Stages of a Product
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Design
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Production
Distribution
Consumption
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Retirement: end-of-life

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Design: standards, design time, customer need, cost, profit, future upgrading, deciding when to launch, energy efficiency
Production: manufacturing cost, energy use, materials use, production time, quality, environmental issues
Distribution: transportation cost, transportation time, inventory, sales network
Consumption: customer training, repair & maintenance, upgrades, lifetime, energy use
Retirement: lifetime, upgrade plan, end of customer support, reuse, recycling, disposal

Environmental Considerations…
Are often important driving influences for the design of a product

Over full life cycle:
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Design to minimize power consumption during use and manufacturing
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Design for disassembly, reuse, recycling
Minimizing or eliminating use of CFC (ozone destroyers) in manufacturing process.
Minimizing or eliminating use of heavy metals in products -- like lead solders
Selection of battery type, plastics used, etc., in products
Minimizing or recycling solvents, acids, etc., in manufacturing process

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Rapid innovation
 rapid product obsolescence
 neglecting env’tal & social impacts of increased production
Average computer lasts a few years… software demands obsolete it quickly, prices decrease rapidly
 “Throwaway” easier, cheaper than upgrade
By 2004, U.S. estimated to have 315 million OBSOLETE computers headed for landfills, including hazardous wastes, etc.

More than 1,000 materials -- many highly toxic, many difficult to degrade in landfill:
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 chlorinated and brominated substances toxic gases and toxic metals
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 photo-active and biologically active materials acids plastics and plastic additives lead and cadmium in computer circuit boards lead oxide and barium in CRTs mercury in switches and flat screens brominated flame retardants on printed circuit boards, cables and plastic casing

Electronic equipment is often difficult to “tear apart” into its constituent raw materials.

CFCs cannot be used (must use alternative, often less efficient, coolants)

Current Concept:

 Aim: encourage producers to prevent pollution & reduce resource & energy use throughout lifecycle by changing product design and process technology.
 Calls on producer to bear responsibility for the lifecycle environmental and health impacts of their products.
 Lifecycle includes raw material selections, production processes, use and final disposal of product

 Product take-back must accompany mandatory phase-out of toxics and design-for-environment changes to foster reuse and recycling
 Ideal example of EPR is where a producer takes back a product at end of useful life, either directly or through third party, and assumes responsibility for “green” recycling, proper management or disposal of product

 Example: European Union (EU) requires automobile producers to take responsibility for their products when they are scrapped
 Such laws being formulated, enacted in the EU for electronic equipment also

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All companies, including U.S., selling computers in Germany must establish takeback programs for their products.
Each Sony monitor sold in Germany has a sticker allowing its return, free of charge, at one of 800 countrywide recycling sites.
Apple Computer, IBM and Sony provide takeback programs only when required by law.
So, for example, IBM provides free take-back programs in Netherlands, Germany, Norway,
Taiwan and Sweden.

Contemporary Concept: Reduction or
Elimination of Toxic Chemicals
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Electronic equipment uses many toxic materials
Likely to be more restricted or phased out in future
Hazmats targeted for phaseout by EU’s Waste from
Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE)
Directive —include lead, mercury, brominated flame retardants
Lead:
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Over one billion pounds of lead in obsolete computers in U.S.
Effects of lead on human health are well known
Banned from gasoline in the 1970s
Lead in circuit boards and cathode ray tubes (CRTs) now a concern. CRTs are banned from municipal landfills in California and Massachusetts

Mercury
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Used in flat panel displays
Can cause damage to brain, kidneys, fetuses
Brominated Flame Retardants (BFRs)
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Used in plastic housings and circuit boards to prevent fire spread
Potential endocrine disruptors, persistent in environment, stored in fat of animals and humans
Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)
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Soft plastic used in cables and wires
Dioxin can form when PVC burned
Dioxin is a persistent, bioaccumulative compound, among most toxic substances, results from the waste incineration of PVC.

In addition to legally mandated requirements, the product designer should understand the environmental and energy use impact of his or her design!

General Guidelines for Environmentally Responsible Design
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (3Rs) (Apply these principles in product design)
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Reduce or eliminate use of greenhouse gases, toxic chemicals, lead solders, etc.
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Reduce energy consumption -- during manufacturing and use
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Recycling considerations -- take-back laws, how much of it needs to be recycled, toxic chemicals in waste product, etc.
 Design for the environment!

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International Standard on
Environmental Management
Demanded by many companies of their suppliers

Example: Voluntary EPA – ENERGY STAR
Program http://www.epa.gov/nrgystar/about.html
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Probably have seen ENERGY STAR symbol on products you buy or use
Example is ENERGY STAR Program
Requirements for Telephony:
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To qualify, an answering machine or cordless phone must use less than 3.3
Watts in standby mode
For reduction in energy utilization -- good design is important.

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In addition to other battery selection criteria, should also add consideration of environmental impact/recycling potential of battery selected for a product design.

1) L. H. Goldberg, Green Electronics/Green
Bottom Line, 2000.
2) website: www.svtc.org
3) W. H. Middendorf and R. H. Engelmann,
Design of Devices and Systems, 3 rd ed,
1998.

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Organize into your design groups
Generate a list of 4 design considerations or changes you could implement in your design project to make it more environmentally friendly or to use less energy
Put your team number and the names of the team members in attendance today on the list and hand it in on your way out the door.