4. The conceptualization phase

During the conceptualization phase, the eco-design team worked mainly with the design and R&D departments. In the context of the B-Free project, which grouped together several types of product, it was important to quickly determine which product(s) offered the greatest scope for progress in terms of environmental performance, while respecting the initial brief. Generally speaking, the simpler the product's design, the fewer the avenues for significant improvements and breakthroughs, and the greater the need to rethink the product's very function, at the risk of no longer respecting the brief defined by marketing. This is the case for office desks, for example, which are mainly composed of a top, a structure and legs. It should be noted that in a project focusing on the development of a single product, this process of identifying environmental hotspots can be carried out on a sub-assembly...