Technological trends, product design and the environment

Technological trends, product design and the environment Stephen Poole & Matthew Simon, Manchester Metropolitan University,

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Design and Manufacture,

Manchester M1 5GD, UK

The paper begins with an overview of electronics and the environment.

It then describes three current trends in information technology and

telecommunications: convergence of products, miniaturisation and the

use of networks. The potential impacts that these trends will have on the

environment are discussed and summarised in an Abridged Life Cycle

Assessment matrix. It is argued that all three trends may act to reduce

the environmental impact of future products. However, this will require

crucial changes to the design principles of electronic products and we

should also change the philosophy of their use. © 1997 Elsevier Science

Ltd.

Keywords: environmental design, product design, electronics, trends

ELSEVIER

T his paper addresses the question of whether current trends in the

design of telecommunications (telecoms) and computer products

will have an effect on the environmental impact of such products;

and, if so, how to predict this impact. The question arises in the context

of a fast-changing industry with a rapid turnover of products of short design

lives. For environmental issues to affect product design requires their con-

sideration ever earlier in the design process, leading to the idea of address-

ing the question at the product planning stage, where design trends are con- sidered.

The nature of telecoms products is changing: although the simple voice

telephone call is still common, an increasing number of services are being

offered which demand products and networks with more sophistication.

The result is an increasing use of information technology (IT) and software-controlled equipment, of which the most familiar example to con-

sumers is the tone-controlled digital exchange. At the same time, the last

two decades have seen networking become the key driving technology in computing i all computer equipment now contains important telecoms

0142-694X/97 $17.00 Design Studies 18 (1997) 237-248 PII: S0142-694X(97)00003-3 © 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd All rights reserved Printed in Great Britain

237

1 Department of the Environ- merit The UK Environment HMSO, London (1992); Roy, R End.of./ife electronic equipment waste CEST, London (1991)

functions, e.g. the ability to link easily to corporate networks or the Inter-

net.

Thus, telecoms equipment is incorporating more and more aspects of com-

puting, whilst computers are incorporating more and more aspects of telec-

oms; multi-functional products are the result. This convergence is one of

three key trends discussed in this paper. The second clear trend, common

to many electronic products, is miniaturisation. This is partly driven by the

requirement for portability, and like convergence, is a trend that has the

potential for environmental improvement. The third trend, specific to telec-

oms technology, is the move towards network solutions: the replacement

of a product by a service delivered over the network. A familiar example is

the digital voice messaging service which replaces the telephone answering

machine. This trend is sometimes described as dematerialisation - - the

elimination of significant quantities of materials in the provision of a func-

tion. A theme common to all these trends is the tendency for hardware to

be replaced by software. This will be shown when the three trends are

discussed in more detail. First, we give a brief overview of electronics and

the environment.

1 Electronics and the environment Telecommunications and information technology share two key features:

(1) They are of great cultural significance because of their impact upon

20th century society. Consequently, their principal consumer pro-

ducts, the telephone and personal computer, have become design

icons possessing special importance. (This is used to effect in market-

ing the products, e.g. BT campaigns which play on peoples' guilt at

not keeping in contact with their extended family, or computer adver-

tising which stresses the essential role of new technology in chil- dren's education.)

(2) They occupy a fast-changing and expanding market which requires

constantly updated products. Older products rapidly become obsolete

since they do not offer the latest range of functions, the best con-

venience or the improved reliability of newer models. Awareness of

the rapid turnover of electronic products was shown by the fact that

electrical and electronic products were identified by the EU as a pri- ority waste stream, even though electronic waste forms less than 1% of total solid waste and very little of this is toxic ~.

Combine these two issues with the fact that public awareness of environmental concerns is generally increasing and it is not surprising that the IT/telecoms industries have been cleaning up their operations for some

238 Design Studies Vol 18 No 3 July 1997

2 IEEE International Symposium on Electronics and the Environment, Edinburgh, October 1995 3 IEEE International Symposium on Electronics and the Environment, Dallas, May 1996 4 Heljungs, R eta,'. "Life Cycle Assessment: what il is and how to do it" UNEP, Paris (1996) 5 Sweatman, A end Simon, M 'Design for environment tools and product innovation' Pro- ceedings of 3rd CIRP thter- national Seminar on Life Cycle Engineering Zurich, March 1995 6 Greedel, T E and Allenby, B R Industrial ecolo!;ty Prentice Hall (1995) 7 Bekker, C Environmental tnformation for indu.¢trial design- ers Delft Universit/ of Tech- nology (1995)

years, e.g. CFCs are no longer used for cleaning circuit boards, and other

toxic chemicals have been removed from processes and components. Such

actions have been reported in many research fora, e.g. the IEEE Clean

Electronics conference proceedings 2,3. However, it is accepted that in

design, a more thorough and holistic regard for entire product life cycles

is needed.

2 Methodologies for product environmental impact assessment If a holistic approach is to be taken, a methodology is necessary to guaran-

tee success. In design, the elimination of a particular problem material or

dirty process is a simple notion to grasp (if not a simple task to achieve).

However, considering the overall environmental impact of a product is a

far more demanding requirement, and a tool or method is needed. The

most widely accepted is that of Life Cycle Analysis (LCA), based on taking

a balanced view of all the processes involved in the manufacture, use and

disposal of a product. Full LCA is complex and expensive, and the results

are open to different interpretations 4. In addition, analysis of this type can

only be carded out with a more or less completed product, so that material

weights, process steps and other quantities involved can be calculated.

Hence, the use of LCA is confined to the analysis of existing products and

their comparison with new designs.

Product planners and marketing specialists deal, however, not in finished

designs, but in ideas and concepts. Our research has shown that there is a

dearth of environmental methods at the earlier stages of the design pro-

cessS; not surprisingly, assessing the environmental effect of providing a

function or meeting a demand is difficult until that concept is embodied

in a design. However, in order to have an effect on the environmental

impact of products in the fast-moving world of telecoms and IT, a method

is needed which can operate with broad concepts. Ideally, the method

should also account for the trends that will be discussed. This is the motive

behind the research that led to this paper.

2.1 Simplified life cycle analysis There are a range of techniques which simplify or abridge the full LCA

methodology in order to produce useful results more cheaply or in the

absence of full, reliable data. Many of these methods, e.g. those developed

in the USA 6 and the Netherlands 7 are based on completing a matrix (Figure

1). The columns represent different categories of environmental impact and

the rows refer to different life cycle stages. A qualitative assessment is

often given for each cell of the matrix. As assessment is qualitative, by

definition, there is some uncertainty, but qualitative judgement is inevitable

when the products do not exist.

Technological trends 239

Figure1 A typical LCA

matrix. The number o f rows

or columns and their exact

titles can be customised for

a particular industry after

full LCA studies have been

made

LIFE STAGE Materials Choice

Resource Extraction

Product Manufacture

Packaging and Transport

Product Use

Refurbish, Recycle, Dispose

ENVIRONMENTAL Energy Solid Use Residues

CONCERN Liquid Gaseous Residues Residues

Despite the uncertainty, the methods do have some key values:

(1) They enable comparative assessment between different concepts or

technology options;

(2) They give confidence that no significant category of impact or life

cycle stage has been missed;

(3) They can highlight areas of a design that may have high environmen-

tal impact.

The three technology trends identified will now be discussed individually

and the environmental effects of these trends will be summarised in an

abridged-LCA matrix in the conclusion.

3 Convergence The combination of various functions into one product is a trend already

underway. Examples include the mobile phone/personal organiser, and the

TV/modern/Internet browser. Figure 2 shows the history of convergence

in telecoms and IT products: this diagram is not necessarily complete but

does describe most of the products which have evolved and converged

towards today's multi-functional computer. The width of arrows in the

figure represents the number of functions in the product from the point of

view of the user.

The first conclusion on the environmental effect of convergence is that it

has a positive effect. Instinctively, we feel that a world populated by a

smaller variety of products would be a simpler, less resource-intensive

place; consumers possess fewer products each, reducing the consumption

of resources (raw materials and energy). However, careful design of a converged product is necessary if this potential improvement is to be realised, most notably with regard to modularity.


Figure 2 The convergent IT

product

m

Television

Arcade game

W

Modem

Fax machine

Telephone

Answering machine

Home console

/ -

Z

~ :::::::::t>

Z,°eo°o system

====,==,~ Videophone

1970 1980 1990 2000

It is interesting to compare the convergence of today's high-tech products

with that of audio products over the past few decades. Any hi-fi buff will

vehemently decry the converged product - - an all-in-one "midi" system.

It is sure to be far inferior to the system of keeping each component separ-

ate - - a separate amplifier, speakers, CD, tape-deck, etc. This reasoning

usually has three key factors (aside from the issue of sound quality):

(1) Components can be subsequently added to the system;

(2) Each component can be upgraded as required;

(3) Each component can be replaced if defective.

Herein lies the key to what is essential if converged products are not to

create increased environmental impact. Modularity is imperative. It must

be possible to replace/upgrade/expand upon each facet of the multi-purpose

product, otherwise the entire piece of hardware will soon become obsolete,

or at least outdated. Furthermore, there should be simplicity and trans-

parency to this modularity such that the modules can be manipulated by

the user; limiting management of products to skilled engineers is not only

costly (economically and environmentally), but is also a big disincentive.

To achieve this modularity, an exceptional rethink in the design of IT products is required and the early examples of converged products are not

promising. Mitsubishi will soon introduce a 'multimedia television' onto the UK market. It will incorporate a 14.4 kbps modem enabling Internet access and a CD-ROM. The modem is thus already bordering on being


8 Norman, D. A The psy- chology of everyday things Basic Books (1988).

out-of-date. And yet during the life of the TV (10-15 years plus?) it is

likely that the Internet access component of this product will need to be

upgraded many times.

Mitsubishi appear to be pre-empting a likely trend in home-based tech-

nology: it will converge on the TV set to produce some form of entertain-

ment-cum-communication centre. It will therefore be worthwhile using this

commodity as a case-study for what could be.

Try to imagine the design characteristics of such an article being analogous

to a bicycle; a fanciful analogy in some respects, but the idea should

become clear. There is a hard-core component around which all other

components attach: the TV screen or the bicycle frame. Only in exceptional

circumstances would this be replaced. Other components, though, are more

likely to be replaced. The TV may have a modem for Internet access. This

is likely to benefit from replacement every few years. If it was designed

as a module that essentially plugs into a port of the TV, the process would

be simple and performed by the user - - similar to replacing the gear

changers on a bicycle. A video telephone may need to be incorporated into

the TV a few years after purchase. With suitably designed plugs and fit-

tings, this can be done just as lights or carriers can be added to a bicycle.

The aim is a transparent functionality that the user manages, rather than

an inflexible black-box that only allows limited manipulation even by a

skilled engineer.

Moreover, such design changes could improve our interaction with new

products. Norman 8 points out that as technology has advanced, we have

understood less and less about the inner workings of the systems under

our control. A well-designed ergonomic modularity should lessen this

alienation.

3.1 The ergonomics of convergent products The well-known difficulty with multi-functional products is their profusion

of controls. As a product gains more functions, the traditional approach to

user interface design was to add more controls, initially trying to preserve

correspondence. Hence, a television had four channel buttons in the 1970s

and eight in the 1980s; or a car hi-fi unit gains many small buttons for

tape control to add to the original two radio knobs, volume and tuning.

The next stage of design, cheap to implement with micro-processors, is to

make the interface multi-modal, so that one button controls various func-

tions. Digital watches and clock radios are good examples. Such interfaces

are often difficult to operate - - early video recorders were notoriously hard

to program.


9 Papanek, V Des'ign for the real world Thames and Hudson (1972) 10 Oetman, C 'Nanotechnol- ogy: the next revolul:ion' in 21st Century On-line Magazine http://www.21 net.corn 11 Pearson, I 'When I'm 64: technology and communications beyond 2025' Brit~s,b Telecom- munications Engineering, 1995, 14. 12 Papanek, V. The green imperative Thames and Hudson (1995)

The final stage of interface design is to introduce a flexible interface, which

effectively requires a small computer in the product. A few buttons control

a menu on a screen which can then have unlimited functions. Modem video

recorders and the latest mobile phones use this technique, as do personal

computers, of course. The implication of this approach is that the product

is becoming more intelligent - - trying to predict the users' needs and

providing the information required. The next development in this field is

voice recognition to eliminate buttons or keys altogether.

The design implication of these changes is that the interface is now so

flexible that it is independent of the product's functions - - so the product

can be upgraded without modifying the interface. A multi-media PC has

almost reached this point, with a well-understood interface common to all

functions. This must help the PC's case to be the natural focus of the

convergent products of Figure 2.

From an environmental point of view, we have a product whose hardware

has a very long life and for which only software upgrades will be needed to

add new functions. This life extension is one of the goals of environmental

improvement - - since it spreads the resources used in manufacture over a

longer period of use.

Differentiation of products for market reasons may act against the funda-

mentally positive environmental effect of convergence outlined above. If

there are increasing cultural or market pressures for cosmetic differen-

tiation, so that perhaps home computers appear different from office com-

puters although they have identical functions, we will lose some of the

benefits of convergence. The same argument applies to artificial market

segmentation and the introduction of unnecessarily large product ranges,

a trend criticised by Papanek many years ago 9. Even if the various models

in the range share common modules, they will cause additional costs at

end-of-life.

4 Miniaturisation Our everyday experience of many products tells us that they are getting

smaller. Quite where this miniaturisation will stop is open to debate. 'Nan-

otechnology '~° is currently in vogue and it is claimed that this will enable

microscopic manufacture by manipulation of individual molecules. Such

developments may give credence to predictions of 'direct brain interfaces'

and 'add-on human senses 'H. Papanek t2 questions the worth of this drive

towards miniaturisation describing it as a 'convenience trap'; small may

be beautiful in some respects, but not when it creates products out of scale

with human proportions. Indeed, it is ergonomics that is preventing many


products from becoming smaller. The fixed-line phone on your desk could

be a fraction of its current size (smaller than a mobile phone), but the

need for an ear to mouth handset and finger sized buttons precludes such

miniaturisation. Despite this ergonomic necessity, many electronic products

are getting smaller, most notably (but not exclusively) those that require

portability. Compare the mobile phone of 10 years ago with one of today,

and further, AT & T's well-developed prototype for the wrist-watch

phone.

From the environmental perspective, miniaturisation is potentially a posi-

tive development thanks to reduced material use. It is closely allied to

minimisation - - the process of minimising the amount of material used in

a product. Clearly, if a product is to be made as small as possible it is

necessary to minimise, e.g. the wall thickness of an injection moulding.

Size reduction can also be due to a more economic packaging of compo-

nents, but try squashing a desktop PC into the cavity of a laptop PC!

Reduced material use p e r se is generally a result of miniaturisation. What

does give concern is the environmental implication of manufacturing a

miniaturised product. Research indicates that this can increase and con-

siderably change the pre-use/use life-cycle balance.

13 Burall, P Product development and the environment Design Council (1996) 14 Altlng, L and Legarth, J 'Life cycle engineering and design' Annals of the ClRP, 1995, 44(2). 15 Pltts, G 'A life-cycle assessment of a computer workstation' in Flksel (ed) Design for environment McGraw Hill (1996) 16 Legarth, J, Altlng, L, Erlehsen, H, Gregerson, J end Jorgensen, J 'Development of environmental guidelines for electronic appliances' in Pro- ceedings of IEEE International Symposium on Electronics and the Environment, March 1994 17 Ruge, l, Bachhuber, W, Barnberg, S and Schenk, M. 'Coping with complexity' Sie- mens Review, June 1995

The most significant environmental impact of most consumer products

comes from the use phase of the life-cycle. LCAs have conclusively proved

this for 'white' and 'brown' goods 13'14. The situation is not so clear for

computers 15 and for mobile phones, research suggests that this is certainly

not the case 16. This should not be surprising: electricity consumption of a

miniaturised product is generally less than its larger counterpart. At the

same time, the stringency necessary for manufacture of the microelec-

tronics (central to the products) is increasing. The clean rooms required to

manufacture today's microchips contain 1000 times fewer dust particles than an average hospital operating theatre 17. When these and other manu-

facturing paraphernalia are taken into account, the energy consumed during

manufacture becomes very high.

Two key principles should therefore be applied to the design of products:

(1) a more judicious use of microelectronics; and (2) rigorous reuse of microelectronic components.

Many IT products fundamentally are microelectronics, so it is obviously difficult to limit the use of integrated circuits. However, it would be environmentally prudent to be a little less gung-ho about the future inte- gration of microelectronics in everyday articles: do we really need (or


18 Wheelwright, G 'From toas- ters to TV, chips with sve~thing' The Times, 6 March 1996 19 Negropom, N Being digital Hodder and Stoughtorl (1995) 20 Kelly, K Out of control Fourth Estate (1994) 21 Tuppen, C G 'Energy and Telecommunications - - An Environmental Impact: Analysis' Energy and Environment, 1992, 3(1)

want) 'chips with everything'S8? Speculation as to what articles will have

a microchip in years to come is a favourite issue for futurologists. Many

predict that homes and offices will be fully networked such that all products

therein ' talk' to each other 19'2°. Such prophesies emanate from the pretext

that microchips are getting smaller and cheaper. They are, but this does

not mean that they have to be used in everything. Is there really any point

in a chair that senses our presence and consequently tums up the heating?

The eccentric inventor of 100 years ago could have concocted levers and

pulleys that stoked his fire when he sat in his armchair. The average house

has never needed such mechanical devices and the electronic equivalent is

likely to remain the preserve of the eccentric.

This does not mean to say that microchips cannot or will not be incorpor-

ated into the design of articles to our advantage - - and in some cases to

environmental advantage. If our return home in the evening is later than

planned, the ability to email the home's central heating system and post-

pone its onset is a clear boon. The point is that flippant use of microelec-

tronics should not be encouraged.

The second means by which environmental impacts of microelectronics

manufacture can be lessened is to reuse existing microelectronics. A cas-

cading of microelectronic components should be the aim: thus a microchip

spends two years in a mobile phone, four years in a laptop PC, 10 years

in a washing machine and 10 years in a child's toy. Clearly, radical trans-

formation is necessary in the post-use disassembly/recycling procedures,

but some reuse should already be possible. Better design could make a big

difference via the concept of modularity, as mentioned above.

5 Network solutions Whenever telecoms companies talk of environmental concerns, they are

usually extolling their virtues thanks to their services reducing the need to

travel. Teleworking precludes commuting to the office; videoconferencing

reduces the need for business meetings. The latter of these stands up to

scrutiny. Research has shown that a phone call impacts on the environment

far less than travel over an equivalent distance 2'. The same will be true, to

a reduced extent, for videoconferencing. However, more research is needed

before teleworking is unconditionally extolled as an environmental pana-

cea. Much depends on the response of the teleworker to the new working

format. The environment has not benefited if he or she uses the time saved

commuting for a drive in the nearby National Park. Furthermore, the space

occupied by the teleworker still needs to be serviced. How many of our

homes are heated and lit as efficiently as a modem office?


22 Glerini, O end Stahel, W R The limits to certainty Kluwer (1993) 23 Hewson, D 'They come to bury the PC, not to praise it' The Sunday Times, 28 April 1996 24 Prlgg, M 'We were caught on the hop, says Gates' The Sunday Times, 3 December 1995

Nevertheless, the trend of network based solutions does not generally

appear to have environmental stumbling blocks quite like the first two

trends. Indeed, there are environmental gains to be made; e.g. consider

BT's network based telephone answering service 'Call Minder'. No spe-

cific research has yet been conducted to compare the ecological perform-

ance of Call Minder with home based telephone answering machines. How-

ever, common sense would suggest that one average piece of network

hardware has less of an environmental impact than hundreds of

(temperamental and short-lived) telephone answering machines. The

advance of networking blurs the distinction between products and services,

and we move nearer to the 'service economy' described by Giarini and

Stahe122. As they explain, many 'service products' have less environmental

impact than the hardware they are replacing.

It is, however, the Internet that offers the most significant opportunity to

make environmental gains, if we adjust our approach to work and leisure.

There has recently been much hyperbole surrounding the imminent intro-

duction of the Network Computer or Internet PC (e.g. 'They come to bury

the PC, not to praise it'23). Like the name, the exact guise of these machines

will vary, but essentially they are a slimmed down PC with very limited

memory (no hard or floppy drive) and limited processing power. Some

will have an integral screen, those based in the home may use the TV.

What all these machines have in common is a primary objective of enabling

Internet browsing.

So far, so ecologically good. The explosive growth of and interest in the

Internet shows no sign of abating, and an increased demand for Internet

access can be assumed. If Internet browsing and email are the principal

requirements from a computer, why require the user to purchase a cumber-

some (physically and ecologically) traditional PC with unnecessary

microchips, disc drive, fan, CD-ROM etc.? However, the Network Com-

puter (NC) could make real environmental gain if it begins to replace the

traditional PC. This may happen if the facility to run standard applications

is developed - - when a word processor, spreadsheet or CAD package is

required, the latest version is available from the network and can be run

on the network, via the Network Computer.

Developments in the IT industry are notoriously difficult to predict. Even

individuals in a well-informed position of control have to admit to some-

times taking wrong turns on the road ahead 24. It would be unwise to make

a bold prophesy of Internet Computer domination and PC demise. How-

ever, from an ecological standpoint, there is little value in maintaining the

current state-of-affairs: a PC is purchased and will need upgrading in 18


25 Moody, G 'Long live the Net' New Scienhst Vol 151, 17 August 1996, p.2043. 26 oe~rry , E 'Ecodesign strategy' Eco Design, 1996, IV(l), 32-33.

months; every few years, new power hungry software is released (with

razzmatazz, CDs and manuals galore) necessitating more hardware

upgrades, etc. Certain stakeholders continue to gain, but it is rarely the

user and certainly not the environment.

The alternative image could be analogous to the network of electricity

power generation and supply. There are various nodes of power from which

we all feed. These are state-of-the-art dynamos, well maintained and rarely

out-of-date. They nourish our (largely) dumb terminals with the latest

applications and information. Having one's own generator in the cellar has

some advantages, but with such a cheap and plentiful supply from the

network, why bother? For such a scenario to transpire, the aforementioned

changes favouring NCs over PCs are clearly required and the image may

be too radical for some. A shift is required in societal attitudes: it is rather

egalitarian for users world-wide to receive new applications simul-

taneously. And could we get used to working through a machine of Spartan

simplicity with no bells and whistles to nurture acquisitive yearnings and

one-upmanship? Shifts - - or at least developments - - are needed in the

technology itself. Every Internet user knows how the so-called 'super-

highway' can at times bear more resemblance to a muddy dirt-track! In

fact, hold-ups on the Internet are usually due to local access facilities.

Investment in the network infrastructure will improve the reliability and

capacity of the Net 25 and make it easier to deliver valuable services to

users who have only simple equipment. If the current difficulties of costly

and inequitable access can be overcome, a networked future will on balance

be of positive environmental impact.

6 Conclusions The abridged-LCA matrix in Figure 3 summarises how the trends identified

are likely to affect environmental impacts. Looking at the early stage of

the life cycle, reduction in use of raw materials, increasing recycling and

reuse will shift attention back to electronics manufacturing processes. The

multi-national electronics corporations have improved their record on CFC

use and toxic materials, but cannot rest on their laurels. In the use and

post-use life cycle stages, reductions in energy use mean that the emphasis

will continue to be on the waste potential of electronics.

Overall, there are no technological or design barriers to improved environ-

mental performance. However, changes - - some of them radical - - will

be needed in design practice, marketing and consumer behaviour to realise

the potential benefits. Many believe that government intervention is

required to achieve such a fu ture 26.


Figure 3 The environmental

implications of the three

trends identified, summar-

ised in a simplified LCA

matrix

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN LIFE STAGE MATERIALS ENERGY USED RESIDUES

USED

POSITIVE: NEGATIVE: CAUTION: I MANUFACTURE & all three trends should due to an increased reliance though many improvements

IMPLEMENTATION result in less materials on stringently manufactured have been made, residue used micro-electronics from electronic manufacture

is still a concern

POSITIVE: USE fewer products and less

power hungry products reduces electricity consumed

POST-USE

POSITIVE: network-solutions and

I convergence reduce number of products CAUTION: convergence and miniaturisatlon may complicate disassembly/recycling

Finally, we have shown how the principles of qualitative, simplified life

cycle analysis can be applied to analyse design trends in specific industries

as well as individual products or product concepts. This adds a new weapon

to the armoury of the environmentally-conscious designer.


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Technological trends, product design and the environment