Ecodesign in industrial design consultancies - Comparing Australia, China, Germany and the USA

Behirsch, J; Ramirez, M; Giurco, D

Ecodesign in industrial design consultancies - Comparing Australia, China, Germany and the USA

Behirsch, J Ramirez, M Giurco, D

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Publication Type:: Conference Proceeding
Citation:: ICED 11 - 18th International Conference on Engineering Design - Impacting Society Through Engineering Design, 2011, 5 pp. 1 - 11
Issue Date:: 2011-12-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Behirsch, J	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Ramirez, M	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Giurco, D https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1707-9531	en_US
dc.date.issued	2011-12-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	ICED 11 - 18th International Conference on Engineering Design - Impacting Society Through Engineering Design, 2011, 5 pp. 1 - 11	en_US
dc.identifier.isbn	9781904670254	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/29638
dc.description.abstract	This paper presents the results of an empirical study, investigating the uptake of ecodesign by industrial design consultancies (ID consultancies) in Australia, China, Germany and the USA. Designing products for a low environmental load, usually termed as ecodesign, offers high potential to reduce the environmental impact of our society, aiming for a sustainable development. However, there still appears to be no widespread uptake of ecodesign into product development praxis by industrial designers, with most ecodesign activity focusing on the engineering phase. Especially seldom are the necessary radical interventions to significantly improve the environmental performance of products. The literature review revealed that ID consultancies might be in a position to improve this situation. This paper presents the findings of a website content analysis, investigating the extent of ecodesign uptake by ID consultancies in Australia, China, Germany and the US. Those four countries were chosen to see if different, country specific frameworks impact on the attitude of ID consultancies towards ecodesign. The paper verifies that ID consultancies have a high potential to improve ecodesign uptake by using their influence especially on early phases of the product development process and by addressing also non engineering related issues for ecodesign. This potential does not appear to be fully embraced yet. The paper concludes by identifying the highest representation of ecodesign on websites of Australian ID consultancies and the lowest on websites of Chinese ID consultancies. The way ID consultancies practice ecodesign is very country specific. Understanding the differences and developing recommendations how ID consultancies can better unfold their ecodesign potential requires deeper investigations in the case specific factors. Copyright © 2002-2012 The Design Society. All rights reserved.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	ICED 11 - 18th International Conference on Engineering Design - Impacting Society Through Engineering Design	en_US
dc.title	Ecodesign in industrial design consultancies - Comparing Australia, China, Germany and the USA	en_US
dc.type	Conference Proceeding
utslib.citation.volume	5	en_US
utslib.for	1203 Design Practice and Management	en_US
dc.location.activity	Technical University of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)/Institute For Sustainable Futures
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - ISF - Institute for Sustainable Futures
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	5	en_US

Abstract:

This paper presents the results of an empirical study, investigating the uptake of ecodesign by industrial design consultancies (ID consultancies) in Australia, China, Germany and the USA. Designing products for a low environmental load, usually termed as ecodesign, offers high potential to reduce the environmental impact of our society, aiming for a sustainable development. However, there still appears to be no widespread uptake of ecodesign into product development praxis by industrial designers, with most ecodesign activity focusing on the engineering phase. Especially seldom are the necessary radical interventions to significantly improve the environmental performance of products. The literature review revealed that ID consultancies might be in a position to improve this situation. This paper presents the findings of a website content analysis, investigating the extent of ecodesign uptake by ID consultancies in Australia, China, Germany and the US. Those four countries were chosen to see if different, country specific frameworks impact on the attitude of ID consultancies towards ecodesign. The paper verifies that ID consultancies have a high potential to improve ecodesign uptake by using their influence especially on early phases of the product development process and by addressing also non engineering related issues for ecodesign. This potential does not appear to be fully embraced yet. The paper concludes by identifying the highest representation of ecodesign on websites of Australian ID consultancies and the lowest on websites of Chinese ID consultancies. The way ID consultancies practice ecodesign is very country specific. Understanding the differences and developing recommendations how ID consultancies can better unfold their ecodesign potential requires deeper investigations in the case specific factors. Copyright © 2002-2012 The Design Society. All rights reserved.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/29638