Eco-design (Environmentally Conscious Design)
Basic Approach (Initiatives to Reduce CO2 Emissions*1 During Product Usage)
The Hitachi High-Tech Group introduced environmentally conscious design (eco-design) in FY2016 to realizing a low-carbon society. We have worked accordingly to reduce CO2 emissions during product usage, which accounts for a large share of CO2 emissions throughout the value chain. These activities incorporate design and development processes based on the international standard IEC62430*2, which translates to added value for products. Furthermore, that leads to reduced environmental impact and greater competitive advantages, as well as improvements in the environmental awareness of our technicians and other parties involved.
We will continue to develop environmentally conscious design products and provide products that are even easier on the environment to customers, while also working to reduce our own environmental impact.
*1 CO2 emissions calculated from electricity consumption during product usage
*2 The standard covering environmentally conscious design for electrical and electronic products based on International Electrotechnical Commission Standard.
Initiatives
Introduction of Assessments
We have introduced eco-design and life cycle assessments into our product development processes to help lower the environmental impact of products over their life cycle.
Life Cycle of Products
1. Eco-design Assessment
We set a reduction in environmental impact as a development target, and evaluate this using an eco-design assessment tool.
Eco-design assessment framework
2. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
We conduct a quantitative evaluation to compare the environmental impact of a development product against existing products, considering all aspects of this over the respective product life cycles.
Life cycle assessment framework
