Definitions for "Design for Environment"
An engineering perspective in which the environmentally related characteristics of a product, process, or facility design are optimized.
An EPA partnership program working with individual industry sectors to compare and improve the performance and human health and environmental risks and costs of existing and alternative products, processes, and practices. DfE partnership projects promote integrating cleaner, cheaper, and smarter solutions into everyday business practices.
The Design for Environment approach is grounded in comparing performance, costs, and the risks associated with alternatives. It uses cleaner technologies substitutes assessments (CTSAs) and life cycle tools to evaluate the performance, costs, and environmental and human health impacts of competing technologies. A goal of DfE is to encourage pollution prevention, front-end, innovations through redesign rather than relying on end-of-pipe controls to reducing potential risks to human health and the environment. (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)