Design efficient electrical and electronic equipment

You should consider eco-design as early as possible in the development process for electrical and electronic products. You can incorporate it into your product development by:

• raising awareness of eco-design at the concept stage and then providing continual reminders throughout the process
• introducing checklists to capture eco-design improvement opportunities and ensuring they are addressed throughout the process
• communicating good design tips and ideas and discussing eco-design issues

You should also consider:

• investing time at the concept and feasibility stages as this will pay dividends and avoid the need for more expensive design changes later in the design process
• clearly defining the feasibility stage and production of design specifications early on with all relevant business aspects and external stakeholders
• training key staff in the team on eco-design issues, approaches and tools
• keeping your design-systems' hardware and software up to date and encouraging your product development team to keep up with the latest developments

You should think about how design changes will affect other stages and aspects of the product's lifecycle, such as:

• purchasing
• manufacturing
• distribution
• marketing
• quality
• health and safety

For more information on the processes involved in eco-design, see ecodesign for goods and services.