caused by increased manufacturing demands and variability in consumer use habits. In addition to redesign in the kettle study, the four new guidelines were tested for usefulness in new product design by use of focus groups. Two groups were tasked with designing a new energy efficient toaster concept. Only one group was given the four green design guidelines that were uncovered using the proposed method. The design group using the new green design guidelines produced more viable and practical green features than the design group that did not have the guidelines as a design tool. These preliminary results suggest that the proposed method is useful for creating new guidelines that are beneficial to design teams tackling novel design problems that differ from the original case study. Further work is needed to establish the statistical significance of these results. / text

Interest in environmental issues has increased enormouslyover the last few decades and environmental problems areperceived to be on the increase. Due to the fact that thenumber of products on the market increases enormously, it isevident that we face a great challenge to overcome the problemconcerning our consumer society. An increasing barrage oflegislation accompanied by the public’s awareness of, andconcern for, the environment forcing the industry to respond.Products and their environmental impact have moved to thecentre stage and it is widely believed that designers have akey role in adapting products to a sustainable society. Threekey issues are identified in this development scenario: (a) theimportance of adapting products to a more sustainable society,(b) the specific situation facing the designer, especially inearly design phases, and (c) balancing environmental impactswith functional preferences. Research in this thesis presents a theoretical framework fordescribing environmental issues and the role of the designer inproduct development, as well as functional characteristics ofproducts in the early phases of design. Based on anengineering-design science foundation, theoretical models andconcepts have been developed describing how both functional andenvironmental preferences can be visualised in design forenvironment and product development. Case studies andinterviews have been performed and integrated into a coherenttheoretical model for identifying and evaluating functional andenvironmental preferences within ecodesign approach andreasoning. The overall concept proposed in this thesis is called theeco functional matrix, based on two parts: functional profileand environmental profile. The functional profile represent thefunctional characteristics and environmental profile theenvironmental characteristics respectively of a product in theearly phases of design. One of the objectives behind theconcept is to highlight the importance of balancing functionalrequirements and environmental impacts, presenting both theadvantages and disadvantages of the product. The basic idea isto account for user and societal preferences as well asenvironmental impact when assessing alternative productconcepts at early design stages. Balancing both the functionalrequirements and the negative environmental impacts of productsis the road to sustainable development. <b>KEYWORDS</b>Design for environment, life-cycle design,eco-design, eco-design methods, product environmentalcharacteristics, product functional characteristics, customerbenefit, value analysis, functional profile, environmentalprofile, eco functional matrix, product properties.

<p>Interest in environmental issues has increased enormouslyover the last few decades and environmental problems areperceived to be on the increase. Due to the fact that thenumber of products on the market increases enormously, it isevident that we face a great challenge to overcome the problemconcerning our consumer society. An increasing barrage oflegislation accompanied by the public’s awareness of, andconcern for, the environment forcing the industry to respond.Products and their environmental impact have moved to thecentre stage and it is widely believed that designers have akey role in adapting products to a sustainable society. Threekey issues are identified in this development scenario: (a) theimportance of adapting products to a more sustainable society,(b) the specific situation facing the designer, especially inearly design phases, and (c) balancing environmental impactswith functional preferences.</p><p>Research in this thesis presents a theoretical framework fordescribing environmental issues and the role of the designer inproduct development, as well as functional characteristics ofproducts in the early phases of design. Based on anengineering-design science foundation, theoretical models andconcepts have been developed describing how both functional andenvironmental preferences can be visualised in design forenvironment and product development. Case studies andinterviews have been performed and integrated into a coherenttheoretical model for identifying and evaluating functional andenvironmental preferences within ecodesign approach andreasoning.</p><p>The overall concept proposed in this thesis is called theeco functional matrix, based on two parts: functional profileand environmental profile. The functional profile represent thefunctional characteristics and environmental profile theenvironmental characteristics respectively of a product in theearly phases of design. One of the objectives behind theconcept is to highlight the importance of balancing functionalrequirements and environmental impacts, presenting both theadvantages and disadvantages of the product. The basic idea isto account for user and societal preferences as well asenvironmental impact when assessing alternative productconcepts at early design stages. Balancing both the functionalrequirements and the negative environmental impacts of productsis the road to sustainable development.</p><p><b>KEYWORDS</b>Design for environment, life-cycle design,eco-design, eco-design methods, product environmentalcharacteristics, product functional characteristics, customerbenefit, value analysis, functional profile, environmentalprofile, eco functional matrix, product properties.</p>

<p>The main aim of this thesis is to develop and test industry-specific, applied work procedures and tools for environmental and emerging sustainability work in the graphic arts industry. This includes methods to quantify, follow-up, evaluate, manage, improve and communicate the environmental performance of activities in the graphic arts supply chain and printed products.</p><p>In order to achieve the aims of the thesis, a selection of work areas were chosen as the basis for developing the industry-specific work procedures and tools. The selected work areas are the following: environmental management (being a part of sustainability management), environmental and sustainability strategies, environmental indicators and design for environment (DfE).</p><p>The research presented in this thesis was based on survey research methods, case studies and multi-company studies. Within the framework of these methods, quantitative and qualitative techniques for data gathering were used. The companies included in the studies were selected according to their willingness, interest and motivation to participate and develop their environmental or sustainability work.</p><p>The most significant results of the research presented in this thesis regarding the selected work areas are the following:</p><p>• An evaluation of early certified environmental management systems (EMSs) in Sweden identified four areas as priorities in making the EMSs more efficient. Two of them, viz. improvement in the follow-up of environmental work, and the linking of EMSs to product design, were developed for the graphic arts industry. The remaining two areas were clarifying the identification process and assessment of environmental aspects, and streamlining and co-ordinating different management systems.</p><p>• An established and successfully tested working method for formulating and realising corporate sustainability strategies in the graphic arts industry.</p><p>• Industry-specific environmental indicator models for the graphic arts industry with defined methods for standardised inventorying and calculations. These models have been tested, used and approved of by the industry itself.</p><p>• Collected and compiled data for the developed environmental indicator models. Data have been collected from quite a large number of companies (10-20 companies for each of the printing techniques covered, i.e. coldset offset, heatset offset and gravure) over a period of several years.</p><p>• The use of the industry-specific environmental indicator models was developed and illustrated.</p><p>• A described and recommended work procedure for DfE in graphic arts companies including industry-specific tools for applying DfE to printed products, in the form of a manual and a checklist. The checklist was designed so that it can serve as a simple tool for the environmental assessment of printed products. The tools were tested by graphic arts companies.</p>

Energy plays a significant role in a country’s development. Usage of an improved stove that produces biochar could help to reduce the pressure of deforestation, amend soil productivity, and provide cleaner technology for cooking. In Kwale, a county located on the south coast of Kenya, firewood is still used as the primary cooking fuel followed by charcoal. This research aims to investigate the improvements for a Top-litUpDraft (TLUD) biochar-producing gasifier stove, which the users aspired through co-designing. Transformative mixed methods were used as the research design to empower the users’ involvement in the biochar and smallholder farmers in Kenya – improved use efficiency of farm-level organic resources in relation to energy, crops and soil project. Triangulation was used to process the collected data through structured user observations, a focus group discussion, and a semi-structured interview. Between two stakeholders, TLUDgasifier stove users and the manufacturer, there was a difference of opinion for the main priority. Ease of use was the main concern for the users while the manufacturer put forward energy efficiency. Further, the users desired for an increase in the stove’s dimension as its capacity to produce biochar would increase.

Our understanding of the effects that human production and consumption has on our planet and its resources has challenged us to think differently when developing new products. In response to these problems, Eco Design has been developed over the last few decades. Eco Design is a process integrated into product and engineering design that aims to lower the environmental impact of products across their life cycle, whilst not hindering design brief criteria such as function, price, performance, and quality. Research in Eco Design has focused mainly on the development of new tools and ways to implement Eco Design in industry. However, there is still little empirical knowledge today regarding the state of Eco Design implementation and practices in industry; in addition to the prerequisite needs and factors to successfully implement Eco Design. The aim of this research has been to review the level and type of Eco Design in the British Product Design industry and to identify recurrent themes helping or hindering implementation. This was achieved through the use of a pilot study followed by a two stage case study design, involving 20 cases and 57 participants across 65 interviews. The investigation and its analysis produced 12 confirmed themes, each generating their own drivers and barriers to Eco Design implementation. This research into Eco Design implementation provides a unique contribution and a timely insight into the Eco Design practices of the British Product Design industry today. The research also provides the novel contribution of identifying the drivers and barriers to implementing and sustaining Eco Design, as well as an understanding of the strengths and shortfalls of the current Eco Design processes and tools. These contributions to knowledge in the field of Eco Design will help future research formulate better solutions to implement Eco Design processes in the Product Design industry.

The main aim of this thesis is to develop and test industry-specific, applied work procedures and tools for environmental and emerging sustainability work in the graphic arts industry. This includes methods to quantify, follow-up, evaluate, manage, improve and communicate the environmental performance of activities in the graphic arts supply chain and printed products. In order to achieve the aims of the thesis, a selection of work areas were chosen as the basis for developing the industry-specific work procedures and tools. The selected work areas are the following: environmental management (being a part of sustainability management), environmental and sustainability strategies, environmental indicators and design for environment (DfE). The research presented in this thesis was based on survey research methods, case studies and multi-company studies. Within the framework of these methods, quantitative and qualitative techniques for data gathering were used. The companies included in the studies were selected according to their willingness, interest and motivation to participate and develop their environmental or sustainability work. The most significant results of the research presented in this thesis regarding the selected work areas are the following: • An evaluation of early certified environmental management systems (EMSs) in Sweden identified four areas as priorities in making the EMSs more efficient. Two of them, viz. improvement in the follow-up of environmental work, and the linking of EMSs to product design, were developed for the graphic arts industry. The remaining two areas were clarifying the identification process and assessment of environmental aspects, and streamlining and co-ordinating different management systems. • An established and successfully tested working method for formulating and realising corporate sustainability strategies in the graphic arts industry. • Industry-specific environmental indicator models for the graphic arts industry with defined methods for standardised inventorying and calculations. These models have been tested, used and approved of by the industry itself. • Collected and compiled data for the developed environmental indicator models. Data have been collected from quite a large number of companies (10-20 companies for each of the printing techniques covered, i.e. coldset offset, heatset offset and gravure) over a period of several years. • The use of the industry-specific environmental indicator models was developed and illustrated. • A described and recommended work procedure for DfE in graphic arts companies including industry-specific tools for applying DfE to printed products, in the form of a manual and a checklist. The checklist was designed so that it can serve as a simple tool for the environmental assessment of printed products. The tools were tested by graphic arts companies. / <p>QC 20110124</p>

Vehicle manufactures have adopted different strategies for improving the environmental performance of their fleet including lightweight design and alternative drivetrains such as EVs. Both strategies reduce energy during use but may result in a relative increase of the impact during other stages. To address this, a lifecycle approach is needed when vehicle design strategies are developed. The thesis explores the extent that such a lifecycle approach is adopted today and assesses the potential of these strategies to reduce the lifecycle impact of vehicles. Moreover it aims to contribute to method development for lifecycle considerations during product development and material selection. Current practices were explored in an empirical study with four vehicle manufacturers. The availability of tools for identifying, monitoring and assessing design strategies was explored in a literature review. The results of the empirical study showed that environmental considerations during product development often lack a lifecycle perspective. Regarding the use of tools a limited number of such tools were utilized systematically by the studied companies despite the numerous tools available in literature. The influence of new design strategies on the lifecycle environmental performance of vehicles was assessed in three case studies; two looking into lightweight design and one at EVs. Both strategies resulted in energy and GHG emissions savings though the impact during manufacturing increases due to the advanced materials used. Assumptions relating to the operating conditions of the vehicle e.g. lifetime distance or for EVs the carbon intensity of the energy mix, influence the level of this tradeoff. Despite its low share in terms of environmental impact EOL is important in the overall performance of vehicles. The thesis contributed to method development by suggesting a systematic approach for material selection. The approach combines material and environmental analysis tools thus increases the possibilities for lifecycle improvements while minimizing risk for sub-optimizations. / <p>QC 20160920</p>

The Linear Economy cannot any longer be sustained by the eco-system: virgin resources are limited and destined to terminate soon if the contemporary production and consumption model will be maintained. For this reason, in the last few years Circular Economy has become an increasingly discussed topic worldwide. Through the adoption of strategies that close-the-loop of the traditional linear production system, Circular Economy aims to find solutions that can create a balance between economy, society and environment. This study aims to provide a holistic overview on the main theories and strategies that can ease a business transition to a Circular Economy model, to analyse challenges and opportunities connected to this conversion and to present a concrete tool developed for this purpose. The Life Cycle Design theory is here discussed and contextualised within the furniture industry reality since this study has been executed in collaboration with IKEA, the company case study of this thesis. An academic and professional literature review have been performed in order to gather information about theory and practice related to the implementation of strategies needed by a Circular Economy: product disassembly, recovery, reuse, refurbish, recycle and remanufacturing. The professional literature reviewed point out that the implementation of a circular model can lead to economic advantages and growth’s opportunities for manufacturers in various economic sectors. The implementation of Circular Economy in the furniture industry seems to be in its early stages and it mainly focus, with few exception, on recycling rather than on the more effective reuse, refurbish or remanufacturing operations. This study points out the two main issues that the furniture manufacturers need to solve in order to enable the implementation of more effective circular strategies: product disassembly and recovery. Furthermore, the need of an innovative and holistic approach is discussed with particular emphasis on the importance of a systemic thinking that enable organisation to create their own identity and objectives in relation to the Circular Economy model. The importance of a system that connects and coordinate the sustainable efforts and aims for new products and services is therefore highlighted, suggested and deeply considered in the development of the tool proposed. To conclude, a comparison between two IKEA products (the sofas Söderhamn and Knopparp) was performed to identify the role of the products’ design and development in relation with the implementation of a Circular Economy model. The products were briefly technically analysed and then a comparison between a linear and a circular end-of-life cycle scenario has been represented.