Reaching 2015 Paris Agreements means targeting zero-carbon emission worldwide societies by the second half of this century. It implies a wide-ranging transformation of all industries, supported by the deployment of numerous technologies at unprecedented industrial and time scales. This paper questions the definition of the concept of "upscaling", often related to transitioning, used in different scientific communities without explicit definition shared across disciplines. A literature study is therefore carried out to investigate the characterizing factors defining "upscaling" as a transforming function applied to a studied system or a study boundary, and taking it from one state to another. The proposed analyzing framework enables us to establish five archetypes of upscaling. In addition, we itemize for each archetype, design methods used to consider and/or anticipate a "change of scale", relying on techno-economic models or dealing with environmental aspects supported by partial or a system approach. Finally, the paper concludes on the current options helping product designers assess the environmental impact generated by its design choices in the context of upscaling.