CSA Z762-95:2016 pdf download.Design for the environment (DFE)
3.4.3.1 General
Design assessment includes a number of interrelated activities which are intended to systematically evaluate the design options described in Clause 3.4.2. Design assessment may begin with the establishment of the environmental profile of a product. A profile highlights the life cycle stages which have the most significant impact on the overall environmental performance of the product.
Designers may also review each design option through a series of life cycle checklists. The checklist questions have been developed to implement the DFE core principles in each life cycle stage. The responses to the checklist questions may then evolve into the identification of unique improvement strategies for each design option. The final outcome is the priority listing of improved design options.
The difficulty in completing the design assessment is understanding the interactions between the various life cycle stages for a product option. Changes made in one life cycle stage will often impact other stages. For example, a raw material substitution may well have an effect on the remaining life cycle stages of manufacturing, use, or disposition.
To aid the designer and potentially avoid costly repetitions in the review process, the concepts of dominant environmental profile and improvement strategies have been developed. The dominant environmental profile concept will identify the most appropriate life cycle stage to be considered when beginning the review process. The improvement strategies provide an outline that structures the development of the life cycle checklists for evaluation. The checklist responses may then be consolidated to complete the design assessment.Each of these concepts is described below.
3.4.3.2 Identify the Environmental Profile
Four hypothetical environmental profiles that represent characteristic life cycle loadings of different types of products are shown in Figure 5. Even when detailed life cycle inventory data is not available,product designers may be able to intuitively determine the dominant environmental profiles of each design option. In each case, the proportion of the loading characteristics of material and energy usage,air emissions, water effluents, and solid wastes are allocated to the life cycle stages in which they occur.
For example, the raw material profile (Figure 5(a)) represents the life cycle performance that is expected from a nondurable product such as a beverage container. The most significant of the environmental loadings occurs at the raw material acquisition stage. The use profile (Figure 5(C)) represents the life cycle performance of a durable good such as a washing machine, with the most significant environmental loadings occurring at the use stage.
The environmental profile provides the designer with a good indication of where to begin reviewing the possible design strategies. In the case of a washing machine, the focus would be on improvement strategies aimed at increasing energy efficiencies and reducing water consumption or the consumption of detergents. If the designer began by optimizing the raw materials used in this situation, it may preclude an important use-related option. Similarly, the greatest environmental return for a raw material profile type of product and/or service would come from the examination of raw materials-related design strategies.
In each case, focusing on the most appropriate environmental profile will save design review time and effort and prevent the designer from considering design strategies which may sub- optimize the design option under consideration.CSA Z762-95 pdf download.