A Proposal for an Augmented DSM to Assess Product Sustainability

The paper proposes an extension of the Design Structure Matrix to support designers in a rough sustainability evaluation of an industrial device in the early stage of its development. The methodology of assessment is based on an Augmented DSM (A-DSM), where the original DSM layout has been modified to allow developers to record information about product lifecycle and to manage the interactions of product components among them, towards other systems and with the environment outside. After a description of the novel matrix layout, a method is formalized. The proposed methodology will show that product evaluation is achieved by means of a combination of partial results that can be calculated already in conceptual phase: a set of environmental indicators and a couple of sustainability performance values. In accordance with this approach, the method is conceived as sustainability control panel useful to evaluate early environmental performance.