ABSTRACT

Design for Sustainability has enlarged its scope and field of action over time, as observed by various authors. The focus has expanded from the selection of resources with low environmental impact to the Life Cycle Design or Eco-design of products, to designing for eco-efficient Product-Service Systems and to designing for social equity and cohesion. Since the 1990s, attention has partially moved to the product level, that is to the design of products with low environmental impact, usually referred as product Life Cycle Design, Eco-design or Design for the Environment. New methods of assessing the environmental impact of products were developed; from among them the most accepted is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). In particular two main approaches were introduced. The approaches are life cycle approach and functional approach. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.