ECODESIGN -- The Competitive Advantage

Dealing with environmental issues should no longer be considered simply as a cost of doing business. Effective environmental improvements to a companys products and services can be turned into business opportunities. This book was written with the express purpose of helping managers of companies, in particular of Small to Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs), to better deal with environmental challenges and address customer requirements, all in order to turn their environmental inve- ments into competitive market advantages. Several examples are provided throughout the book, but also warning signs (Alert Boxes). These Alerts are posted to help managers avoid typical traps when working with environmental considerations in business processes. The authors have many years of experience in the various aspects of impleme- ing Ecodesign. This experience includes working in industry for many years; le- ing the environmental departments in a multinational company; managing research projects in eco-product development; Life Cycle Assessment; and national and international environmental communication and marketing. This book is the latest in a series. The 2002 Ecodesign Pilot introduced a tool and software to help design more environmentally compatible products. It was directed specifically at designers. The 2004 book, Ecodesign Implementation, was written to help project managers optimize product development processes from an environmental perspective.