Sustainable Product Design
challenge is then to find an innovative way of removing the elements that contribute the greatest negative environmental impact, whilst maintaining performance. Take an established
product such as a blood-glucose monitor for diabetes sufferers. This is a product that is rarely acknowledged, from an eco- perspective, for its material wastage, though from a user perspective, the high numbers of single use disposable elements are a necessary annoyance.
Having conducted a life cycle assessment, we discovered that 70% of the
added, designing for efficiency of operation results in a reduction in energy use. The architecture changes can be applied to any upright vacuum cleaner. Another technique we deployed to
reduce energy consumption was the introduction of ‘stop-start’ technology to the vacuum cleaner. It automatically turns off when the user is not actively cleaning, for example when paused for moving furniture, and intelligently detects when it is about to be used again.
Critically, these changes in usage power consumption do not create a reduction in cleaning performance, but a substantial reduction in the amount of energy the machine consumes is achieved. And despite the added components the overall environmental impact of the vacuum cleaner is still significantly reduced.
Eco-friendly medical devices A life cycle assessment can be applied to any product in any industry – the
environmental impact is due to the lancets, test strips and the multiple pieces of packaging protecting these components that are disposed of immediately after use. Depending on their monitoring regime users may need to use these disposable elements up to four times a day.
Using the Ecovation innovation process we designed a concept device to show how the environmental impact could be reduced. The lead concept combines the
lancets and test strips in the monitor itself, creating an integrated, cartridge-based design with 28 tests included in each cartridge. Not only does this greatly reduce waste, it also makes the device easier to use. The cartridge design means the user only has to worry about loading the device once every 28 tests, has fewer bits to carry around and testing can be carried out much more discreetly. The concept device achieves a 65%
reduction in environmental impact, reducing the most wasteful components by integrating the functionality of three previously discrete consumables – the lancets, test strips and their packaging.
The business case for sustainable design
Cambridge Consultants has proved with its developments in the household appliance, medical device and consumer technology spaces that sustainable design is achievable if the correct process is followed. Designing products to be eco- friendly does not have to come at the cost of performance. It should not be an after-thought or marketing ploy, but a primary consideration that products have been designed to use the least energy and most appropriate material possible; enabling a substantiated marketing message.
Cambridge Consultants |
www.cambridgeconsultants.com
Gemma Evans is Senior Consultant of Innovation Management at Cambridge Consultants
www.cieonline.co.uk
Components in Electronics
October 2012 33
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