Exploring green product design through TRIZ methodology and the use of green features

Abstract

The severity of environmental issues spurred the emergence of products with green design. Consumers are starting to give value to products that introduce innovations with a positive impact on the environment, these innovations are incorporated into the manufacturing process or in the product design itself. With that, enterprises also see this as a competitive advantage and are now focusing on how to keep up with these evolving requirements. Given that product design and development is no easy feat, especially eco-design, this study develops a systematic methodology on how enterprises and designers can translate all green-related requirements to create the best product designs. This research identifies a specific list of requirements called “green features” wherein eco-efficiency approaches and environmental directives are taken into account. The methodology utilizes the TRIZ tools for innovating products with the consideration of green features. To begin with, the function and attribute analysis is used to identify the target product profile with its essential green features. Then, in order to fulfill the requirement of each applicable green feature, the contradiction matrix is adopted to innovate the product. In addition, an evaluation and screening tool is used to assess and select the best product design to give users confidence that they are selecting the best option. Finally, a case study is done to validate the performance of the methodology. The case study successfully created three product designs that are significantly better than the existing ones. We believe that this innovative process can serve as a reference for product designers.