Life Cycle Design - a Route to the Sustainable Industrial Culture?

In the attempt to reorient Society's development in a more sustainable direction attention is focused on the environmental impact of products and systems over their entire life cycle, but how can the environmental life cycle perspective be introduced into the design of new solutions and how much can be optained through life cycle design? The authors' experience with integration of environmental considerations in product development is presented, ranging from the detailed interactive approach to the EDIP-method through various simplified approaches.

The potential for environmental improvements is reviewed and the overall question of to what extent life cycle design is a route to the sustainable industrial culture is discussed.