Integration of eco-design into product development practice : applied in the design and manufacture of shower and tapware products : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Eco-Design at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand

Abstract

Consumers and wider society have become more aware of the environmental issues associated with products. Manufacturers of consumer products have responded to this awareness by attempting to integrate environmental strategies, tools and techniques into the processes that guide their product development efforts through idea-to-launch. This practice is commonly known as eco-design. There have been relatively very few eco-design success stories and generally eco-design has yet to have a significant influence on the development and commercialisation of mainstream products; research has shown that this is primarily because environmental practices are not effectively integrated into the product development process. Furthermore, the eco-design frameworks, models and tools available to New Product Development (NPD) practitioners are often challenging to integrate as they are too broad to provide adequate guidance to product designers. The environmental impacts of products can significantly differ between product types and how products are used. Active product types such as showers and tapware do consume additional energy, water and/or materials in the use phase of the product’s life cycle and so this phase may be the environmental hotspot for these product types. This implies that designers of active products should use a life cycle-based approach to eco-design. This study investigated how life cycle-based environmental considerations can be integrated effectively into product development practices. Drawing on the eco-design and NPD literature, it used both qualitative and quantitative methods in an embedded action case study of a shower and tapware manufacturer, and users of its products. In the first stage of the study, data was collected on the organisational practices of the company and their product development process. In the second stage, data was collected from the product users through experimentation and user trials that informed eco-design decisions within the development process. The data from both stages was analysed using a systematic process involving categorising and explanation building through narrative structuring. The results demonstrated that the culture of an organisation can greatly impact success of eco-design integration into the product development practices of manufactures of active products. This key finding became the foundation of the framework proposed in this thesis known as the shower and tapware eco-design product framework (STeP Framework). This framework includes an accompanying list of success factors that can be applied in an organisation that produces active products to support eco-design integration. The analysis of results showed that NPD practitioners need to consider the unique characteristics of different types of products and associated environmental impacts in order for the eco-design frameworks, models and tools to be effective. In doing so, both technical and behavioural factors related to life cycle-based environmental impacts of products were identified that greatly influence the STeP framework and success factors. Implementation of the key findings of the study was proposed in the form of a front-end process model suitable for producers of active products (Eco-AP Process Model). For front end stages such as idea generation, idea selection and project definition, it was found that Life Cycle Assessment is necessary to quantify the environmental impacts associated with the idea, and particularly so at a system level. In addition, with a better understanding of the relationship between human behaviour and how this can influence the life cycle-based impacts, it is necessary to include specialised eco-tools (such as Design of Experiments) that can measure, analyse and optimise the use phase by taking into consideration user interaction with the product. Other stages of the process model include opportunity analysis and opportunity identification, that focus on generating new environmental knowledge and eco-ideas rather than being driven by commercialisation deadlines. Finally, an opportunity development stage was added that creates new eco-design core capabilities within an organisation and maximises realisation of eco-opportunities in the industry.