ABSTRACT
The most significant benefits of design for environments (DfE) can only be obtained if the product’s entire life cycle, starting from need recognition, design development, production, distribution, use, and disposal are all considered together. The concepts underlying industrial ecology require that the all these activities should be within the parameters of a global ecosystem, which includes the biosphere (i.e., all living organisms) and the geosphere (all lands and waters). With these premises, environmental analysis is oriented toward life cycle consideration of a product associated with its physical dimension, focusing on the interaction between the ecosphere and all the activities involved in the product life, from conceptual stage to disposal. Frosch and Gallopoulos [1] have even hypothesized that a product becomes “a transient embodiment of material and energy occurring in the course of material and energy process flows of the industrial system,” and the life cycle is understood as a set of processes of transformation, each generating an output of flows of by-products and emissions. The term “green design” involves environmental analysis in DfE. The purpose of the methods is to help designers understand the implications of alternative design choices in terms of their expected effects on ecological resources. However, these methods have limitations. There are very few analytical relationships among ecological considerations and design of components. There are two methods:; carbon footprint indicators and life cycle assessment for DfE. For a complete analysis aimed at evaluation and reduction of the environmental impact, therefore, it is necessary to take into account not only the manufacturing phases of production and machining, but also the activities preproduction of materials and postproduction phases of use, recycling and disposal. This complete product system includes the product, as integral with its life cycle, within the environmental, social, and technological context in which life cycle evolves.
