Sustainability target system for product development to support the identification and addressability of problem shifts

Due to shifts in society sustainable products are increasingly gaining market attention while laws regulate realization. Known sustainability models primarily focus on social and ecological factors relating to people and their environment. The consideration of sustainability in product development requires an addressable translation as well as the inclusion of economic aspects. In this paper, a sustainability target system for product development is proposed to enhance interoperability between sustainability models and product development and to systematically support analyzing problem shifts. Based on a literature review, the capability of influencing the target variables is evaluated considering the phases of the product life cycle and generalizable problem shifts. Using a requirements methodology for goals, restrictions, solutions, and an assigned syntax, the problem shifts in product development can be identified, captured, and addressed. For the validation, an implementation of requirements for a sustainability certification of a product is examined. As a result, the sustainability target system for product development supports the product developers in gaining situational awareness due to a sharper focus on relevant target variables and the lifecycle phases in which they can be influenced. Finally, this approach enables potential for the implementation of computer-aided assistance systems.