Design for durability
Introduction
Durability is the ability of a physical product to remain functional, without requiring excessive maintenance or repair, when faced with the challenges of normal operation during its design life.
Requirements for product durability
Product durability depends on good repairability and regenerability along with maintenance.[3] Every durable product must be able to adapt to technical, technological and design advances.[3] This must be accompanied by the willingness on the part of consumers to forgo having the "most recent" version of a product.
In the United Kingdom, durability as a characteristic related to the quality of goods that consumers may demand was not clearly established until an amendment to the Sale of Goods Act 1979 relating to quality standards for goods supplied in 1994.[4].
Product useful life and sustainable consumption
The shelf life of household items is an important factor in sustainable consumption.[5] A longer shelf life of products can contribute to eco-efficiency and sufficiency, thereby slowing down consumption to move towards a sustainable level of consumption.[6] Cooper (2005) proposed a model to demonstrate the crucial role of product shelf life for sustainable production and consumption.[6].
Types of durability
Durability can encompass several specific physical properties of designed products, including:.
References
- [1] ↑ Cooper, Tim (1994). «Beyond Recycling: The longer life option». The New Economics Foundation, Whitechapel Road, London: 5.: http://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/24666/1/201125_7266%20Cooper%20Publisher.pdf
- [2] ↑ Stahel, Walter (2010). «Durability, Function and Performance». En Cooper, Tim, ed. Longer Lasting Products: alternatives to the throwaway society. Farnham: Gower. ISBN 978-0-566-08808-7.: https://archive.org/details/longerlastingpro0000unse
- [3] ↑ a b J. Lienig; H. Bruemmer (2017). «New Design Strategy – Product Durability». Fundamentals of Electronic Systems Design. Springer International Publishing. pp. 201-203. ISBN 978-3-319-55839-4. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-55840-0.: https://dx.doi.org/10.1007%2F978-3-319-55840-0
- [4] ↑ Ervine, Cowan (2010). «Durability and the Law». En Cooper, Tim, ed. Longer Lasting Products: alternatives to the throwaway society. Farnham: Gower. pp. 187–188. ISBN 978-0-566-08808-7.: https://archive.org/details/longerlastingpro0000unse
- [5] ↑ Cooper, Tim (1994). «The durability of consumer durables». Business Strategy and the Environment 3 (1): 23-30. doi:10.1002/bse.3280030103.: http://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/8822/1/NPS_1086a_Cooper.pdf
- [6] ↑ a b Cooper, Tim (2005). «Slower Consumption Reflections on Product Life Spans and the "Throwaway Society"». Journal of Industrial Ecology 9 (1–2): 51-67. doi:10.1162/1088198054084671.: http://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/994/1/NPS_1081a_Cooper.pdf