Green Product Design

Most of the environmental impacts of a product are determined by the product designer, who is a major determinant in AT&T's manufacture of green — that is, environmentally responsible — products. This paper presents some elements of “green design,” an activity termed design for environment (DFE). DFE incorporates two types of activities: generic and specific. Generic activities are reliable general guidelines for environmentally preferable approaches, such as the minimization of energy use; specific activities are related to individual products, such as the choice of particular materials. AT&T has developed and applied a DFE evaluation methodology to its telecommunications products. These products generally rate reasonably well from a DFE standpoint, but assessments show a number of areas in which improvements can be made. These can be implemented not only by product designers, but also by manufacturing engineers and supply line managers.