How to identify the most promising areas of environmental improvement at the early stages of the design process?

Abstract

This article corresponds to a lack of methodological supports in the literature which would enable design teams to organise various areas of improvement/innovation hierarchically as early as possible in the design stage. Such methodological supports would enable the team to identify the improvements or innovations which potentially present the highest rate of environmental improvement. The proposed solution consists of setting up a product model comprising the main design parameters relating to environmental performance. A design of experiments sheds light on the contribution of each parameter to the global environmental performance (evaluated in this instance by the end-score of the EI99 method). Each experimental level also contains a level of technico-economic feasibility (and a level of attractiveness for the user. The deliverable of this tool constitutes the evaluation of the rate of environmental improvement for each area of improvement. This is supplemented by its level of technico-economic feasibility and level of user attractiveness. With this information, the design team is better able to make choices corresponding to what seems most feasible for the company, most acceptable for the user and best for the environment.