T2: Life cycle analysis videos.

Greenfly

-          As designers, it makes us more conscious and think about our designs and their effects on the environment.

-           It may also be used to find more eco-friendly materials and processes to use in our original design

-          This video makes us think further than just the effects of our materials and processes, it also makes us consider the other steps throughout the whole product life-cycle, for example- Transportation.

Whole system and lifecycle thinking

-          The first take home message I got from this video was to not just think about ways I could improve a design but rather take a good look at what the actual problems are about the design.

-          The second take home message I got from this video was to also consider other things in the whole product life cycle through the eyes of designers, manufacturers and marketers.

-          The final take home message I got from this video was to keep looking back on the product lifecycle draw up in the initial stages of the design.

Improving product lifetime

-           The first take home message I got from this video was the idea of a closed loop product life cycle where virgin material and landfill aren’t needed.

-          The second take home message I got from this video was that as designers we should plan out how exactly the product should be used.

-          The third take home message I got from this video was that we could repair, recycle, remanufacture and re-use components of products.

Introduction to light weighting and material reduction

-          Making a design more light weight can save on resources.

-          Light weighting is not for all designs however; other factors such as durability and costs of light weighting need to be considered first.

-          By changing the structure of a product it will lessen the demand for materials.

Green material selection

-          A good material is abundant and non-toxic.

-          A good material doesn’t require heaps of energy to be obtained, refined and put into manufacture.

-          A good material is a material that has good end of life options and that doesn’t cost a lot.

Energy efficient design

-          With a lower amount of energy required at the end of the ‘energy stream’ the less resources and lower costs there is needed to produce the energy at the beginning.

-          The environmental impacts of energy needs may change depending on the source of energy.

-          As designers, the more we know about what happens ‘upstream’ in the energy production cycle, the more we can help people use energy more efficiently.