Go To Sustainable Design; a new Sustainable Design Knowledge Network & Forum
Jan Carel Diehl *, Ana Mestre **
*Delft University of Technology, Design for Sustainability Program, Landbergtsraat 15, 2628 CA Delft, The Netherlands,
[email protected] ** INETI-CENDES, Estrada Paco do Lumiar 22, 1649 038 Lisboa, Portugal,
[email protected]
Abstract: The last ten years an increasing interest has raised in Ecodesign and Sustainable Design Research and Curricula Development in Europe and other parts of the world. Three years ago the Indian European Ecodesign Program (IEEP) has been initiated under the EU Cross Cultural funding program. The IEEP project aimed initially at the promotion of Ecodesign in Europe and Asia by exchange of Ecodesign knowledge and expertise among design professionals in companies and higher educational institutions. At the final international conference, attended by Sustainable Design experts from all over the world, the new “Go To Sustainable Design Knowledge Network & Forum” has been launched on the Web. The web-based forum and knowledge exchange has initially started by incorporating the knowledge and experience gathered during the IEEP project and vision from more than 20 international Sustainable Design Experts. At the moment the “Go To Sustainable Design Knowledge Network & Forum” contains an overview of available Ecodesign Manuals and Tools, Visions of experts and leading sustainable companies, examples from Ecodesign projects in practice, references to inspiring literature and finally a forum for Designers to exchange their own visions and experiences in the field. In the future there will be a dynamic Sustainable Design web-based Magazine with the Sustainable and Ecodesign Research trends. The goal of the “Go To Sustainable Design knowledge Network & Forum” is to support design students and professionals who are interested in Sustainable Design with a comprehensive starting point and to encourage discussions and knowledge exchange between Sustainable Design experts. The objective of this paper is to find and experiment new ways to disseminate Sustainable Design into the world of Design professionals, where after will be reflected on the state-of-the-art and trends in Sustainable Design. Secondly the structure and goals of the “Go To Sustainable Design” web-site are being discussed. Key words: Sustainable Design, Web-Forum, Ecodesign Manuals, Ecodesign Trends
1. Introduction The objective of this paper is to find and experiment new ways to disseminate Sustainable Design into the world of Design professionals, thereafter will be reflected on the state-of-the-art and trends in Sustainable Design. Finally the structure and goals of the “Go To Sustainable Design” web-site are being discussed.
1. 1 Ecodesign and Sustainable Design In the end Eighties several initiatives in Ecodesign, often also mentioned as Design for the Environment, started
in Europe. Ecodesign focuses at the reduction of the environmental impact of a product in each step of the lifecycle. This goal can be reached by redesigning the product (Eco-redesign) or by exploring other ways to fulfil the customers’ needs taking in mind the Ecodesign principles (New concept development). During the last ten years these Ecodesign principles have been tested and integrated successfully in the product development process of industries and into the curricula of several design schools. In the context of the need for Sustainable Development the focus is shifting from Ecodesign, focussing only on environmental and economical aspects, towards Sustainable Design that also includes social aspects. This new development aims at the integration of the needs of the “Triple P” (People, Planet & Profit) into product design.
1.2 Developments in Sustainable Design During the last ten years many policies and business cases for Sustainable Product Development have been set up. Some successes have been created, such as the integration of environmental improvement in product strategies by many large product formulating companies and the adoption of take back policies on electronics and cars in Europe. Also, in experiments it was shown that with the use of existing and emerging new technologies in principle large eco-efficiency improvement factors could be gained in product-systems. However, the net effect of sustainable product activities so far on a global scale has been quite modest. Theoretical options have not been implemented. The mega trend towards more consumption and production by far exceeds the micro efficiency improvements made possible by sustainable product concepts. A radical economic shift and the creation of a sense of urgency with respect to product innovation are needed to successfully contribute to sustainable development in the next decades. As industrial designers and industrial design researchers we can contribute –within the limits given to design power- to the required “sustainable transition” by amongst others the following activities: •
The creation and execution of challenging scenario’s and product-service-systems experiments, including the involvement of potential new entrepreneurs to turn our ideas into business and setting the trend as pioneering individuals;
•
Pushing much stronger the relevance of the –and the actual- contribution of sustainable product development as a mandatory discipline in industrial design, mechanical engineering, electronics, business sciences and economics curricula;
•
Linking –as international sustainable product development community and research network- our ideas on the future much stronger with social-economic and social-cultural un-sustainability;
•
Communicating more frequently and directly with the CEOs of leading companies in the world, in cooperation with their internal design departments.
1.3 The Indian European Ecodesign Programme (IEEP) The Indian European Ecodesign Program (IEEP) is a three-year collaborative of the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD), the Delft University of Technology (DUT), Netherlands and the National Institute of Engineering and Industrial Technology (INETI), Portugal. The IEEP program, which started in 1999 aims at the development of Ecodesign capability, through the exchange and development of Ecodesign knowledge and expertise and by forming a strong network among design professionals, academia and industry. This is being done through workshops, pilot demo projects with companies and academic exchange. The following paragraphs will
describe two recent outcomes of the project; an overview of the trends in ‘Sustainable Design Trends’ and the “Go To Sustainable Design” web-site.
2. State-of-the-art and trends in Sustainable Design The final event of the IEEP programme was the ”International Conference on Sustainable Design” on November 2002 in the Habitat Centre in New Delhi to bring together worldwide experts to exchange and discuss the state-of-the-art of Sustainable Design in the world. The following section will give a brief introduction and examples of the “8 Developments in Sustainable Design” as presented at the conference.
2.1 Sustainable Transport & Mobility
Constantly growing traffic in the world leads to increasing environmental, economical and social problems, and deteriorates the quality of life of its citizens. Currently transport is one of the main and fastest growing contributors to air pollution/CO2 emissions and climate change. The car is often the most used mean of transportation on short- and medium-distances. Exactly on the short distances, the toxic emissions of a
Fig. 1 Redesigned Rickshaw
car are the largest. There is a serious need for new modes of transport with the comfort of a car but with sustainability aspects of a bicycle to fulfil the need for urban transport. Each city/region/country has to find indigenous solutions to its unique and specific problems. In Europe initiatives are being undertaken like the MUSA project in Lisbon and Mitka project in the Netherlands to create new modes of (semi)human-powered transport [4]. In India for example the traditional bicycle rickshaws have been redesigned in order to make them more efficient and to create a more sustainable image. Fig. 2 Mitka
2.2 Ecodesign Methodology The “Ecodesign: A promising approach” manual [1] published by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in 1997 is still often the starting point for the development (translation and adjustments to the local design context) for regional Ecodesign manuals. Digital versions of the manual can be found online in English and Spanish (links can be found on the “Go To Sustainable Design” web-site [3]). The two most frequent applied tools are the MET- Matrix and the Ecodesign Strategy Wheel. The MET (Materials, Energy and Toxic emissions) matrix is a simple qualitative method of assessing and prioritizing
Fig. 3 & 4 MET Matrix and ESW
environmental impacts of products and processes during the total lifecycle (see figure 3). The Ecodesign Strategy Wheel (ESW) distinguishes 33 Ecodesign principles (clustered in 8 Ecodesign strategies), possible ways to improve the environmental profile of a product system taking all the stages of its life cycle into consideration (see figure 4).
Examples of other often applied Ecodesign tools are Back-casting & Scenario Building, Life Cycle Assessment and Costing, Life Cycle Design Checklists and Ecodesign Benchmarking. At the moment there is a need for a new international manual integrating new developments in the field of Sustainable Design and to cover not only the industrialized countries but also the developing part of the world.
2.3 Ecodesign in Big Industries International operating industries, like Philips, Sony and Whirlpool, have developed in the recent years their own Ecodesign tools and guidelines in line with their company design approach. As a next step can be seen the application of these Ecodesign company guidelines not only in the products designed for the Western world
Fig. 6 Rural refrigerator
but also for the low-income economies. As an example, Philips India evaluates all of its products with the Philips Fig. 5 EcoRedesign of Philips India
Ecodesign Guidelines and has already introduced several Eco-Redesigns into the Indian Market. Whirlpool India Limited recently developed a total new
concept of a refrigerator for rural areas to fulfill the needs of the users in a more appropriate way while reducing the environmental impact at the same time.
2.4 Renewable Energy integrated in products Energy generation is an increasing worldwide problem because of the created emissions (like CO2), created waste (for example in the case of nuclear power) and a lack of sustainable resources. Next to this development the amount of electronic products in the world society is increasing fast. New emerging technologies in the field of renewable energy, like small fuel-cells based upon hydrogen, flexible photo-voltaic solar
Fig. 8 Solar energy power charger
cells and compact bio-mass installations are promising new solutions for sustainable energy. However, until recently, renewable resources have been more or less been “pasted” upon the products instead of being integrated into the design of the product. There is a big challenge to find the appropriate Fig. 7 Electric bicycle powered by fuel- cell
products and functions for these new technologies and to integrate them into the total design of the product.
2.5 (Sustainable) Product Service Systems The key idea behind product service systems (PSS) is that consumers do not specifically demand products, per se, but rather are seeking the utility these products and services provide. By using a service to meet some needs rather than a physical object, more needs could be met with lower material and energy requirements. At the moment several research and demonstration projects in this field can be found in initiatives like the Sushouse
project [4] and the SusProNet network [5]. Many researchers expect that PSS can move the society towards sustainability. However there are still several gaps like the proof that the shift from (material) products to (immaterial) services really is able to move production and consumption systems towards Sustainable Development.
2.6 Product Oriented Environmental Management Systems (POEMS) Many Ecodesign activities in companies have the character of pilot projects and lack the necessary embedment into the business’ strategic agenda and into their daily practice and routine. POEMS is often necessary to establish a continuous link between the Ecodesign process and the Environmental Management System of a company. Besides being stimulated by some governments, POEMS is being seen as a way to meet upcoming legislation and as a way to improve the competitiveness of the industry. For most SME’s POEMS is still to complex and time and money consuming. In order to overcome this obstacle, for example, the furniture branch organisation of the future industry (CBM) has developed a POEMS manual and web-site [6] for the furniture sector in order to support its members with the implementation of this new approach.
2.7 Waste Minimization and Recycling The goal of Sustainable Design is to prevent waste. However the creation of a total “zero emission, zero waste society” is still far away from reality and we will still have to find ways to re-use, recycle or process waste in an appropriate way. The design world in Europe is involved in for example by redesigning electronic products to make it easier to recover parts and materials (to fulfill the requirements of the EU take-back legislation) and by developing new useful
Fig. 9 Fruit bowl produced from old LP’s [7]
‘Design Products’ out of waste (see fig 9 & 10). Or like in India where the design Fig. 10 Liners made from recycled LuxaFlex [7]
department of IIT is involved in the development of the collection, composting and recycling system at the campus.
2.8 Sustainable Tourism and Leisure The tourism and leisure sector is for many Western and developing countries one of the fastest growing economical sectors. In order to create not only income on the short term but also on the long term, it is necessary to develop tourism more in balance with the local environmental and social resources. The design world can contribute to a more sustainable direction for tourism by developing more appropriate ways of long-distance transport and local mobility, accommodation and sustainable ways for leisure.
3. Go.to/sustainabledesign: the designers link to Sustainable Design
3.1. Go.to/sustainabledesign Concept As a meeting point for design professionals, the new “Go To Sustainable Design Knowledge Network & Forum” has been launched on the web. The intention is to create a permanent space of information on Sustainable
Design (SD) basics: SD tools for use, SD projects mainly in Portugal, Netherlands and India, as well as a permanent discussion Forum regarding several topics related to Sustainable Design, following the relevant scientific work in this field.
Fig. 11. ‘Go. To/Sustainabledesign’ Web-Site Main Page
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There have been several reasons to start up a web-based knowledge network & forum on Sustainable Design. The need started with the enormous barrier existing between the scientific knowledge on Eco- and Sustainable Design and the practice reality of Industrial Design professionals and students. There is a need to disseminate this knowledge and experiences, especially taking in mind that there are already many existing case studies and implemented Ecodesign projects in relevant product companies. There is a need to bring Designers in contact with the basics on Ecodesign, as well as to disseminate to a broader audience one of the most challenging trends in Design thought and practice. The goal of ‘Go To Sustainable Design’ is amongst others: ⇒ To disseminate the message of an urgent need of adopting Sustainable Design as fundamental guidelines into the Design World and creating an easy way to achieve directions on Sustainable Design principles and practice; ⇒ To be a starting point for those who are interested in Sustainable Design by offering theoretical and practical information and approaches related to this topic; ⇒ To get easy access to new developments in SD; ⇒ To break the stigmas of the scientific approach in the field into an open
Fig. 12 Interactive approach of the Go To Sustainable Design web site
space for debate, in a way to enable a designer to develop his own creative process and design methods on the Sustainable Design matters and practice; ⇒ to create a forum between all the stakeholders (designers, academics and business) around the main trends in Sustainable Design.
3.2. Go.to/sustainabledesign Structure The following scheme shows the actual web site structure and it’s perspective for the future:
Fig. 13 The “Go To Sustainable Design web structure
Sustainable Design World The ‘Sustainable Design World’ link is the Main Page of the site http://go.to/sustainabledesign that has as goal to be a space for information on the subjects of sustainability, especially in connection to the design approach. As an example of a multi – social - cultural approach, the web-site was considered from a point of view of 3 nationalities: India, Portugal and the Netherlands. Sustainable Design Trends At the link “Sustainable Design Trends” the user can have a description of the already in this paper presented Sustainable Design trends. Secondly it will give access to the visions of recognizable experts in the field of Sustainability, Ecodesign and Sustainable Design. And finally they can get a quick understanding of Ecodesign methods and tools by visiting and downloading the most used tools on Eco Design and Sustainable Design. The goal is to present a link to different approaches and methods to enable a designer to develop his own method, by matching the available methods with his own design process. Sustainable Design within the Indian European Ecodesign Programme The IEEP programme has created during 3 years relevant SD materials and results. These materials can be used and studied by the on-line reports of the most relevant activities of the programme like workshops, the demonstration projects of Ecodesign in practice and all information final regarding the international conference on Eco- and Sustainable Design which took place in the end of 2002 in Delhi, India. “Sustainable Design India, Portugal and The Netherlands” Present for each country separately where IEEP activities took place, what are the SD activities of the hosting institutes and an overview over developments and interesting links on SD in these hosting country. These three links, are open links and it will be filled continuously with more information in present and future regarding with Sustainable Design activities and practice in India, Portugal and The Netherlands produced by a range of institutions, companies, studios and schools.
Sustainable Design Forum The Sustainable Design Forum has the goal to become the interactive ‘place’ of the site. This part will be developed as an external satellite of the site. Its content will be created by continuous discussion and activities related to Sustainable Design in the present and the future. ⇒ Sustainable Design Collection A link where each 6-months a new topic in Sustainable Design Trends will be under discussion. To support the discussion, all types of information, research and life projects related to the selected hot topic will be launched on the web-site. Next, the forum will open during 6 months, and all the contributions will be under reflection and under debate. During the last month of the discussion a compilation of all the results and new knowledge as well a scientific research work around the theme will be edited on line. ⇒ Sustainable Design Café To finalize the activities around the selected topic, after the 6 months, a live discussion with experts on the field will be organized in a different city of the world. The final discussion will be published on ‘Sustainable Design Forum’ in a link called ‘Sustainable Design Café’. ⇒ Sustainable Design Faces Is a link where in a 60 minute interview, some of the most relevant experts in the World will talk about multi cultural approaches on sustainable design, referring concepts, history, practice, etc. Until the moment we have been preparing and editing around 20 faces / 20 interviews, with 20 experts talking about the state of the art of sustainable design in the world in the end of 2002 and giving directions for the future. The Sustainable Design Forum aims to be linked with the future and to be a compromise for a constant dissemination on the topics related with Eco and Sustainable Design, in a direction to more knowledge exchange, more public debate, and broader creativity base. On a way to a more Sustainable World in http://go.to/sustainabledesign!
4. References [1] Brezet, J.C. and C.G. van Hemel, Ecodesign: A promising approach to sustainable production and consumption, UNEP, Paris, 1997. [2] Mestre, A. et al, Design for sustainable Urban Mobility in Portugal and the Netherlands, USER Congres, Portuguese Design Center, Lisbon, 2003 [3] Go To Sustainable Design http://go.to/sustainabledesign/ [4] SusHouse project http://www.io.tudelft.nl/research/dfs/sushouse/ [5] SusProNet http://www.suspronet.org [6] POEMS furniture (in Dutch) http://www.pmzmeubel.nl [7] Pictures from products of the Denktank, Patrick Kruithof and Eelco Rietveld
