The next step in ecodesign: service-oriented life cycle design

Industry faces a considerable challenge if it is to help achieve the sustainability targets of "factor 10" reduction (i.e. a reduction of 90% of the environmental impact of human activities). One way to tackle this is to examine the hierarchy given by Stevels which illustrates that these improvements have to be made on four levels with each level increasing both environmental benefit and degree of innovation required in the design process. Ecodesign initially started by examining ways to clean up manufacturing processes to prevent both waste and pollution. Research and practice has moved towards the redesign of products that consider environmental requirements in the design process. The next stage of the hierarchy considers the benefits and mechanisms of replacing products with services. This paper presents collaborative industrial research that is exploring: whether using a service-oriented view increases the designer's ability to design products with a reduced environmental impact, how this change affects designers, and what this means for tools and techniques to support designers and design teams taking such an approach. The paper illustrates ways in which industry and designers can take a service-oriented view and the potential environmental improvements and benefits that can result.