EAGER: Towards a Theory for Sustainable Product Design

这一早期概念研究资助项目的目标是收集一套全面的基本可持续设计原则，首次将现有的国际可持续设计标准和可持续设计决策的分析量化模型结合在一起，以促进可持续设计理论的发展。利用这些信息，将开发一个可持续发展知识的广泛数据库，从中可以得出将设计属性与可持续发展影响联系起来的新的量化指标。最终结果将满足可持续制造和产品开发需求。如果成功，这项工作将通过可在早期设计阶段使用的透明、连贯的系统分析，使研究人员和产品开发人员对早期工程设计的可持续性有重要的洞察力，从而更好地传播环境友好型设计，并在市场上获得更可持续的产品。这项工作将使设计师能够从数量和质量上更好地理解可持续设计，确定制造越来越可持续的产品的方法，并以标准化的方式在整个供应链中传达可持续发展。为开发人员提供工具，从早期设计阶段衡量潜在产品的可持续性，将促进无数新的可持续产品的开发，减少产品制造、使用和处置对全球环境的影响。

The objective of this EArly-concept Research Grant (EAGER) project is to collect a comprehensive set of fundamental sustainable design principles that will, for the first time, combine existing international sustainable design standards and analytical quantitative models for sustainable design decisions, in order to advance sustainable design theory. With this information, an extensive database of sustainability knowledge will be developed from which novel quantitative metrics can be derived that connect design attributes to sustainability impact. The end result will address sustainable manufacturing and product development needs. If successful, this work will give researchers and product developers essential insight into the sustainability of early phase engineering designs by means of a transparent, cohesive system analysis that can be used during the early design phase, leading to a greater dissemination of environmentally friendly design and the availability of more sustainable products in the marketplace. The work will enable designers to better understand sustainable design in both quantitative and qualitative terms, determine ways to manufacture increasingly sustainable products, and communicate sustainability across the supply chain in a standardized way. Giving developers the tools to measure the sustainability of a potential product from the early design phase will facilitate the development of countless new sustainable products, reducing the global environmental impact of product manufacturing, use, and disposal.