An Overview of DfE and the Emerging Trend in Developing Decision-Making Tools

This chapter provides an overview of design for environment. The concepts of eco-design and eco-innovation are discussed. The relevance of creativity tools in developing eco-design solutions is highlighted. Then, the concurrent design and essential stages for the sustainability design are provided. The current challenges in using eco-design tools in the industry are reviewed, and future trends based on value-driven, data-driven, and knowledge-based decision support systems are discussed. An example of design for disassembly with a framework for sustainability quality function deployment is provided to demonstrate how, in addition to technical criteria, environmental and social factors may be included in design tools.