SIST EN 16524:2021

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
oSIST prEN 16524:2019
01-september-2019
Proizvodi strojne in kovinskopredelovalne industrije - Metodologija za zmanjšanje
vplivov na okolje pri načrtovanju in razvoju proizvodov
Mechanical products - Methodology for reduction of environmental impacts in product
design and development
Mechanische Produkte - Methodik zur Verminderung der Umweltauswirkungen bei
Produktgestaltung und Entwicklung
Produits mécaniques - Méthodologie de réduction des impacts environnementaux à la
conception et au développement des produits
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: prEN 16524
ICS:
13.020.10 Ravnanje z okoljem Environmental management
21.020 Značilnosti in načrtovanje Characteristics and design of
strojev, aparatov, opreme machines, apparatus,
equipment
oSIST prEN 16524:2019 en,fr,de
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

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DRAFT
EUROPEAN STANDARD
prEN 16524
NORME EUROPÉENNE

EUROPÄISCHE NORM

June 2019
ICS 13.020.10 Will supersede CEN/TS 16524:2013
English Version

Mechanical products - Methodology for reduction of
environmental impacts in product design and
development
Produits mécaniques - Méthodologie de réduction des Mechanische Produkte - Methodik zur Verminderung
impacts environnementaux à la conception et au der Umweltauswirkungen bei Produktgestaltung und
développement des produits Entwicklung
This draft European Standard is submitted to CEN members for enquiry. It has been drawn up by the Technical Committee
CEN/TC 406.

If this draft becomes a European Standard, CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations
which stipulate the conditions for giving this European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration.

This draft European Standard was established by CEN in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other
language made by translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC
Management Centre has the same status as the official versions.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and
United Kingdom.

Recipients of this draft are invited to submit, with their comments, notification of any relevant patent rights of which they are
aware and to provide supporting documentation.

Warning : This document is not a European Standard. It is distributed for review and comments. It is subject to change without
notice and shall not be referred to as a European Standard.


EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION

EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG

CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Rue de la Science 23, B-1040 Brussels
© 2019 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. prEN 16524:2019 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

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Contents Page
European foreword . 3
Introduction . 4
1 Scope . 6
2 Normative references . 6
3 Terms and definitions . 6
4 Abbreviated terms . 9
5 Overview of the framework and the methodology (Preparatory step or step 0:
strategic analysis) . 9
5.1 General . 9
5.2 Details of preliminary step: strategic analysis at company level .10
5.2.1 Objective .10
5.2.2 Procedure.11
5.2.3 Documentation of the preliminary step.11
6 Description of the methodology .11
6.1.1 General .11
6.1.2 Step 1: determination of the scoring of the environmental aspects of the reference
product .14
6.1.3 Step 2: selection/ranking of design options .20
6.1.4 Step 3: choice of suitable DO and EA indicators related to the reference product .22
6.1.5 Step 4: evaluation of the redesign using DO and EA indicators .23
6.1.6 Step 5: final assessment and consideration for future activities .24
7 Environmental claim .25
Annex A (normative) Environmental questionnaire .26
Annex B (normative) Analysis algorithm .34
Annex C (informative) Examples of design options for environmental improvement of the
product, and associated DO indicators and EA indicators .39
Annex D (informative) Example of implementation of the methodology .46
D.1 General .46
D.2 Step 1 .46
D.2.1 Description of the reference product and the project perimeter .46
D.2.2 Bill of Materials .46
D.2.3 Environmental questionnaire .50
D.3 Steps 2 and 3 .62
Annex E (informative) Background of the algorithm .66
E.1 Construction of the algorithm .66
E.1.1 Overview .66
E.1.2 Rules for environmental analysis .66
E.1.3 Consideration of legislation .75
Annex F (informative) Possible use of life Cycle Assessment for determining the score of
each EA .76
Annex G (informative) Correspondence between ISO 14001 and EN 16524 .81
Bibliography .84

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European foreword
This document (prEN 16524:2019) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 406 “Mechanical
products - Ecodesign methodology”, the secretariat of which is held by AFNOR.
This document is currently submitted to the CEN Enquiry.
This document will supersede CEN/TS 16524:2013.
The main changes compared to CEN/TS 16524:2013 are as follows:
— the document is to be converted into a European standard;
— the link with ISO 14001 has been strengthened for users willing to comply with that international
standard;
— Clause 5 has been added to detail the preliminary step before implementing the methodology, which
consists of an overview of the framework and the methodology;
— life cycle analysis (LCA) is only referred to as an example of existing data on the product, when
available; and
— the purpose of the Annex F on the possible use of life cycle assessment for determining the score of
each environmental aspects has been clarified.
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Introduction
Ecodesign methodologies can be divided into three types, depending on whether their purpose is the
environmental assessment of products, the environmental improvement of products or to enable the two
phases to be carried out during the same ecodesign project.
The environmental assessment phase of products in the ecodesign process can be an impediment for
companies (owing to need for expertise, time and resources). Therefore, the methodology discussed in
this document has been developed with the aim of helping designers to identify ways of improving the
environmental performance of a product without carrying out a complete environmental assessment of
the product (in terms of LCA).
The approach, therefore, consists of restricting the scope of analysis to the area defined by the constraints
of the product-enterprise pair, which takes into account the technical factors of the product, economic
constraints, the practices of a company and its development strategies. Secondly, it consists of exploring
the potential for environmental improvement within this restricted field.
This document is intended to give companies, in particular SMEs, a pragmatic methodology to consider
environmental aspects during their product design. It allows them to:
— Identify the environmental aspects of a product, including but not limited to energy aspects;
— Be able to make progress in product design (for environmental impact reduction), taking into
account capabilities of the company;
— Promote to clients and public authorities the environmental improvement approach on a mechanical
product with this methodology (environmental claim).
The improvement of the environmental impact implies that the intended performance of the product
(fitness for use, durability, etc.) is maintained.
To implement this methodology, the company staff will have sufficient knowledge and expertise in
environmental issues; if not, external expertise could be addressed. When applying this methodology,
management of the company can enter a learning process with the aim of defining and/or confirming its
strategy for ecodesign, modifying its design process to enable the environmental issue to be taken into
account, and creating new knowledge.
The aim of this document is not to measure the actual environmental performance of a product, nor to
conduct a full life cycle assessment according to ISO 14040. Nevertheless, suitable data coming from more
detailed studies e.g. LCA, carbon footprint, etc. can be used as inputs for this methodology (see an example
in Annex F).
Figure 1 shows the relationship between this document and existing documents from ISO.
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NOTE More specific methodologies might exist for specific mechanical products.
Figure 1 — Relationship between this document and existing ISO documents
This document can assist the company to comply with the requirement of EN ISO 14001 and the
recommendations of EN ISO 14006, to establish, implement and maintain a procedure to identify the
environmental aspects of its products.
This document is not intended to support or to demonstrate compliance with any specific implementing
measures of Framework Directive 2009/125/EC (Energy-related Products). It can provide
methodologies for identifying the more relevant environmental aspects in order to propose alternative
design options to improve the environmental performance of the product.
This document is not intended for calculation of environmental footprint.
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1 Scope
This document describes a methodology for reducing the overall environmental impact through product
design and development that is tailored to mechanical products as defined in 3.1.
This methodology is particularly well suited to the redesign of an existing product; it can also be applied
for the design of a new product provided the necessary assumptions regarding a (virtual) reference
product are taken.
It addresses companies which have decided to integrate an ecodesign approach to optimize
environmental impacts within the product life cycle, in relation to the other product aspects, such as
functionality, quality, costs, etc.
It also helps to meet some requirements of ISO 14001:2015 on the integration of environmental aspects
in the design of products.
NOTE 1 This document targets persons who are directly involved in the design and development of mechanical
products, as well as managers responsible for defining corporate policies, and decision-makers. The proposed
methodology is intended to kick-start ecodesign initiatives within companies as part of a teaching and continuous
improvement approach.
This document also includes a template that companies can use as part of the communication on their
environmental approach.
This document is neither intended nor suitable to compare products (even similar) of different suppliers.
This document is neither intended nor suitable for product certification purposes.
NOTE 2 An example of implementation of the methodology is given in Annex D; the basic principles for the
establishment of this method are given in Annex E.
2 Normative references
There are no normative references in this document.
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
• IEC Electropedia: available at http://www.electropedia.org/
• ISO Online browsing platform: available at http://www.iso.org/obp
3.1
mechanical product
product manufactured by companies from mechanical engineering and metalworking industry, such as
capital goods (machinery, production systems, components), tools, household goods, optical parts,
measuring instruments
3.2
reference product
existing product of the company to be re-designed, with the same intended use
Note 1 to entry: It can be also a similar product existing on the market, or the Technical Specification of a
product.
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3.3
environmental aspect
EA
element of an organisation's activities or products or services that interacts or can interact with the
environment
Note 1 to entry: For this document, environmental aspects are categorized into Raw Materials acquisition,
Manufacturing, Use, Product End-of-life, Hazardous substances, Transport and distribution, Packaging.
[SOURCE: ISO 14001:2015, 3.2.2]
3.4
(environmental) design option
DO
measure intended to improve a specific environmental aspect within the product life cycle, in relation to
the other product aspects, such as functionality, quality, costs, etc
3.5
scoring of environmental aspects
SEA
representation of the relative importance of the product's environmental aspects over its life cycle
Note 1 to entry: This SEA does not express the environmental performance of the product.
3.6
design option indicator
DO indicator
qualitative or quantitative indicator representative of a given design option, used to track this option
during the design phase
3.7
environmental aspect indicator
EA indicator
qualitative or quantitative indicator associated with a particular environmental aspect, as representative
as possible of this environmental aspect, used to keep a multi-criteria view of the environmental
performance of the product during its development
Note 1 to entry: “Multi-criteria view” means the consideration of all environmental aspects to avoid a shift of
impact (e.g. change of material can result in lower recyclability coefficient).
3.8
recoverability
ability of component parts, materials or both that can be diverted from an end-of-life stream to be
recovered (see Figure 2)
[SOURCE: ISO 22628:2002, 3.9]
3.9
recyclability
ability of component parts, materials or both that can be diverted from an end-of-life stream to be
recycled (see Figure 2)
[SOURCE: ISO 22628:2002, 3.7]
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3.10
material recyclability coefficient
r
percentage by mass (mass fraction in percent) of a material potentially able to be recycled
[SOURCE: ISO 22628:2002, 3.8 modified – vehicle has been replaced by material]
3.11
reusability
ability of component parts that can be diverted from an end-of-life stream to be reused (see Figure 2)

Figure 2 — Overview of key terms
3.12
ecodesign
integration of environmental aspects into product design with the aim of improving the environmental
performance of the product throughout its whole life cycle
[SOURCE: Directive 2009/125/EC]
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4 Abbreviated terms
The abbreviated terms necessary for the understanding of this document are the following:
BOM Bill Of Materials or equivalent technical description of the product
DO Design Option
EA Environmental Aspect
EoL End-of-Life
ErP Energy related Products (European Directive)
ELV End-of-Life Vehicles (European Directive)
M Manufacturing aspect
Pkg Packaging aspect
PEL Product End-of-Life aspect
RM Raw Material aspect
S Hazardous Substances aspect
SEA Scoring of Environmental Aspect
T Transport and distribution aspect
U Use aspect
RoHS Restriction on Hazardous Substances (European Directive)
WEEE Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (European Directive)
5 Overview of the framework and the methodology (Preparatory step or step 0:
strategic analysis)
5.1 General
The methodology described in this document shall be applied by a multidisciplinary project team with
recognized environmental competencies, supported by management, and involving all corporate
functions likely to be impacted (e.g. R&D, Design Office, Purchasing, Manufacture, Logistics, Marketing,
etc.).
Management of the company shall be involved at the key steps of the methodology, especially when
ranking the design options and the development of associated technical solutions that require defining
the main actors, the needed time, and the available resources.
NOTE The team concept is used with the purpose of combining different competencies and functions, and does
not necessarily require different physical persons.
Figure 3 gives preliminary considerations and an overview of the methodology, noting that the first step
is intended to allow the user to get a framework and raise the relevant questions related to strategy and
evaluation of products that will lead to the implementation of the methodology. It advises the user of this
document for its application, especially by supporting the company to evaluate the benefits of an
ecodesign approach and to decide to apply it or not and to extend it or not. There are two main go/no go
points:
— The first after the general strategic and product analysis for the company,
— The second after the conclusion of the case study to extend the use of the methodology for other
products of the company.
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Figure 3 — Framework to apply the methodology
5.2 Details of preliminary step: strategic analysis at company level
5.2.1 Objective
Before starting an ecodesign approach, it is worthwhile to better understand the context of the company
and the project, in terms of:
— Legal applicable requirements Market needs or requirements (specifications),
— Customers’ unexpressed needs (their own legal requirements or constraints),
— Feedbacks in the company or in the group (case studies, green procurement, existing practices for
environment, etc.),
— Available standards, ecolabels, practices in the sector,
— Competitors’ behaviours or practices (their communication on environmental issues, certification,
etc.),
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— Possible Suppliers’ contributions.
5.2.2 Procedure
Do a benchmark on the various points enumerated above.
The information gathered will be helpful during step 2 for the choice of design options. For instance, if a
competitor already communicates on energy efficiency, it could be relevant to think about this topic.
Based on the results of the strategic analysis combined with an economic analysis (which costs, which
gains, etc.), top management will have sufficient data to determine if ecodesign can serve the company’s
strategy and if it is relevant to launch an ecodesign project. The SWOT tool could be interesting to have a
final decision.
5.2.3 Documentation of the preliminary step
— Report on strategic analysis, gathering all information mentioned above,
— Formal commitment of the top management supporting the ecodesign project.
6 Description of the methodology
6.1 General
After the preliminary step (step 0: strategic analysis, see Clause 5), the methodology described in this
document is based on five steps set out below, which are also part of the design and development process
(see Figures 4 and 5), and which shall be applied successively:
— Step 1: determination of the scoring of the environmental aspects of the reference product,
— Step 2: selection/ranking of design options,
— Step 3: choice of suitable DO end EA indicators related to the reference product,
— Step 4: evaluation of the redesign using DO and EA indicators,
— Step 5: final assessment and consideration for future activities.
The objective of each step is described in 6.1 to 6.6, where the procedure which shall be followed is stated
(written as direct instructions).
The output documents of each step are input for the next step and shall be validated by the project team
before going to this next step.
NOTE This document, “methodology” is used for the overall approach of reducing environmental impacts;
“method” is used for specific tasks, such as indicator calculation.
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Figure 4 — Interrelation of the methodology with the design and development process
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Figure 5 — Schematic illustration of the methodology
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6.2 Step 1: determination of the scoring of the environmental aspects of the reference
product
6.2.1 Objective
This step shall make it possible to determine the scoring of the environmental aspect (SEA) of the
reference product which will be the base line for further improvements, i.e. to rank the seven
environmental aspects listed below according to their relative importance for the environmental impact
of the product:
— Raw materials (RM): aspect relating to the choice of materials, components (purchased), and fluids
used in the product composition (excluding packaging).
— Manufacturing (M): aspect relating to all the processes required to develop/manufacture the
complete product (excluding packaging), internally and externally (number of parts, “polluting”
operations, etc.).
— Use (U): aspect relating to all the resources required to use the product (energy consumption, type
of energy source, influence on energy consumption within an assembly, product requiring
consumables, servicing, product lifetime, etc.).
NOTE 1 This aspect combines the phases “installation and maintenance” and “use” of the
2009/125/EC Directive.
— End-of-life (PEL): aspect taking account of the reduction of the product impact at end-of-life and of
its recyclability coefficient.
— Hazardous substances (S): aspect relating to substances contained in a product likely to be regulated
by European legislation (for instance, heavy metals classified as hazardous or flame retardants
classified as hazardous).
NOTE 2 The phase “End-of-life” of the 2009/125/EC Directive is split into two aspects: end-of-life and hazardous
substances.
— Transport and distribution (T): aspect relating to the geographic distribution (regional, national,
European, worldwide) of the number of suppliers and subcontractors, shipment volumes, etc.
— Packaging (Pkg.): Aspects taking into account the amount, reuse, recyclability, biodegradability of
packaging, etc.
— In other words, these ranking permits to identify which environmental aspects are significant,
allowing the company to concentrate its efforts on what is worth to improve.
NOTE 3 The phase “Packaging, transport and distribution” of the 2009/125/EC Directive is split into two aspects.
NOTE 4 The proposed SEA is not aimed to compare two products, even similar. It is not intended to measure the
actual environmental performance of the product.
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6.2.2 Procedures
6.2.2.1 Describe the reference product and the project perimeter:
a) Product name (trade designation, project reference, etc.),
b) Description of the reference product,
c) Main technical characteristics of the product,
d) Types of markets aimed for the product:
1) B to B, state the industrial sectors,
2) B to C.
e) Known (stated) expectations from relevant market players in terms of strategies for optimizing the
environmental impact of the product (see Table C.1 for those strategies and examples of related
design options).
6.2.2.2 The Bill Of Materials or equivalent technical description of the product (BOM) and its
packaging should be drawn up. It comprises the list of parts, their mass, their material(s), their material
recyclability coefficient, the identified hazardous substances, and in case of purchased components, the
supplier name and location. A proposed template is given in Table 1
If this BOM is not available, an estimation of the number of parts and the ratio of materials contained in
the product or the BOM of a similar product can be used as a first approach.
Decompose the product and its components up to the necessary level to represent:
— The recyclability coefficient (refer to question QB9 in Table A.1),
— The number of parts (refer to question QB1 in Table A.1),
— The knowledge of possible hazardous substances (refer to question QB10 in Table A.1).
For assemblies and other components that are not broken down to their most elementary level, such as
purchased components, assess the number of parts, nature and quantity of materials from technical data
sheet and maintenance notice, or by asking the supplier.
NOTE 1 Without this information, the component will be considered as one single non-homogeneous material,
and thus will penalise the recyclability coefficient.
For fasteners, count one single part per type of fastener of the same material.
For products with a high number of parts (e.g. more than 100), in order to optimize the time needed to
create the BOM, the decomposition into parts can stop at subassembly level; in such cases, the
subassembly may be decomposed into homogeneous materials rather than parts; columns 2 to 4 of
Table 1 are not filled.
NOTE 2 For such products, the relevance of meeting the exact numbers/masses o
...