Checklist-based assessment method for environmentally conscious design

Environmentally conscious design or ecodesign is a key methodology to achieve the sustainable society. Manufactures often use ecodesign checklists to improve their products; however, the relationship between individual requirements of checklists and environmental impact is undetermined. This paper proposes a method for assessing ecodesign achievement by developing a weighted checklist from a conventional checklist. The ecodesign achievement is defined as potential environmental improvement, evaluated by the life cycle simulation. An example involving a digital duplicator shows that the proposed method clarifies requirements to be improved. When applying design improvements, the assessment of the product's CO2 emission decreases by 8%.