The Energy Story
The Energy Story
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Every product has an energy story long before it reaches your hands: the power used to extract materials, run machines, move components across borders, and eventually deal with waste.
As someone who works in energy management, I design with that full lifecycle in mind — not just how a product looks or functions, but how much energy it quietly demands along the way.
Every product has an energy cost and it can be measured.
That cost is expressed in kilowatt-hours (kWh), the same unit used on an electricity bill.
From the equipment used to make a product to the time that equipment is running, each design decision contributes to its total energy demand.
Below, I break this down by equipment, usage time, and total energy consumption.
Why am I doing this? Global manufacturing is cheap because of scale. This work explores whether local, small-batch production can be efficient once energy, transport, and wider environmental and social costs are considered — or whether buying from abroad is actually the better option.
Design
Design
This stage relies primarily on digital tools — a laptop, monitor, and design software (Sketchup and CNC software) — alongside low-energy physical prototyping using cardboard mock-ups and hand sketches.
When design time is shared across the production batch, this equates to an estimated ~0.1–0.2 kWh per unit.
Computer numerical control machining (CNC)
Computer numerical control machining (CNC)
The most energy-intensive stage of production. For a batch of 15 units, the machine runs for approximately one hour, consuming around 20 kWh in total.
This equates to roughly 1.33 kWh per unit, making CNC cutting responsible for over 90% of the total manufacturing energy use.
Disc and belt sander
Disc and belt sander
Disc sanding is used for surface finishing across all units. The sander operates at approx. 750 W and is used for approximately 1.75 hours per batch, resulting in around 1.3 kWh of energy consumption in total, or ~0.09 kWh per unit.
Belt sanding is a brief but necessary finishing step. Operating at 240 W for approximately 15 minutes, the process consumes around 0.06 kWh per batch, equivalent to ~0.004 kWh per unit.
Bobbin sander
Bobbin sander
Bobbin sanding is used for detailed internal finishing. Running at 450 W for around 1 hour, this stage consumes approximately 0.45 kWh per batch, or ~0.03 kWh per unit.
Laser cutting machine
Laser cutting machine
Laser cutting is used to produce one plastic facade per unit. Cutting 15 facades takes approximately 30 minutes, with a total energy use of around 0.03 kWh for the full batch. When spread across units, this equates to a negligible ~0.002 kWh per unit.
Packaging
Packaging
Packaging and fixings contribute a smaller but measurable share of the product’s energy footprint. Each unit includes a cardboard box, three steel screws, and three plastic rawl plugs, labels and paper (glue) tape with an estimated embodied energy of around 0.36 kWh per unit.
Delivery
Delivery
Transport adds an additional energy cost once the product leaves the workshop.
For a small, lightweight parcel of this size, a reasonable estimate is ~0.2–0.3 kWh per delivery, based on average parcel transport energy intensity.
Energy & cost summary (per unit)
Energy & cost summary (per unit)
The estimated electricity use per unit is ~2.3–2.4 kWh, equating to an electricity cost of approximately £0.55–£0.60 per unit.
This total is dominated by the manufacturing stage, particularly CNC machining, with smaller but intentional contributions from design activity, packaging and fixings, and transport.
An open question...
If we are willing to account for the energy used to design, make, package, and deliver a product — what else should be counted, and where do we choose to draw the boundary?
Are you a product designer interested in your product's Energy Story? Get in touch and we can discuss how to get started! Email bryan@bord-store.com.
Some notes
Some notes
This is a work in progress with some estimations made around equipment parameters and timings based on time in workshop.
Electricity cost assumption: £0.25 per kWh (on-peak)
Data status: Estimated, based on equipment ratings and usage time
Purpose: Identify energy hotspots and guide design improvements
Translating kWh into a clear £ cost using a typical on-peak electricity rate of £0.25 per kWh. In the energy management world we say something consumed X kWh in a period of time e.g. 10 kWh in an hour. By making energy visible, it becomes something that can be questioned, reduced, and designed more responsibly. Like the calories in your food!
Deliveries are assumed to be made from Bristol to destinations across the UK using Royal Mail large letter services, travelling through Royal Mail’s mixed road-based distribution network.
What’s not included (yet)
This assessment does not currently include:
Energy used in felling trees (could I use old wood), to manufacture plywood and upstream transport of raw materials to the workshop
Energy associated with tool manufacture, maintenance, or end-of-life
End-of-life impacts beyond basic material assumptions
These stages can represent a significant share of a product’s total energy footprint and will be explored as data becomes available.
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