Book excerpt: The first volume of the Wiley series, Environmentally Conscious Mechanical Design focuses on the foundations of environmental design - both understanding it and implementing it. Coverage includes the important technical and analytical techniques and best practices of designing industrial, business, and consumer products that are environmentally friendly and meet environmental regulations. Topics covered include, Optiizing Designs; Design for Environment (DFE) practices, guidelines, methods and tools; Life Cycle Assessment and Design; Reverse Engineering; ISO 14000 and Environmental Management Systems (EMS) standards and others.