Posted by Andrew Personette on December 11 at 5:49 PM
1.The majority of the environmental lock in happens in the concept phase. (see diagram adapted from pg. 14, Design + Environment: A Global Guide to Designing Greener Goods, by Helen Lewis, John Gertsakis). If you don't get your designers some useful direction, they will nail you to an anti-eco cross, and they were probably trying to do the "right thing".
2. Often impact is in the use phase. Product manufacturers, though they don't directly control this phase, can impact it through innovative design. Look at what P&G is doing with "cold water detergents" or Levis recommendations for fewer washings based on their LCA of jeans. Design with the right focus can influence user habits and affect positive impacts.
3. Innovate around the need, not the object. It may be that you need a service, not a product. Interface now puts some softness between you and the floor (much like grass). The difference is they take the floor back when you are done with it, and make it into... more floor! Closed loop. This is one of the hardest design/business challenges we face, and the most important. Eventually everything will have to cycle like nature, or we will erode our quality of life.
4. Closing the loop is the key. We are not going to stop needing things. When you design one thing, you should really think times 6 Billion. Seriously, if its that useful then probably everyone should have one, right? A little bit of toxic stuff is still toxic, and if we all jump in then the impact is HUGE!
5. What are you going to do with the results if you don't integrated it into the next round of design? Just try to paint your product green... or really take it to the next level? You better have your designers at the table, right next to your executives and your marketing team, so the train can leave the station.
Topics: strategy, sustainability SHARE: 
3 Comments so far...
Thanks Andrew... LCA provides a perspective on sustainability I have only recently been thinking of. LCA will be a very important part of how we Reduce-Reuse-Recycle.
Better product design will enable consumers of all types use less because the product is more efficient (getting more from less - thinking of concentrated detergents in smaller containers). We will be able to use our goods again in many different ways if they aren't so toxic (thinking Social Cycling). Lastly, LCA will provide input to the design so that more of what we consume can be recycled (like your example of Interface's carpet).
Do you have any examples of companies using LCA to provide better products or services??? Is LCA effective in 'greening the supply chain' like Walmart is doing?
Great discussion.
Posted by Stacy Richter on December 11 at 8:45 PMStacy, good questions. I do have some examples of how companies use LCA to both improve their products, and to inform the habits of their customers to be more sustainable. That will be my next blog entry.
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