Ecodesign thinking workshop
Hands-on workshop helps Barco engineers to apply ecodesign thinking
Barco is an international technology company that develops visualization and collaboration solutions to help professionals work together, share information and project images. Its focus is on three core markets: Enterprise, Healthcare and Entertainment.
2020 Ecodesign ambition
As part of their Sustainability Impact Plan, Barco wants to improve the eco-performance of their products. An eco-scoring methodology has been set up to assess the sustainability performance of its products on material use, energy efficiency, packaging and end-of-life optimization. In 2020, the company wants 25% of its newly launched products to have the highest eco-performance ‘A’, on a scale from A to D.
In order to provide the Barco engineering community with practical tooling to help realize this ambition, the Environment, Health & Safety experts from Philips Engineering Solutions were invited to organize a workshop on ecodesign thinking.
Practical ecodesign tools
The ecodesign thinking workshop focused on three representative products to make the exercise more tangible: a healthcare monitor, an entertainment projector and a wireless presentation device (Clickshare).
The engineers assessed the current environmental performance of these products and the design practices by using the following ecodesign tools:
- Screening Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA)
- Ecodesign Strategy Wheel (see picture)
- Circular design strategies such as Design for 4R (Repair, Refurbishment, Remanufacturing and Recycling)
Ecodesign tool 1: Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA)
The LCA helped to gain insight in the main environmental impacts during the full product’s life-cycle. The energy efficiency of the products, determining 78% to 98% of the total environmental impact, already receives much attention.
Ecodesign tool 2: Ecodesign Strategy Wheel
The engineers also learned that circular design is already a common practice in several ways. Some examples that were identified: low return rates (meaning robust design with long life-time), frequent software updates, modular design and collection of several spare parts for re-use in servicing.
Ecodesign Strategy Wheel
Ecodesign tool 3: Circular Design Strategies
Opportunities for improvement, e.g. recovering the value of materials instead of accepting the loss via WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) recycling partners, were identified as well and ranked on a feasibility versus environmental impact matrix.
Ecodesign thinking workshop wrap-up
In order to raise awareness on the wider business context, the participants were asked to present a business case for an ecodesign improvement opportunity, one for each product, including both the value and business proposition.
Ecodesign in a wider business context
As a last step, the product engineers discussed what is needed, in terms of governance, business processes and tooling, to put the ecodesign learnings into practice in their daily work.
One participant concluded the workshop with a succinct summary of the main need: “less by coincidence, more organized.”
More information on ecodesign tools and training:
Ever wondered yourself how to measure and improve the environmental performance of a product? How to make the design of your product future-proof? How to meet Ecodesign and Circular Economy requirements? Come along with a product of your choice and gain insight in the environmental and circular performance of your product and improve its performance using Ecodesign strategies. Gain knowledge about Ecodesign and directly apply this to your product development.
For more information please visit our Ecodesign Services page or contact Michela van Kampen directly:
Michela van Kampen
Senior Consultant Sustainability
Environment, Health & Safety, Philips Engineering Solutions