Sustainable Design Awards Toolkit
Section 4.8 - Changing design perspectives
Sustainability is not all about new technologies
and the latest equipment. It can simply mean making the most
out of what's around us. Sustainable design can be seen as a
new way of thinking, a design that involves changing people's
perspective on how design should be created and developing it
to a more sustainable way of thinking. Stuart Walker seems to
be leading the way in this area, concluding in a recent journal
that "it's important to get the ideas out there for people
to see, and criticize and react to." If you can get people
to react to products, concepts and ideas then at least they're
taking notice. Stuart Walker has spent the last few years developing
various prototypes of chairs, lamps, radios, jewellery, phones
and other goods with 3 important principles in mind.
- Economic priorities of business
- Environmental responsibility and minimizing the impact
- Social responsibility
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Walker's products aim to reduce a reliance on
capital, energy intensive tools, use readily available localized
materials and production methods. Using local materials, labour
and skills would go some way to achieve this. His products include
chairs from local wood, lamps from twigs with bottles for lampshades
and case-less phones where components are simply attached to
plywood.
So what are the benefits of localizing production?
It adds a culture and richness to our products, illustrating
bigger concerns. It reduces transportation and packaging costs,
promotes a cyclic use of materials, creates local opportunities
for repair and maintenance, and gives a culture or society an
identity. Stuart Walker does not state that all products should
be made in this way, he just indicates that we as designers
are perhaps too quick to go down already mapped out avenues
without finding better routes for ourselves.
Sustainable development does not aim, at present, to make everything
totally sustainable in the short-term, only to educate and develop
designers for a more sustainable and improved future in the
long-term.
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Electrolux Industrial Design and Cranfield University
are working together and developing innovative designs to try
to change people's perspectives and views on Eco-design. They
have developed the Eco-kitchen which is aimed to improve the
user's efficiency in the kitchen at the same time taking into
account environmental issues through creative design concepts.
The kitchen is said to be the area of any house that is used
the most and therefore has the largest environmental impact.
Designers have a part to play in promoting less materialistic
concepts when it comes to kitchen products. The Eco-kitchen
project aims to achieve this responsibility through innovative
design. The Datawall design shown on the
left acts as the brain of the kitchen giving information on
levels of use of kitchen products, various menus, food inventories
and even a link to the supermarket! |
The Smart Sink aims to minimize water use by using a smart tap
that can be set at spray or at mist. There are two levels, one
showing consumption and the other showing the amount of water
in the sink, it also has a grey water purifier. All of the Smart
Sink's features are designed with improving the product's sustainability.
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Lastly the Chest freezer is shown here. It's
a simple change that makes so much difference. By stacking up
the food that's stored in the freezer it not only allows and
promotes the sorting of waste, it also reduces the energy waste
of conventional freezers. The idea being that conventional freezer
allows a 'fall-out' system of energy when opened.
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Further useful resources
The following websites should be used as useful
resources as initiatives that promote the awareness of sustainable design
gathered from Michael Evamy's excellent 'Redesign' book.
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Millennium Products
www.design-council.org.uk
Exercised its power and influence in the design
world by celebrating the most innovative designs towards the
end of the millennium, rewarding sustainability and highlighting
company methods to aspire to.
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Design Sense
www.designmuseum.org
Continually recognises sustainability in design and architecture by an
annual award at the museum.
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The Centre for Sustainable Design
www.cfsd.org.uk
Suppliers of Ecodesign tools and techniques to companies, holding around 30
conferences promoting the area, highlights innovation, quality and leading work
in design.
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Inspirational Current Work
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Toolkit Index
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