Sustainable Design Engineering

What the world needs now is an ISO RoHS

The Ministry of Information Industry Order 39 went into effect March 1. It's China's RoHS (Reduction of Hazardous Substances) regulation, and like most state issued edicts, it is ambiguous, unclear, and incomplete. But get ready to memorize every bit of it if you want to sell electronic information products, as Order 39 calls them, in China.

Green Electronics: Motors move toward more efficency

The next generation of motor-powered appliances and industrial machines will be energy misers thanks to new electronics and speed controls....

Garbage in, Methane Out

With this issue’s focus on green and sustainability topics, it seems like a good time to review what happens to the refuse left over despite our best efforts at being efficient users of resources. For that we can turn to the results of a long-term study called the Garbage Project. ...

Success Through Simplification

Subscribe in NewsGator Online Subscribe in Bloglines My company develops, manufactures, and markets specialty and generic injectable pharmaceuticals and medication-delivery systems. About three years ago, we spun off from Abbott Laboratories to become an independent, publicly traded company. Yet to survive and thrive as a separate entity, we had to look at every area of business and make changes to ensure sustainability....

Leland Teschler's Editorial: Garbage in, Methane Out

With this issue’s focus on green and sustainability topics, it seems like a good time to review what happens to the refuse left over despite our best efforts at being efficient users of resources....

Sustainable design for medical devices

Medical products account for an enormous amount of the solid, industrial, and chemical waste in developed countries throughout the world. In the U.S. alone, hospitals produce more than 6,600 tons of waste per day, including 800 tons of non-hazardous, and potentially recyclable, plastic parts....

What is Green Engineering?

Green engineering is the design and development of products and processes that bring environmental and economic benefits. That said, green engineering is fundamentally no different than any other type of engineering innovation....

Giant fans of wind energy

Windmills aren't what they used to be but then neither is the search for renewable energy sources. ...

If you can't conserve energy, stay out of the kitchen

Superefficient appliances are washing and drying our clothes, cleaning the dishes, and even heating our homes. ...

Thinner is better in solar cells

Thin films and slimmed-down cell structures look like the next big step in shrinking the cost per watt of solar power. ...

Appliance motors turn green

Through legislative and social pressures, public attention is focusing more on the energy used to perform basic domestic functions such as food preparation, cleaning, and climate control. Government-developed energy guidelines now influence consumer preferences....

How to go green in China: Explain the benefits

Sustainability has become a hot topic for businesses looking to expand operations worldwide....

Design Goes Green

In a maximum-security prison in Michigan, inmates tear office furniture apart. But the warden won't call out the National Guard. That's because the inmates are only doing their jobs — recycling obsolete and broken furniture. ...