ABSTRACT

This chapter presents the results of an 'action research'' project with a company, xyz pic, to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the approaches and select the most appropriate for aiding product designers and communicating environmental information to customers. xyz is a large manufacturer of electronics-based business systems, in particular of property security systems such as intruder alarms. The aim of the project was to examine the potential offered by different methods to carry out environmental evaluations of xyz products, both as a guide to product designers and potentially also as a marketing tactic for the benefit of customers for whom environmental performance is a criterion in purchasing decisions. The chapter outlines the three methods of evaluation—eco-points, eco-compass, and eco-costing. It provides details of the results obtained from their application and assesses each on the basis of six criteria—precision; reliability; comprehensiveness; comprehensibility; credibility; and convenience.