Climate-forward product development

In our quest to confront the pressing challenges of climate change and resource depletion, the concept of Ecodesign presents a paradigm shift. By embedding sustainability at the very beginning of the product design process, we can influence the entire lifecycle, from raw material extraction to end-of-life management. 👉 Ecodesign is not just a matter of protecting climate and biodiversity. It’s also a smart business strategy. By adopting ecodesign principles, companies can simultaneously reduce costs, minimize waste, and gain a competitive edge. The potential benefits are significant, including billions of dollars in cost savings for materials and new revenue streams through innovative business models like anything-as-a-service (XaaS). Collaboration across industries in open ecosystems can further amplify environmental and economic advantages. Taking the leap into circular economy practices is a major transformation. We make our sustainability efforts worthwhile and focus on product design, because that’s how we scale impact — on both, our bottom line and our environment.   👉  Robust Eco Design: Three Phases In 2020, Siemens introduced a dedicated, holistic ecodesign approach to its development processes called Robust Eco Design (RED). With RED, Siemens aims to systematically identify ways to achieve the same or greater customer value, while consuming less energy and fewer resources, minimizing the dissemination of non-natural substances into the environment, and managing the required technical and biological resources in a circular loop. On their way to designing environmentally compatible products, Siemens’ design departments follow a three-step-approach. 📌 First, teams specify environment-related customer requirements, such as energy efficiency or product longevity, as well as regulatory targets, such as the E.U.’s Circular Economy Action Plan. 📌 Design teams collect comprehensive data on all inbound and outbound material and energy flows from the entire life cycle, including emissions to air, water, and soil, as well as resources taken from nature. Subsequently, they quantify the environmental impacts and effects on human health of different designs and make those findings transparent to stakeholders. 📌 Finally, Siemens design teams give recommendations for environmentally optimized design specifications that don’t require trade-offs in areas such as safety or quality. Recommendations might include an increased use of recyclates, or changes that allow for easy reuse, repair, refurbishment, remanufacturing, or recycling.    See our recent whitepaper in the “comment” field. 👋 I'm interested in exploring how other leaders are integrating these principles into their operations. What are your experiences with adopting Ecodesign, and how have they reshaped your approach to sustainability? 

Product design is becoming a more important exercise for companies to reduce tariff impacts and costs, drive down emissions, and capture revenue upside. A key first step is evaluating the bill of materials and conducting a lifecycle assessment to pinpoint where both tariffs and emissions are highest—from materials to manufacturing, usage, and disposal—allowing for targeted, high-impact changes. Switching to low-carbon or recycled materials, simplifying designs, and sourcing locally can significantly reduce costs and environmental impact. Modular, durable products also support circular economy goals by enabling easier repair, reuse, or recycling. Improving energy efficiency—both in production and during product use—can lower emissions and operating costs, making products more attractive to customers. Technologies like digital modeling and just-in-time production also help reduce waste. To fully realize the commercial potential, companies must clearly communicate sustainability attributes through credible claims, transparent labeling, third-party certifications, and marketing that highlights both environmental and performance benefits. Our research shows that appropriate claims can drive 6 to 25%+ revenue uplift.

Sustainability = Innovation 🌍 Environmental and social pressures are reshaping how companies approach growth, risk, and competitiveness. When strategically integrated, sustainability becomes a framework to identify operational inefficiencies, anticipate future demands, and respond to evolving market conditions. The starting point is recognizing how sustainability issues reveal opportunities for innovation. Rising input costs require rethinking material choices and supply strategies. Climate risk drives the need for resilient product design. Regulation, customer expectations, and resource constraints all point toward reconfiguring business models and value chains. Each business function faces specific triggers. Operations teams respond to inefficiencies in energy or water use. Procurement can reduce exposure by transitioning to circular sourcing. Product development must address the growing demand for low footprint design. Sales and marketing teams face increasing pressure from clients and regulators to demonstrate real, measurable impact. Several innovation pathways are already proving effective. These include redesigning products with lower impact materials, modular components, and take back systems. Business model shifts such as repair programs, resale strategies, and service based delivery models can extend product value. Digital tools enable smarter operations and transparency for customers. Functional teams require clear prompts to connect sustainability to their daily work. Operations can identify areas where reducing emissions also cuts costs. R&D teams should explore how to design for circularity from the beginning. Sales teams can develop solutions that align with client ESG targets. Finance can evaluate payback periods and risk adjusted returns. HR can focus on building a culture of sustainable problem solving. Impact measurement is essential to validate innovation efforts. Metrics may include revenue from sustainable offerings, product carbon intensity, emissions avoided, client retention linked to ESG solutions, and time to market for low impact products. Implementing innovation at scale requires specific tools. These include life cycle assessment platforms, circular design processes, materiality assessments, innovation accelerators, and sustainability linked finance instruments to fund new initiatives. Sustainability driven innovation is a strategic process embedded across the business. It enables long term value creation by aligning environmental and social imperatives with product, process, and business model development. #sustainability #sustainable #business #esg #innovation

In the quest to reduce carbon emissions, companies are exploring growth opportunities in electric vehicles, energy storage, heat pumps, recycling solutions, and plant-based products. However, achieving success in these markets poses challenges, with some companies struggling to find the right balance between supply and demand. In a recent article published in strategy+business titled "Ten Questions for a Winning Climate-Transition Business Strategy," I present an analytical framework to aid senior leaders in executing strategic initiatives. The focus is on how businesses can effectively transform to align with climate objectives while meeting customer demands with innovative products. Key insights from the article include: - Companies enhancing their product portfolios with climate solutions typically see a 2–3% revenue growth premium, despite facing initial cost hurdles. - Success hinges on addressing five critical challenges: understanding customer behaviors, timing product adoption, utilizing data-driven decision-making, managing value chain complexities, and balancing legacy and new business priorities. - By utilizing data effectively, engaging employees, and forming strategic partnerships, organizations can overcome obstacles and capitalize on opportunities in the low-carbon economy. What strategies have you discovered to effectively integrate climate innovation with financial returns? Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/eFJXbE_4 #ClimateStrategy #Sustainability #Innovation #BusinessGrowth #EnergyTransition #Technology

Innovation is more than creating new products and ventures — it’s about building new habits for end-users and stakeholders. If you’re a founder who’s building for environmental sustainability, here’s how you can think about designing for the entire value chain of your products. 1. Choice of Product 📦 The most obvious pathway is to just design products that inherently consume fewer resources or produce less pollution – like electric cars over gas guzzlers. The challenge? Convincing users to choose the sustainable option if it costs more. 2. Changed Use 🔄 This one is interesting. Products can encourage sustainable use by providing additional use options for different situations. An adjustable dryer that minimizes energy depending on the load. Smart thermostats that suggest adjustments based on real-time energy grid conditions. Water pitchers that prompt users to fill only what's needed. 3. Maintenance and Repair ⚒️ Prolonging a product’s lifespan goes a LONG way for the environment. Think of bikes, which are already easier to repair and maintain. Now, we have modular versions with even more parts that can be replaced for an upgrade. 4. Mediated Use 🧭 Secondary products that can be added on to encourage more resource-efficient use of the primary one — such as smart meters revealing energy consumption patterns. 5. Regulating Use 🔒 It might be hard to convince users to buy secondary products, but in-built components can automatically regulate resource usage, like motion sensors turning off vacant lights. 🌱 Currently, many climate tech and climate-oriented products are already nudging sustainable behavior. But to be effective, there’s another step: communicating your product to consumers, businesses, and investors. Say you have an electric car company — if users don’t see how they can save more in the long run despite high initial costs, you’ll be left with great tech/products that nobody adopts. What if Design was started to solve this exact problem. We champion your climate solutions — from research to design. Link to chat 1-1 in the comments

Brands will soon be required to disclose their Scope 3 emissions - those produced by your supply chain and your customers over the lifecycle of your products. Why does this matter for your product development? 1. Scope 3 emissions typically make up the biggest chunk of a company’s carbon footprint. Reducing them requires redesigning products with lower impact and working with suppliers to reduce their own emissions. 2. The timelines on these directives are just a few years away. When you consider the length of your product development cycle and how long you plan to keep those products on the market, there's a good chance that the products you're designing now will be affected. 3. This kind of legislation is a double-edged sword. A proactive approach to impact reduction will position you with a commercial advantage when disclosure of emissions become mandatory and conscious consumers start voting with their wallets. If your emissions data will soon be made public, shouldn't that data be a key part of your design process? #lifecycleassessment #sustainabledesign https://lnkd.in/eSydKARB