Environmental Assessment - Gotten Across to Industrial Designers
DS 30: Proceedings of DESIGN 2002, the 7th International Design Conference, Dubrovnik
Year: 2002
Editor: Marjanovic D.
Author: Bey, N.
Section: ECODESIGN Workshop
Page(s): 1293-1298
Abstract
This paper deals with a simplified method for environmental assessment for designers, the Oil Point Method (OPM). The paper explains characteristics of the method, such as the reduced problem with missing data, and describes how the method is used with its three steps, “FOCUS on the problem”, “EVALUATE different alternatives” and “INTERPRET results”. An example shows the application of the OPM in determining the environmental profile of two materials for window frames. The outcome is compared with those from two more detailed methods. The paper describes the integration of the Oil Point Method into an Internet-based design tool, and results and conclusions from four empirical tests with environmentally non-skilled designers are presented.
Keywords: Oil Point Method (OPM), Design for Environment (DFE), Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)