Ecodesign Articles
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Golf courses and washing machines: obstacles and opportunities for sustainable water management
Rising standards of living often boost demand for water-intensive goods and services. Only by managing water consumption — using measures such as water pricing and incentives to adopt new technologies — can we ensure sustainable public water access alongside economic growth. With 19 golf courses already and another 55 planned, Spain's Júcar River Basin offers the enthusiastic golfer a wealth of ...
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Service/Product Engineering as a potential approach to value enhancement in supply chains
Beginning with a historical analysis of the application of value chain models in production systems, this paper highlights the issue of efficiency in conventional design and providing products and services and proposes a multifunctional approach to minimise the wasted value within the supply chain. Service/Product Engineering (SPE), a new engineering discipline, is suggested as a potential ...
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Identifying the market segments for eco-labelled wood
This paper reports on a market segmentation of eco-oriented wood furniture consumers. An Engel-Blackwell-Kollat (EBK) model of purchase decisions was combined with conjoint analysis to gather individual characteristics on information search, purchase assessment and choice. The eco-oriented segments were identified and described, applying both a priori predictive segmentation based on lifestyle ...
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Market forces and the need to design for the environment
This paper has three sections: Part I, Green House Gas emissions and environmental impacts as driven by the market; Part II, Design for Environment (DfE), designing to reduce environmental impacts with a set of rules for DfE; and Part III, toxic substances to be avoided in design. All three parts must be addressed by the EcoDesigner in any design situation. The ecodesigner cannot control market ...
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A review of ecodesign and environmental assessment tools and their appropriateness for electrical and electronic equipment
The electrical and electronic equipment sector is a steadily growing one and thus also environmental considerations about it become more and more an issue. There is a large number of tools that can be used for ecodesign and environmental assessment, but not each tool is equally suitable for all products. Although electrical and electronic equipment are often mentioned together, they show major ...
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The development of an ecodesign product - the ecomouse case study
In a KERP (Centre of Excellence Electronics and Environment) - BOKU (University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna) cooperation, the aim is to develop and assess an ecodesign product (electronics product). As a widely used, comparable and simple product, a wireless computer mouse is chosen as a demonstration product for ecodesign. The targets of the newly developed product ...
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Product innovation through ecodesign
This paper shows how to develop eco-products using the Ecodesign approach. Three different product case studies show how to proceed in developing environmentally improved products. These case studies have been carried out in collaboration with industry and the identified product improvements have been realised in commercial products, which are now available on the market. The first case study is ...
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Strategy-based approach to eco-design: an innovative methodology for systematic integration of ecologic/economic considerations into product development process
This paper shows how Rieter Automotive is approaching the integration of environmental considerations in product development process by providing an overview of all the involved elements playing a role in eco-design implementation, organised in a logical framework. A methodological approach is summarised, that integrates cultural aspects, product innovation issues and product strategic vision. ...
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Eco-labelling and consumers: towards a re-focus and integrated approaches
The paper deals with voluntary environmental product information schemes, especially with eco-labels (ISO-type I labels). It distingushes direct (i.e., effects attained through the application of eco-labelling on products and services) and indirect (i.e., effects induced by eco-labelling schemes on surrounding policy, businesses and society without their visible application) effects of ...
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Key aspects of product attraction: a focus on eco-friendliness
For product managers and designers, being able to identify the multiple attributes making a product attractive is primordial. Environmental qualities are becoming an increasingly important part of product appeal. This paper aims to facilitate the identification of a product's key attraction points, including eco-friendly characteristics. Derived from findings in the literature, a model is ...
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Markets for Ecosystem Services – New Challenges and Opportunities for Business and the Environment
Entitled Markets for Ecosystem Services – New Challenges and Opportunities for Business and the Environment ( 1.3 MB), the report shows how at a fundamental level, all economies and businesses depend directly or indirectly on the conservation of biodiversity and the sustainable supply of ecosystem services. The perspective paper is intended for both the business and conservation communities, in ...
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SortED a new design tool for 'end-of-life' decision making
'SortED' is an end-of-life decision-making design guide to help companies: (a) quickly identify the implications of the WEEE directive on the products they design, manufacture and import; (b) understand the different end-of-life opportunities available to them; and (c) source practical information to help them implement appropriate strategies as quickly and easily as possible. Developed in ...
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‘Kyoto cost’ of various production and recycling processes
‘Kyoto cost' of various production and recycling processes: An interesting take on the the total CO2 emissions released during the lifetime of various containers used in the manufacturing and delivery of bottled water and other fluid products typically consumed in North America and Europe. Despite a change in government and a Conservative pre-election pledge to opt out of the Kyoto ...
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Eco-labels, Trade and Protectionism
Eco-labels are suspected to serve protectionist purposes. We analyze the choice between an environmental standard and a voluntary eco-label scheme in a partial trade model with one domestic firm and one foreign firm. The environmental standard will only apply to the domestic firm, while both firms can adopt the eco-label. Pollution is production related, and domestic consumers demand products ...
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Interviewer Effects on the Valuation of Goods with Ethical and Environmental Attributes
This paper investigates the impact of interviewer effects on willingness to pay (WTP) estimates. Face-to-face surveys were conducted with two interviewers. Both interviewers used a transcript and conducted the survey at the same location and at the same time. We found that responses to the WTP questions differ across eco-labeled products and by interviewer. This interviewer effect is particularly ...
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Buying Green! A Handbook on Environmental Public Procurement
Untitled Document Green procurement: the essentials Green public procurement is a step-by-step process. Here are the steps. Consider which products, services or works are the most suitable on the basis both of their environmental impact and of other factors, such as the information you have, what is on the market, the technologies available, ...
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EEB evaluation of the European ECO-label criteria and scheme `What we wanted-what we got...`
This study was conducted by the EEB as one of the conditional elements for the EEB's involvement in the project ‘European Flower Week – Campaign on the Eco-label’, 2004. The purpose was to evaluate the performance and level of ambition of the EU Eco-label criteria so far, focusing on individual product criteria (20 products) and the performance of the EU Eco-label scheme as a whole over the ...
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Consumer sovereignty, economic efficiency and the trade liberalisation debate
In this paper, we examine the policies of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) as an example of the conflict in neoclassical theory between consumer sovereignty and efficiency in production. We begin by going to the roots of neoclassical theory, namely the axioms of consumer choice and the notion of "economic man". We argue that another caricature has appeared on the supply side of the ...
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Corporate Social Responsibility
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a relatively new concept whose popularity has been catalyzed by the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in South Africa in 2002. It is a belief that corporations should extend their reach beyond their employees and shareholders to the communities that host and surround them. It is important to note that there is no universal description of CSR and ...
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Revamp or Die, EU Eco-Labelling Scheme Told
The EU eco-labelling scheme is 'doomed' unless it is rapidly reformed, according to a discussion paper for the scheme's ruling body, the EU Eco-labelling Board. Meanwhile, the UK continues to explore other types of eco-label - and may consider adopting BRE's EcoHomes rating scheme and extending it to all new homes. The EU eco-labelling scheme was established in 1992, but has made painfully slow ...
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