Green Map

Abstract

Sustainable Product Development (SPD) is an inevitable response to the growing awareness that current production, consumption and disposal systems are not feasible on a long term. FLEX/the INNOVATIONLAB® (Flex), a design studio with more than 20 years of experience in product design, recognizes this need and wants to include sustainability in their design process. Several methods and tools can be used to facilitate SPD. Examples of these are Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Cradle to Cradle (C2C). Literature research on these and other methods together with interviews within the company have shown that existing methods are comprehensive but difficult to adopt within the product development process at Flex. This process is characterized by creativity, intuition, experience, fast results and leaves little space for time consuming interventions. Therefore Green Map, a tailor made sustainability approach for Flex, has been developed. A life cycle approach was adopted to look at the sustainability consequences in the broadest sense at each stage of the value chain of the product. Including the following phases: design, material procurement, production, transportation, product use and end of life. For each phase Green Map addresses three main sustainability strategies, each with a good, better, and best scenario. These strategies are the starting point for a creative session in which Flex, the client and eventual other stakeholders are involved. Green Map consists of a combination of tools, which support the initial phase of product development. The first step is strategic questioning, where the client’s motivation and aspiration related to sustainability opportunities are probed. With that output goals are set, to assess more specifically how much impact will be addressed. The last step entails idea generation. Here, the Green Map Canvas and Strategy cards are used as a brainstorm tool, to produce more sustainable ideas for the complete life cycle of the new product. To facilitate the adoption of Green Map within the company several sessions with designers and project managers at Flex have been conducted.