To be effective, Design-for-Environment (DFE) of electronic interconnections must be performed as early in the design cycle as possible preferably prior to investing in layout and routing, and should be closely tied to design-to-cost and design-for-manufacturability activities.  While lifecycle analysis (LCA) fulfills critical DFE requirements, it is usually not closely tied to cost and manufacturability analyses.  In this paper we present a design methodology that focuses on “eco-economics?and includes a combination of design-to-cost, LCA, and DFE activities.  A detailed cost/waste analysis of two alternative PWB fabrication approaches is presented as an example of the use of the methodology described herein.
 

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