Eco-design has been embraced by mass production industries such as packaging and automotive. These industries are relatively simple to evaluate in comparison with made-to-order (MTO) product systems such as offshore oil and gas platforms. During MTO design, engineers produce design specifications and select equipment subject to cost, reliability, weight, safety and spatial envelope. Recently, environmental performance and design for sustainability has been added to this list of criteria. To assist engineers, a Web-based tool is under development to help determine the environmental costs and benefits associated with these design decisions and to aim for sustainability. The work takes a 'systems' view of projects to design and build MTO products and involves identification and development of environmental performance criteria for design, using suitable examples as 'test beds'. The tool addresses the total life-cycle involving: plant materials extraction and processing, fabrication, operations, out-of-envelope conditions and decommissioning.
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