产品绿色设计——你所知道的可能都是错的

绿色产品设计——你所知道的可能都是错的

Eco-design, everything you know might be wrong

继第一批工业产品绿色设计示范企业申报工作顺利开展之后，今年工信部又发布了《关于申报第二批工业产品绿色设计示范企业的通知》，可是，作为示范企业的主体，你知道什么是产品的绿色设计吗？或者，你所知道的绿色设计的概念，或许根本就是有问题的？

You may have heard of ‘product eco-design’ previously, but do you get the concept right?

根据大多数标准的定义，产品绿色（生态）设计是按照生命周期的理念，在产品设计开发阶段系统考虑原材料选用、生产、销售、使用、回收、处理等各个环节对资源环境造成的影响，力求产品在全生命周期中最大限度降低资源消耗、尽可能少用或不用含有有毒有害物质的原材料，减少污染物产生和排放，从而实现环境保护的活动。

问题是，这个定义对吗？

So, according to the definition in numerous standards, product eco-design is to make products with minimum environmental impact through less material, and more efficient energy, maybe extension of life by more reuse or recycle, is it right?

不，这个定义很有问题，至少，不完整，如果基于这个定义开展产品的生态设计，那大多数企业的生态设计之旅前景堪忧。

Not really! At least the definition is not complete. If you rely on this definition, your journey toward eco-design is a doomed failure.

现在，让我们看看该如何正确地解释产品的绿色设计。

Now let’s see how should we interpret 'product eco-design':

要理解产品的绿色设计，我们首先应该认识到设计本身是一个企业活动，必须有可操作性，能够达到预期的目的和效果。按照理查德-布察南的定义，设计分为四个顺序，第一顺序为为了方便传播而进行的交流设计，例如Logo，第二顺序为构造实际的产品，属于传统工业设计的范畴，第三顺序为互动设计，考虑受到产品影响的人们的行为和活动，最后第四顺序为组织设计，结合了企业、环境、系统和文化背景的设计。而生态设计也脱离不开这样四个顺序的设计结合，从而支持企业实现经济、社会和环境价值创造的统一。

To understand eco-design, we should first understand design in a more practical and pragmatic way. Design, according to Richard Buchanan is a design of communication through appearance such as logo (tier I), construction to build a product that function (tier II), interaction considering the system (tier III), and what is more, the organization - an enabling environment (tier IV) that supports the sustainable value creation, so eco-design is also a multi-tier design of value generation for people, for the environment, and for the business.

所以，产品绿色设计不仅仅是标示、颜色和形状的设计，如果停留在这个级别，这样的绿色设计更像是漂绿而不是绿色设计；

So, product eco-design is not merely the design of logo, shape, and color of product or service (tier I of design), if we interpret eco-design on this level, then we will see all logo and package in the color of Green, which appears more like greenwashing than authentic eco-design.

同时，绿色设计也不仅仅只是选择可降解的包装材料这么简单，也不是寻找可循环使用和可再生的能源，或者更高效的节能设备。如果我们把设计仅仅拘泥于顺序二的构造设计，实现片面的所谓“环保”功能，我们可能一叶障目不见泰山，例如出于循环利用的目的我们选择了回收材料，可是可能造成了产品整体碳排放的增加，或者对于水资源消耗的更大的破坏——即使我们的初衷是保护环境。从这个意义上说，绿色设计必须考虑系统——产品的生命周期过程的影响，而且，也需要考虑产品在资源、健康和生态、社会、经济等领域的全面影响，不能顾此失彼，更不能犯捡了芝麻丢了西瓜的错误。这也就是在现有的标准体系里纷纷提到生命周期评价（LCA）的原因——我们需要有系统思维。

And product eco-design is not merely about selecting the disposable material for packaging, renewable fuel for transportation and more efficient machines to make goods either. If we limit ourselves to this level of design (tier II of functional design), we will cause an even bigger impact, even our original good intention to use recycled materials in our products was to reduce global warming. Because eco-design is also intrinsically a system design that needs to take the whole value chain as well as broader impact spectrum into consideration, to avoid tradeoffs. In short, besides tier-II function design, we need to engage in system design, a life cycle (LCA) perspective-based design.

然而，只是考虑LCA对于开展产品的绿色设计来说是远远不够的，我们需要进入顺序三和四的设计，我们需要建立一个支撑企业开展绿色设计的内外部体系环境，我们需要建立合适的队伍配备必须的资源，我们必须尊重利益相关方的利益和兴趣，这里我们谈的不仅仅是客户和市场的需求，我们谈的也包括我们的上下游价值链企业和合作伙伴，以及我们自己的员工和团队——绿色设计绝对不是一个传统工业或产品设计师的工作，绿色设计本质上来说是企业战略的设计，是流程的设计，也是文化和市场的设计，从这个意义来说，绿色设计师或者负责企业绿色设计的必须是企业的灵魂人物，或者是灵魂人物的左右手。

Nevertheless, LCA along is not enough for a successful eco-design, we need an enabling environment, an organization to make eco-design happen, we need to respect stakeholders’ benefit and interests, just like a perfect sailboat can’t move an inch without wind and water, sustainable business and product needs its water and wind to move forward, here, the water and wind is the market that favor eco-product, the policy that encourages sustainable behavior, the technology that enables green innovation and resources including capital and time that provide fuel for the eco-design.

环翼在开展绿色设计这条路上载过跟头。在公司成立初期，我们一心扑在了如何设计优质的产品和服务上——我们专注在顺序一和顺序二的功能设计，研究如何提升LCA工具及报告的服务质量，设计美观的网站和提供专业的咨询等等。然而，这些努力并没有带来想象的市场改变和回报。2014年，在意识到我们的设计必须往顺序三、四（互动和组织设计）迈进之后，我们开始展开了新一轮的平台设计——打造一米一绿色设计平台及社区，除了提供一系列核心支撑功能之外，一米一也展开了角色设计和服务设计，以支持我们的产品LCA咨询评价及绿色设计工作。

Ecovane has learned a hard lesson on this journey toward eco-design. We have been focused on tier-I&II level design and development of our product and service through tailoring LCA and eco-design consulting service, and refining our website since the day of establishment, however, the situation didn't change much for years, the market didn’t increase dramatically as we dreamed. Realizing that it was far from enough, we initiated 1mi1 (one mile one) online LCA and eco-design platform in 2014 aiming at developing a series of supportive system thinking and design tools (tier III level design) to help business and society transform toward sustainability.

通过一米一平台，企业的专业评估和设计人员、外部咨询顾问以及评价机构能够高效地为企业提供产品碳足迹、生命周期评价LCA等一系列评估服务，评价从产品生命周期的视角出发，分析产品从摇篮到坟墓各种生产经营及市场活动的环境影响，为企业开展系统思考和寻找绿色产品设计制造的解决方案提供思路和决策依据。截至今天，平台已经从2015年的1.0版本升级到3.0，为超过1000个产品上百家企业提供了产品生命周期评价及各种环境影响评估报告服务。

图：一米一平台动态过程环境影响贡献图（图示为碳足迹）

The 1mi1 eco-design platform help business look at their product and service sustainability through a life cycle angle, including the environmental impact from raw material extraction, transportation, manufacturing, product usage and end of life disposal of waste product. Based on the systematic understanding of environmental sustainability, hundreds of businesses start finding new and more impactful approaches to minimize environmental impact ...

一米一社区是我们最近两年专注思考并展开的顺序三和四类型的设计项目，我们从建设可持续发展专业人才社区开始，朝着产品和市场的可持续发展社区建设逐步推进。其中，一米一社区的代表项目——1mi1-AP（简称一米一认可专业人员资格证书）是一米一于2020年即将推出的社区建设项目，该项目旨在为绿色产品设计与评价专业人士提供一个平台，协助企业开展产品绿色设计、生命周期评价、绿色供应链管理，提供指导、咨询和评价、报告等服务。欢迎有志于开展产品LCA，绿色设计工作的专业人士报名免费申请，加入近百位1mi1-AP专业人士的队伍——申请审核通过了就可以免费应用平台的众多功能开展设计评价以及进行项目合作啦。（报名申请链接 ）

And then in 2018, Ecovane’s new design journey begins: we started the development of ‘1mi1 eco-design community’ (tier IV level design), after two years’ trial and experience, we have found a way to engage hundreds of LCA and eco-design professionals through 1mi1’s hub of professionals – 1mi1-AP, with which we are hoping there will be more and more qualified LCA consultants and verifiers to help to support the market with trust-worthy reports and certificates regarding green products and services. (click the link to apply for the certificate for free)

今后，一米一计划开展进一步的社区设计，形成诸如一米一年度绿色产品大奖、一米一年度绿色设计师大奖，以及一米一最佳绿色设计团队合作奖等活动，大家还有什么好主意也可以告诉我们，让我们把一米一社区建设红红火火地推进下去，为一米一也为大家的绿色设计产品建设一个健康、有序和充满希望的市场环境。

What is more exciting is that we are also designing a new initiative to engage with thousands of sustainable brands and products through ‘1mi1 eco-design product award’, beginning with the year 2020, we will launch awards such as ‘eco-designer of the year’, ‘eco-product of the year’, ‘best collaboration for design’, ‘best firm for eco-design’ and etc. we hope the effort to create a multi-stakeholder eco-design community will bring more sustainability to the business, and the people who need clean air, water and land desperately.

我们处在一个新的时代，这个时代崇尚价值，创造和可持续发展。企业，无论大小，都需要积极开展行动。在一米一，在一起，通过绿色设计，我们相信我们能共同创造绿色未来。

As we are entering the new era embracing value, creativity, and sustainability, business entities, no matter big or small, need to act now. Together in the 1mi1 eco-design community, through eco-design, we believe we can make a change.