Durability

Durability is the ability of a physical product to remain functional, without requiring excessive maintenance or repair, when faced with the challenges of normal operation over its design lifetime.[1]:5 Several units may be used to measure the durability of a product according to its field of application, such as years of life, hours of use, and operational cycles.[2] In economics, good with a long usable life are referred to as durable goods.

Requirements for product durability

Product durability is predicated by good reparability and regenerability in conjunction with maintenance.[3] Every durable product must be capable of adapting to technical, technological and design developments.[3] This must be accompanied by a willingness on the part of consumers to forego having the "very latest" version of a product.

Durability as a characteristic relating to the quality of goods that can be demanded by consumers was not clearly established in the United Kingdom until an amendment of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 relating to the quality standards for supplied goods in 1994.[4]

Product life spans and sustainable consumption

The lifespan of household goods is a significant factor in sustainable consumption.[5] Longer product life spans can contribute to eco-efficiency and sufficiency, thus slowing consumption in order to progress towards a sustainable level of consumption.[6] Cooper (2005) proposed a model to demonstrate the crucial role of product life spans to sustainable production and consumption.[6]

Types of durability

Durability can encompass several specific physical properties of designed products, including:

See also

References

  1. ↑ Cooper, Tim (1994). "Beyond Recycling: The longer life option" (PDF). The New Economics Foundation, Whitechapel Road, London: 5.
  2. ↑ Stahel, Walter (2010). "Durability, Function and Performance". In Cooper, Tim. Longer Lasting Products: alternatives to the throwaway society. Farnham: Gower. ISBN 978-0-566-08808-7.
  3. 1 2 J. Lienig; H. Bruemmer (2017). "New Design Strategy – Product Durability". Fundamentals of Electronic Systems Design. Springer International Publishing. pp. 201–203. ISBN 978-3-319-55839-4.
  4. ↑ Ervine, Cowan (2010). "Durability and the Law". In Cooper, Tim. Longer Lasting Products: alternatives to the throwaway society. Farnham: Gower. pp. 187–188. ISBN 978-0-566-08808-7.
  5. ↑ Cooper, Tim (1994). "The durability of consumer durables". Business Strategy and the Environment. 3 (1): 23–30. doi:10.1002/bse.3280030103 – via Willey.
  6. 1 2 Cooper, Tim (2005). "Slower Consumption Reflections on Product Life Spans and the "Throwaway Society"". Journal of Industrial Ecology. 9 (1–2): 51–67. doi:10.1162/1088198054084671 – via Willey.
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