Page 109 - Çevre Şehir İklim İngilizce - Sayı 2

Burcu Hiçyılmaz - Sedat Alataş - Etem Karakaya

Design stage strategies focus on the how to use material most efficiently
to reduce emissions to a minimum throughout the life cycle of a product
while maintaining the same functionality of a product or building. In addition
to emission mitigation, the design stage should also consider elements
such as the maximization of the lifespan of a product, enable re-use of the
product at the end of product life, and facilitate recycling. The strategies
developed for this stage include lightweight product strategies, which refers
to maintaining the same functionality while using less material, and optimized
design strategies, strategies towards creating a product with a longer life-
span and enabling re-use. Additionally, lighter and smaller design of the
product is also among thestrategies that will reduce the use of materials.
Also, another recommended strategy at this stage, which includes the choice
of materials, is the substitution of materials with less emission-intensive ones.
Flexible building designs which allow the interior walls to be modified will
also increase the lifespan of a product. Likewise, the use of aluminum instead
of steel in car manufacture, and wood instead of cement and steel in houses
can be examples to the substitution of materials.
To conclude, the design stage, which constitutes the first step of a product
that will reach customers, is a crucial stage.Whether the product is more or
less material-intensive depends on the design of the product.. Therefore, the
designer should care about sustainability, and with this awareness, should
prefer materials that cause relatively less emission, and design products with
less material intensity..

b. Production Stage and Strategies

The second stage, namely production stage, covers all of the manufacturing
or production stages. That is, it comprises various stages of production of
material and final product. To illustrate, let’s take a look at the production of
steel used in car industry. It is first extracted from nature as a raw material, and
then processed and turned into a semi-finished product (steel pipes, sheets ,
beams, etc.). This semi-finished product is later cut and shaped to be used in
the manufacturing of the final product (like the steel body of the car).
This stage covers all the stages of production activities except for the
design stage. The production stage contains the extraction, processing,
producing the semi-finished product and manufacturing, so it is quite a
comprehensive stage. For this reason, it needs strategies to be applied in
different stages. One of the strategies that can be applied at this stage is
the product improvements. Production improvements means reducing scrap
in the process where the material is turned into semi-finished products and
participates in the production of the final product. All processes of material

95 Journal of Environment, Urbanization and Climate