Design for Environment (DfE)

Special interest group

WHAT IS THE DESIGN FOR ENVIRONMENT (DFE) GROUP?

The ADS Design for Environment group’s remit was to be the industry reference platform regarding product sustainability, by briefing ADS members on DfE issues via workshops, the ADS website, industry briefings, etc. – its aim is to ensure that eco-design adds value to ADS member’s products and businesses. This has now been transferred over to the new 'Environmental Sustainability' WG, and the Design for Environment Group is no longer active.

An important aspect of this was to develop a standard in eco-design for the ADS industry and the group has been working for a number of years on the creation of standard industry metrics for the aerospace sector. In 2013, the DfE group took on an EngD Research Engineer, Abdul Miah, to help further the work of the group, based at ADS and 5 companies who fund this project with the University of Surrey as the academic partner. His research project: “Product sustainability within the aerospace, defence, space, and security (ADS) industries”, completed in 2017.

On 7th December 2017, Abdul Miah (pictured below with one of his academic supervisors) successfully sat his viva voce examination at the University of Surrey at the end of his research and has now been awarded his EngD - congratulations Abdul!

 

ADS and members of the DfE group are currently considering how to continue to progress this work, potentially as part of another Doctorate research project. 

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE GROUP?

The Design for Environment Group remit was to: 

  • Be the industry reference platform regarding product sustainability, 
  • Brief ADS members on eco-design issues via workshops, the ADS website, industry briefings, etc; 
  • Develop a standard in eco-design for the ADS industries; 
  • To ensure that eco-design adds value to the ADS members products and businesses

As part of this work, the DfE group published 5 position papers on the aspects of:

 

HOW DO I JOIN?

Note that at the Environmental 'Super-Meet' held on 27th January 2018, it was decided to combine the Design for Environment (DfE) WG with the Environmental WG into a new group called the "Environmental Sustainability" WG, as there were large overlaps in both group's activities. The remit of the DfE WG will be incorporated into that of the new group Terms of Reference, and when these have been finalised, this Design for Environment WG page will be removed.

As such, the Design for Environment WG is no longer active, and ADS members are invited to join the new Environmental Sustainability WG.

Key roles

Related groups