More and more corporations emphasise the environment in public pronouncements. Are these warm words reflected where it matters, in product design? If the approach of engineering enterprises to one fundamental design decision – the choice of materials – is any indication, then environmental questions are moving centre-stage, but companies are scrambling to figure out how to answer them.
Climate change, limiting carbon dioxide emissions, and energy efficiency are the highest profile eco issues. They are filtering through to product design as businesses respond to consumer demand and – perhaps with greater urgency – prepare for government action such as carbon trading schemes. Materials choice is fundamental to a product’s carbon footprint or energy usage. There is the obvious environmental ‘cost’ of a material when the product is used; for example, does it increase the weight of a vehicle?
Designers must trade off that cost against properties that deliver the product’s function – strength, for example. They must also consider the whole materials lifecycle.
What is the eco cost of producing the raw material? What about related manufacturing processes? Is there a cost – or even an energy gain – in disposing of the material?
But other issues are as important in pushing eco design onto corporate agendas and thus into designers’ inboxes. Perhaps the best example is restricted substances legislation, such as the European Union’s REACH Directive. REACH places limits and reporting requirements on the use of substances that may affect human health or the environment.
It raises a host of materials questions. Does a material contain restricted substances? Does it require a process that uses restricted chemicals? What is the probability that a material will become obsolete during the product’s lifetime? Even if a material remains usable, will restrictions render its production uneconomic? In today’s global markets companies must respond to REACH and similar regulations in any region in which they source materials, manufacture, or sell products.
Regulation is biting elsewhere. The Energy-using Products (EuP) Directive will set eco design requirements for products such as refrigerators and air conditioning equipment. Again, materials choices matter. Properties such as weight or thermal performance can control environmental impact during product use. Selecting the right material will help – as long as eco gains are not wiped out by the impact of this choice in materials production or manufacturing.
End-of-life policy is another focus, with manufacturers increasingly required to take responsibility for product disposal, recycling, or re-use. They must avoid materials that limit these options. Of course, regulations can conflict. For example, an alloying element restricted under REACH might dramatically improve materials performance – and significantly reduce energy consumption or carbon footprint.
How do designers get to grips with these issues? Initial responses tend to focus on short-term regulatory requirements, such as registering substances restricted under REACH. A small industry is also developing around approaches and services to audit the eco impact of products. Calculations can be complex – particularly when a full lifecycle analysis (LCA) is attempted.
If eco objectives are to be realised, then such rational, quantitative methods are essential. But major challenges remain. In particular, there is a need to enable analysis of environmental factors early in design, where changes cost least and have the greatest impact, and to couple analysis to tools that guide design changes. In other words, organisations need practical ways to embed eco design into the normal engineering workflow.
This requires them to provide designers with Eco information, such as which substances are (or are likely to become) restricted, or on properties such as the carbon dioxide generated in producing a material. This data must be available on a designer’s desktop; for example, via a browser or within CAD or CAE systems. Also needed are easy-to-use materials analysis capabilities; for example, to estimate the carbon dioxide that a product would generate at each stage in its lifecycle, based on the materials and processes in a design, or to recommend substitutes for obsolete materials. Often, particularly early in the design process, it is sufficient to provide approximate analysis that quickly identifies the most important factors.
These data and tools must be integrated with the organisation’s business and engineering systems. In this way, all materials in a company’s products can be identified, and the impact of materials substitutions can be assessed.
Most enterprises have none of these elements. One project aiming to change this situation is the Environmental Materials Information Technology (EMIT) Consortium. This new collaboration, which held its first project review meeting at Eurocopter’s Marseille site during October, is developing information resources and software to enable eco design and response to regulations.
Founder members are Emerson, Eurocopter, NASA, the NPL, and Rolls-Royce. The project is expected to grow to between ten and fifteen members. The primary software developer is materials information technology expert, Granta Design.
The starting point is existing technology developed at Granta in four key areas: eco property data (for materials, substances, and manufacturing processes) and software for eco analysis, optimal materials selection, and materials information management. Consortium members make use of this technology, and they guide further development. One such development might be the creation of tools embedded within CAD systems that will allow the user to hit a button and receive an estimate of a component’s likely carbon emissions and energy usage, and a restricted substances report.
The project is modelled on the Material Data Management Consortium (www.mdmc.net), which brought together leaders in aerospace, defence, and energy to develop best practice in managing mission-critical materials data. The MDMC is in its sixth year, with seventeen members.
The calibre of the initial members and broad interest in the EMIT Consortium is evidence of the importance now placed on eco design and related materials issues, says Granta managing director, Professor David Cebon. “These issues are vital,” he says. “Whether you are an aerospace organisation seeking to avoid use of materials that may become obsolete, or an appliance manufacturer aiming to reduce environmental impact without increasing cost.”
So eco design is hitting the mainstream. But it will be the achievement of hard-headed analysis via practical design tools that will turn corporate eco objectives into more than mere aspirations.