80%of environmentalimpactsof a product or service can be locked-in at the design stage

why ecodesign?

image source: WRAP

general furniture impacts

1.production phase resource consumption (raw materials, coatings, solvents, and water)

2.production phase emissions (emissions to air, effluent, solid waste)

3.production phase energy consumption

4.transportation

5.end-of-life (EOL) treatment

source: tom dixon

source: tom dixon

source: inhabitat, Droog, Jens Praet

source: Raw Nerve

source: Droog

source: Maria Elena Moretti

so, why are companies and designers looking at the issue?

400,000 tonnes of furniture is dumped every year in the UK

business in the community 2008

““

Image www.castlereagh.gov.uk

£32Landfill Tax UK

Landfill tax in the UK has risen from £7.00 per tonne in 1996 to £32.00 in 2008

source: UNEP

how do we design out impacts?

popular measurement methods

1.Life Cycle Analysis

2.Carbon footprinting

3.Eco-indicators

4.Cradle to Cradle protocol

5.Priority matrix

source: Steelcase, Herman MIller

Material Processing

Production

Packaging

Transport/Retail

Consumption

Waste

Landfill

Remanufacturing/Repurposing

Source: CRR & Envirowise (2007) An Introduction to Remanufacturing GG773

Product reuse

Material recycling and reuse

Energy from Waste

ReduceReuseRepairRefurbishRemanufactureRepurposeRecoverRecycle

life cycle thinking

case studies

furniture industry research association

Envirowise

orangebox, formway, herman miller, steelcase

The Sustainable Furnishings Council