article published Robin Grothe author Isaac Mpidi Bita author Aschot Hovemann author Roman Dumitrescu author 16190 563 department <jats:title>ABSTRACT:</jats:title> <jats:p>Sustainability is a central challenge in engineering. Early architectural design decisions strongly influence a product’s ecological footprint and long-term sustainability potential. Addressing these aspects in the concept phase is therefore essential. This paper analyses how architecture decisions - such as modularity, standardisation, redundancy, and updateability - affect ecological sustainability. The qualitative assessment helps practitioners to anticipate environmental impacts and foster sustainability awareness in product architecture development.</jats:p> Cambridge University Press (CUP)2026 eng 2732-527X10.1017/pds.2026.10487 61291-1300 Grothe, Robin, et al. “Sustainability by Design: The Impact of Product Architecture Decisions on the Sustainability of Products – a Practitioner Qualitative Assessment.” <i>Proceedings of the Design Society</i>, vol. 6, Cambridge University Press (CUP), 2026, pp. 1291–300, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/pds.2026.10487">10.1017/pds.2026.10487</a>. Grothe R, Bita IM, Hovemann A, Dumitrescu R. Sustainability by design: the impact of product architecture decisions on the sustainability of products – a practitioner qualitative assessment. <i>Proceedings of the Design Society</i>. 2026;6:1291-1300. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/pds.2026.10487">10.1017/pds.2026.10487</a> @article{Grothe_Bita_Hovemann_Dumitrescu_2026, title={Sustainability by design: the impact of product architecture decisions on the sustainability of products – a practitioner qualitative assessment}, volume={6}, DOI={<a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/pds.2026.10487">10.1017/pds.2026.10487</a>}, journal={Proceedings of the Design Society}, publisher={Cambridge University Press (CUP)}, author={Grothe, Robin and Bita, Isaac Mpidi and Hovemann, Aschot and Dumitrescu, Roman}, year={2026}, pages={1291–1300} } Grothe, R., Bita, I. M., Hovemann, A., &#38; Dumitrescu, R. (2026). Sustainability by design: the impact of product architecture decisions on the sustainability of products – a practitioner qualitative assessment. <i>Proceedings of the Design Society</i>, <i>6</i>, 1291–1300. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/pds.2026.10487">https://doi.org/10.1017/pds.2026.10487</a> R. Grothe, I. M. Bita, A. Hovemann, and R. Dumitrescu, “Sustainability by design: the impact of product architecture decisions on the sustainability of products – a practitioner qualitative assessment,” <i>Proceedings of the Design Society</i>, vol. 6, pp. 1291–1300, 2026, doi: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/pds.2026.10487">10.1017/pds.2026.10487</a>. R. Grothe, I.M. Bita, A. Hovemann, R. Dumitrescu, Proceedings of the Design Society 6 (2026) 1291–1300. Grothe, Robin, Isaac Mpidi Bita, Aschot Hovemann, and Roman Dumitrescu. “Sustainability by Design: The Impact of Product Architecture Decisions on the Sustainability of Products – a Practitioner Qualitative Assessment.” <i>Proceedings of the Design Society</i> 6 (2026): 1291–1300. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/pds.2026.10487">https://doi.org/10.1017/pds.2026.10487</a>. 673682026-10-02T13:37:18Z2026-10-02T13:45:01Z