At least that’s the view taken by The Green to Gold Business Playbook authors, Daniel Esty and PJ Simmons. As noted in a recent article on the subject:
“Assessing environmental impacts of individual products or services (we’ll call them ‘products’ for short) is one of the most important things you can do in creating the diagnostic foundation that your company needs to pursue Eco-Advantage. Product-level impact analyses can help fine-tune your understanding of eco-related risks and opportunities, pinpoint specific areas for you to target for improvement, and help you evaluate complex options and trade-offs in product and process design.
But conducting product impact assessments is tricky. There are many competing methodologies and tools available for product “life cycle analysis/assessment” (LCA) -- from ‘LCA Light’ rapid assessment tools to costly software tools that can intimidate PhDs.”
Couple this with initiatives being launched by the engineering software community – and you’ve got lots of options to choose from. There are even free tools – like the open source LCA offering available from Earthster.
So what to do?
Probably the most important message here is that the need to assess the environmental impacts of our products, and of the product design and development process – is important, and only promises to become even more critical in the years ahead. So, if companies haven’t already begun to take steps to address this challenge, it’s time.
If you're an engineer or designer involved in product design, there are a number of options for you to consider. If you're looking to gain a basic understanding of what environmental impact assessment is all about, Sustainable Minds is a great place to start, and is suitable for any design professional, independent of the CAD tool they may be using. Autodesk Inventor professionals may want to explore EcoMaterials Advisor as a first step. Solidworks professionals may want to investigate Solidworks Sustainability Xpress, and PTC Pro/Engineer professionals may want to explore Windchill Product Analytics.
Each of these companies offers extensive educational resources, as well - from Sustainable Minds' free weekly introductory webinar and Autodesk's Sustainability Workshop to Solidworks' new Guide to Sustainability primer. For those students or professionals who have already embarked on the quest to better understand and apply sustainability principles in their work, it's worth mentioning that Solidworks recently launched a green design contest in honor of Earth Day, and Autodesk, too has a number of initiatives in place to reward innovative sustainable product design. So, the good news is that there are many resources available, and many companies eager to help you take those first steps towards embracing sustainability in your design efforts.
It’s all part of next-generation product design, a topic that is explored in greater detail in our upcoming research study, “Sustainability and the Product Lifecycle: A Report on the Opportunities, Challenges and Best Practices for Sustainable Product Design and Manufacturing.”
So - do you have what it takes to design sustainable products? Or wish you did? Tell us more. By taking this short survey, you’ll be helping to shed light on this very important – and often highly debated – topic. Whether you’re a sustainability expert or just beginning your journey – your feedback is invaluable.
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