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The topic of sustainability in design has many parts. Designing in a sustainable manner is not as simple as just choosing recycled or natural materials. The choices designers make in the process of designing a product or system can have significant impacts on communities and the natural environment.
Therefore, designers are in a powerful position--we make important decisions that can affect people and the environment. Like any important decision, understand the context is essential.
As non-renewable resources run out, designers need to develop innovative solutions to meet basic human needs for energy, food and raw materials. The development of renewable and sustainable resources is one of the major challenges of the 21st century for designers.
The abundance of resources and raw materials in the industrial age led to the development of a throwaway society, and as resources run out, the many facets of sustainability become a more important focus for designers. The result of the throwaway society is large amounts of materials found in landfill, which can be considered as a new source to mine resources from.
Efficient energy use is an important consideration for designers in today’s society. Energy conservation and efficient energy use are pivotal in our impact on the environment. A designer’s goal is to reduce the amount of energy required to provide products or services using newer technologies or creative implementation of systems to reduce usage. For example, driving less is an example of energy conservation, while driving the same amount but with a higher mileage car is energy efficient.
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Clean technology is found in a broad range of industries, including water, energy, manufacturing, advanced materials and transportation. As our Earth’s resources are slowly depleted, demand for energy worldwide should be on every designer’s mind when generating products, systems and services. The convergence of environmental, technological, economic and social factors will produce more energy-efficient technologies that will be less reliant on obsolete, polluting technologies.
The starting point for many green products is to improve an existing product by redesigning aspects of it to address environmental objectives. The iterative development of these products can be incremental or radical depending on how effectively new technologies can address the environmental objectives. When newer technologies are developed, the product can re-enter the development phase for further improvement.
Consideration of the environmental impact of any product, service or system during its life cycle should be instigated at the earliest stage of design and continue through to disposal. Designers should have a firm understanding of their responsibility to reduce the ecological impact on the planet. Eco-design concepts currently have a great influence on many aspects of design.
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