Low-carbon design based on conceptual design methods for mechanical and electrical products

Abstract This paper presents a conceptual product design method that considers the carbon emission factors of mechanical and electrical products, with the purpose of considering low carbon issues before designing products. Based on a comprehensive analysis of conventional product design procedures, the study extracts design information related to greenhouse gas emissions, itemizes and quantifies the information, and ultimately uncovers the relationship among carbon emissions, function and cost of newly designed products. This paper explains the proposed concepts of carbon efficiency and carbon factor, and combined them with the product design process to present a low-carbon design process of mechanical and electrical products. Furthermore, this paper presents a low-carbon design method of mechanical and electrical products, drawing on the product family design idea, with the GHG efficiency and cost constrained. The potential value of the method is demonstrated in a case study of a tomato picking robot.