This book provides a comprehensive framework and practical tools to support environmentally
sustainable design processes. It puts forward an articulated vision of methods tools and
strategies for the integration of environmental requirements into product development as part
of the circular economy and highlights potential strategies and design guidelines accompanied
by a large selection of high-quality environmentally aware product design case studies. The
book is divided into three parts. The first part of the book introduces and defines the outline
and scenarios of sustainable development and within this framework traces the evolution of
sustainability in the design research and practice. The second part deals in-depth with the
approach and strategies used to design and develop environmentally sustainable products. In
particular this section explains the Life Cycle Design approach and the strategies and
guidelines to minimize material consumption minimise energy consumption minimise resource
toxicity and harmfulness optimise resources renewability and bio-compatibility optimise
product lifespan extend material lifespan and facilitate disassembly. In addition the
offering models in which it becomes very interesting - under an economic and competitive
profile - to design products with a low environmental impact are also explained. The third part
presents the environmental impact of products and the tools and methods for assessing it with
a specific focus on the Life Cycle Assessment together with the tools that have been developed
to support product design for environmental sustainability. Finally we find a description of
the Method for Product Design for Environmental Sustainability (MPDS) and the tools that the
DIS research unit (Design and system Innovation for Sustainability Design Department
Politecnico di Milano) adopts when offering consultancy to firms with the aim of paving their
way to the development of skills and tools related to the design of environmentally sustainable
products. In the appendix the design strategies and guidelines are synthetically re-proposed
together with the environmental impact assessment tables. Extensively rewritten for this new
edition the book is an important text for all students designers and design engineers
interested in product development processes.
