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4 Life Cycle Design
4.7 Life Cycle Design Objectives Discussion of LCD does not mean to focus only on environmental requirements; it is intended to be a more general approach to design. Nevertheless, when we do consider, as it is in our interests, the environmental requirements, then the objectives will be to minimise the burden on the environment associated with the product during its life cycle and related to its functional unit. In other words, the goal is to create a systemic idea of the product to minimise the input of raw materials and energy, let alone the impact of all emissions and waste, both quantitatively and qualitatively, calculating the harm of all effects23. The greater vision leads the designing process to take into account all activities during its life cycle and relate them to the set of exchanges (the input and output of various processes) they have with nature. For this must be defined, within the design process: a profile of the stages of the product life cycle, starting with extraction of raw materials until the disposal of waste and residues.
4.8 Implications of Life Cycle Design To bring out the advantages of Life Cycle Design, let us start first of all with a statement that many products have been designed where environmental impact has been greatly reduced at one stage, but the overall impact has increased, because it has worsened (at another stage and in relation to the functional unit) more than it has improved. A glaring example is cardboard furniture, which contrary to the general view is a disaster in environmental terms. It is true that the pre-production and production of a cardboard seat is less demanding than those of other seats made of more traditional (and durable) materials. It is just that cardboard items become unusable very quickly and have to be substituted, and substituted again and again; meanwhile the traditional seat is still in use. Thus, in comparison with the functional unit, as we have learned, the overall impact of sitting on a cardboard seat will be exponentially higher than that from a seat made of other, more durable materials. Here, the LCD approach, which takes into account all stages of the function, has an advantage in identifying the priorities of the product design concerned, priorities that differ from product to product. The disadvantage, sort of, remains in the more complex design process (but not more complicated, in fact for many reasons, even more stimulating). The first reason behind the complexity is the required amount of information about the input–output of processes and about their impact on nature. We 23
Some substances may have close to no effect, or at least a very small effect, even in large quantities; thus, they should not provoke any concern; others, meanwhile, as in the case of toxic substances, can effectuate grave results, even in small amounts.