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Are You Sustaining Sustainability?

Posted November 24, 2009 8:15 AM

Recent articles describe how low cost is no longer the design priority it used to be. Today, designs must make economic sense, but they also must be sustainable. In your work are you factoring in such concerns as environmental impact, energy use, and product longevity? New designs must improve safety, minimize waste, and consume less energy. Design-for-sustainability tries to balance operational efficiency, safety, functionality, productivity, material use, ease of operation, and maintenance.

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Bayes The Engineer Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Albany, New York Posts: 5060 Good Answers: 129	#1 Re: Are You Sustaining Sustainability? 11/24/2009 4:27 PM
	Are you seriously serious?
	Reply Off Topic (Score 5)

JBTardis Guru Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Tampa, Florida, USA Posts: 2105 Good Answers: 87	#2 Re: Are You Sustaining Sustainability? 11/24/2009 10:52 PM
	In my industry (flight simulation) we design our products to meet our customer's requirements. If the customer does not specify energy efficiency or longevity, or sustainability, then I would be doing a disservice to the shareholders of my company if I spent the money to over design a product. That being said, most of our customers have some level of safety, energy efficiency, sustainability, longevity, etc, written into the requirement specifications. Also, there are times that it makes sense to provide more than the customer requires if the design already exists (i.e. when it's cheaper to re-use a design that is above and beyond what's required than to create a new design with less capability) or if there are benefits for manufacturing or benefits in life cycle costs to my company. __________________ J B
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s.udhayamarthandan Guru Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Tamilnadu, India Posts: 836 Good Answers: 42	#3 Re: Are You Sustaining Sustainability? 11/25/2009 10:33 AM
	Other than those products already established- the new class improved market versions should have complex multiple benefits to the customer. In my technology development products ,I have designed the following features that no customer can neglect. For instance assume a processing machine for Textiles at the operation level of 100 % Energy , 100 % Water, 100 % time and say at the operating speed of 60 mtrs / min using steam. My technology is now designed with the following features. *Reduction of energy by 90%, Time from 60mins to 60 seconds, water 65 to 70 %, Speed upto 200 mtrs / min, Features for higher productivity like multi web, layers, reduced water pollution, improved cleaning, No air pollution[ dry heat instead of steam], improved cleaning efficiency, minimum production hours with maximised productivity including substrate safety and so on. The cost aspect is also comparable . Modern machine or process system should be energy efficient, cost and pollution saving and of cleaner technology as the best sustainable option including good return on investment. Though not a huge list, it should incorporate multiple customer benefits, which is the order of the day, in a world of stiff competition and survive as a unique product. __________________ Nature is so graceful and naked. Human possession is ridiculous.
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