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From General to Company-Specific Ecodesign Strategies: Developing Guidelines for Eco-Efficient Product Design Across the Entire Product Portfolio of an Appliance Company

Author

Listed:
  • Enrica Monticelli

    (Department of Design, Politecnico di Milano, 20158 Milano, MI, Italy)

  • Carlo Vezzoli

    (Department of Design, Politecnico di Milano, 20158 Milano, MI, Italy)

Abstract

Increasing consumer awareness on significant environmental challenges, in addition to forthcoming regulations, is driving domestic appliance manufacturers to adopt an Ecodesign approach to more effectively and significantly reduce the environmental impacts along all of the life cycle phases of their products, minimising energy and material consumption, optimising the life of the product, facilitating recycling, facilitating disassembly, optimising material conservation/renewability, and minimising toxicity. This paper emphasises and discusses the significance of supporting this process by creating a company-specific handbook of guidelines and checklists to design low-environmental-impact products across an entire company’s appliance range. Checklists are design support tools intended to qualitatively assess whether, and to what extent, an Ecodesign guideline has been applied, enabling the evaluation of existing products or newly developed concepts, while also serving to guide and inspire sustainable design decisions. It is argued that these are effective tools in translating eco-efficient design into practice and guiding the whole of product development organisation through a knowledge-based approach. The Handbook of Guidelines to Design Low Environmental Impact Products is the result of a project commissioned by a home appliance company to the LeNSlab (research group on Design and System Innovation for Sustainability) of the Design Department of Politecnico di Milano, elaborated, after preliminary desk research, through a series of activities, interactions, knowledge exchanges, and operative workshops in cooperation with the company team of experts. The handbook contains 7 Ecodesign strategies, 27 sub-strategies, 157 guidelines, and related checklists, to be specific to such a level that they can effectively be applied to all types of company appliances.

Suggested Citation

  • Enrica Monticelli & Carlo Vezzoli, 2025. "From General to Company-Specific Ecodesign Strategies: Developing Guidelines for Eco-Efficient Product Design Across the Entire Product Portfolio of an Appliance Company," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-11, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:10:p:4488-:d:1656086
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Anna Yström & Marine Agogué & Romain Rampa, 2021. "Preparing an Organization for Sustainability Transitions—The Making of Boundary Spanners through Design Training," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-17, July.
    2. Dongfang Yang & Carlo Vezzoli, 2024. "Designing Environmentally Sustainable Furniture Products: Furniture-Specific Life Cycle Design Guidelines and a Toolkit to Promote Environmental Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-26, March.
    3. Shove, Elizabeth & Walker, Gordon, 2010. "Governing transitions in the sustainability of everyday life," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 471-476, May.
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