guest talk on "why sustainable design & what now" to kingston university ma...
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The why & what now of ecodesign/sustainable designTRANSCRIPT
sustainable design why? what next? what now? @frank_oconnor
talk to MA Sustainable Design 2013/14 Kingston University February 2014
Nan-‐in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-‐1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen. Nan-‐in served tea. He poured his visitor's cup full, and then kept on pouring. The professor watched the overflow unLl he no longer could restrain himself. "It is overfull. No more will go in!" "Like this cup," Nan-‐in said, "you are full of your own opinions and speculaLons. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?"
hSp://www.zenguide.com
to believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest.
Mahatma Gandhi
… The times of thoughtless design, which can only flourish in times of thoughtless production for thoughtless consumption, are over. We cannot afford any more thoughtlessness.
source: Dieter Rams
… The times of thoughtless design, which can only flourish in times of thoughtless production for thoughtless consumption, are over. We cannot afford any more thoughtlessness.
source: Dieter Rams
so what happened between 1976 and 2013?
image source: www.castlereagh.gov.uk
…we conLnue to live in a throwaway society.
.. yet there is sLll no away.
image source: ads-ngo.com
source: Edwin Datschefski & United NaLons University
98% of products are thrown away within 6 months.
… paradox ..throwing away is cheaper than recycling Ramon Arratia, Sustainability Director at Interface, E:DN Event, Cardiff
…. but is it really?
we conLnue to over consume.
Image source: Banksy
we see even more of a disconnect between people ….. and between planet and people.
source: http://www.realcycle.co.uk
.. and true costs conLnue not to be accounted for.
source: Nathan Hallett
every product tells a story J
source: Warwick Business School published in The Guardian, 26th June 2013
we con6nue to experience a collec6ve unconscious behaviour ….. with catastrophic unintended consequences.
good design is a behaviour.
we con6nue to experience a collec6ve unconscious behaviour ….. with catastrophic unintended consequences.
good design is a behaviour.
air pollu6on kills 3 million people each year, mostly in poor countries
source: WHO / BBC
responsibility
polluLon
between 100 and 1000 species become ex6nct each year, because their habitats are changing or being destroyed.
source: UK Government
responsibility
degradaLon
over 1 billion people do not have access to clean drinking water
source: UNDP
responsibility
access to water
3800 children die each day
from diseases associated with lack of access to safe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene
water access
source: UN / flickr
responsibility
access to water
80% of all disease in developing countries is caused by consump6on of contaminated water
source: WHO
responsibility
access to water
responsibility
health
‘commandments of industrialised society’
1) create more desire (perceived needs) 2) thou shalt consume (= good life) culture of consumpLon + devaluing of culture
source: Henry 1949 cited in Jones 1987
‘commandments of industrialised society’
1) create more desire (perceived needs) 2) thou shalt consume (= good life) culture of consumpLon + devaluing of culture
source: Henry 1949 cited in Jones 1987
There are professions more harmful than industrial design, but only a very few of them. And possibly only one profession is phonier. Advertising design, in persuading people to buy things they don‘t need, with money they don’t have, in order to impress others who don‘t care, is probably the phoniest field in existence today
Victor Papanek, Design for the Real World: Human Ecology and Social Change, Thames and Hudson, 1984
does the concept of a future sLll exist in a culture which a coherent vision has disappeared? Marcel Wanders
source: miscell. web sites
iPoSy
real need?
banana guard
wisdom knowledge through practice over time
foo
lishn
ess
source: from a presentation by Emma Dewberry 2008 to the Ecodesign Centre & partners
illustraLon: Nathan HalleS
…...individuals act primarily on issues that impact their personal well-‐being, their family, and their immediate community. Unless those needs are tended to, most individuals won't commit to causes that promise to benefit the world at large. Catherine Greener
source: WHO / BBC
we ALL have to change
design enterprise education
government
design
population growth
source: engine group and UNFPA source: engine group and UK statistics
ageing population
a move to cities
non inclusive
resource scarcity knowledge loss
emerging economies
natural disasters
change
ego-centric
emerging economies
1 billion of these people are living in slums, squats & unofficial settlements
source: UNHABITAT
image: Jesse Stewart / www.areaofdesign.com
a way forward
image source: Fuse / GeKy
systems perspective life cycle thinking responsible design
responsible enterprise circular economy
this thinking is
not new
Source: a paper on materialism by
Alwyn Jones, 1987
the single biggest problem in communicaLon is the illusion that it has taken place. George Bernard Shaw
designers influence how people consume, use, behave … live.
industry
consumers
design
image source: Chris Jordan
80% of eco-impacts are determined At design stage
what would the design brief for the industrial revolution look like? design a system of production that: 1. puts billions of pounds of toxic material into the air, water and soil
2. measures prosperity by activity, not legacy 3. requires thousands of complex regulations to keep people and
natural systems from being poisoned too quickly 4. produces materials so dangerous that they will require constant
vigilance from future generations 5. results in gigantic amounts of waste 6. puts valuable materials in holes all over the planet, where they can
never be retrieved 7. erodes the diversity of biological species and cultural practices
source: William McDonough and Michael Braungart in Penny Allen (ed) (2001) Metaphors for Change: partnership, tools and civic action for sustainability, Sheffield: Greenleaf: 68 – from a presentation by Emma Dewberry 2008 to the Ecodesign Centre & partners
NO MAGIC MATERIALS
but there is biomimicry
check out Michael Pawlyn & Janine Benyus
responsibility needs to be at the core of the organisaton and all of its people, not just its products and services
responsibility = ability to respond & ethics = how we think, act, behave
good design is?
good design is:
innovative useful aesthetic understandable unobtrusive Dieter Rams (from the ’70s)
honest long-lasting thorough environmentally friendly as little design as possible
hire lease / service
consumer goods
cooperaLve
full ownership
shared
(adapted from Cooper et al.)
individual
no ownership responsible business models
basic sustainable design criteria long-‐life non-‐toxic localise renewable energy
we need: to talk ‘resource’ instead of ‘waste’ to focus on ‘need’ & ‘use’ instead of ‘consume’ to co-create goods with transformative use cycles non-toxic long-life products suitable for appropriate remanufacture & reuse a widespread culture of transparency, honesty & openness (traceability) true life cycle collaboration through empathy & extending trust
we need: metrics to account for true cost to ensure there is no shift of environmental & social burden between stages of life cycle new models of business & un-ownership adaptable supply circles instead of chains frameworks to build capacity & competencies to stimulate demand through ‘tools’ such as public procurement
we need: metrics to account for true cost to ensure there is no shift of environmental & social burden between stages of life cycle new models of business & un-ownership adaptable supply circles instead of chains frameworks to build capacity & competencies to stimulate demand through ‘tools’ such as public procurement
case study: Welsh SME office furniture @Orangebox_Ltd
@Orangebox_Ltd
Cradle to Cradle
10
“remake the way wemake things” thinking about the materials we use, howour products are designed and assembled, and their cyclesof use with our customers.
No matter how good your products are, there comes a timewhen their first useful life comes to an end. In considering product life cycles Cradle to Cradle asks us to re-think thecommonplace approach of “take, make & waste” and thisprompted us to act.
During the early stages of the design of Ara we established arelationship with one of Cradle to Cradle’s authors, renowned industrial chemist Micheal Braungart. Throughout the development we have been working with EPEA, Micheal’s C2C organisation based in Hamburg.
We’ve always very carefully considered the materials that we usein our products but our aim in working with EPEA is to ensurethat what we’re using is truly safe, for humans and the environment alike, and successful in technical cycles of reuse.This means looking in much more detail at every chemical ingredient in the materials we use; to determine which inhibitthis aim and need to be substituted or remove as a result.
Cradle to Cradle is an approach to design which looks to makeus truly environmentally effective, by developing products forclosed loop systems in which all the materials used are safe andbeneficial - either to biodegrade naturally or to be fully recycledinto high quality materials for subsequent product generations,again and again. In order for us to maximise the value of the materials used in your chair we’d like to get them back onceyou’ve finished with them. It’s pretty simple, all you need to dois visit our website at www.orangebox.com/endoflife.htm
Returning your ARA at ‘End of Life’
Desig
n En
gin
eering
4
Arm
support that’s there only when you need it.
Our goal w
as to design a new arm
pad that was m
ore comfortable
than ever, using materials that could be segregated easily and recycled
more effectively. The traditional PU
is replaced by a flexible polymer
with a separate insert m
ade from recycled foam
. The result is an arm
rest that’s robust, easy to use and probably the most com
fortablew
e’ve ever made.
Do som
ething really simple; m
ake the chair base 100%
r ecyclable.N
ot the most com
plicated part on a task chair, granted, but we asked
ourselves the question - some look m
uch better than others but allplastic chair bases are pretty m
uch the same, aren’t they? W
ell in onesense they are, and w
ith very few exceptions they all have a m
etal collar m
oulded into the plastic to stop the gas lift creeping throughthe base. G
reat for not dragging your chair across the carpet butnot so great w
hen you come to recycle it, as the collar can be very
difficult to remove.
Smart design and careful m
aterial selection has enabled us to createa base w
ithout a collar insert. A sim
ple point but unlike almost all
other plastic bases ours is 100% recyclable. A
nd rest assured we’ve
tested it like mad.
The Mechanism
Ara’s
synchronous m
echanism
delivers a
smooth,
balanced m
ovement
from
impressively
refined engineering.
Why
synchronous? Quite sim
ply, we’ve alw
ays felt that the action ofseat and back m
oving together in this way provides a natural,
intuitive ride. Proven ergonomic research also tells us that regular
changes in posture improves our w
ell being when sitting at w
ork.W
e know that people com
e in all shapes and sizes. That’s why
smart engineering inside the m
echanism m
eans the ride can betuned and balanced to your precise needs, using adjustm
ent controls that are easy to operate and labelled clearly.
disassembly takeback, reuse cradle to cradle, collaboration
Ara: good design
@Orangebox_Ltd
do: more for less
collaboration, localisation, non-toxic, part reduction (25% less weight), material streamlining, lightweighting, disassembly, takeback, repair & reuse
@Orangebox_Ltd
do supply chain
a local supply chain has reduced manufacturing costs, allowed for closer working relationships with suppliers and has reduced environmental impacts through energy reduction at the transport stage (a direct saving on average of 20% on the cost of components = £280,000 saving)
@Orangebox_Ltd
do: responsible design
estimated that £750,000 will be saved annually on the do range alone as a direct result of the responsible design led approach employed as part of core business strategy.
@Orangebox_Ltd
do: some challenges
• true impact / costs • material innovation • ‘greenwash’ • collection infrastructure • new business models • over-consumption / rebound
image source: http://www.cpnd.org/
@Orangebox_Ltd
do: some challenges
• true impact / costs • material innovation • ‘greenwash’ • collection infrastructure • new business models • over-consumption / rebound
image source: http://www.cpnd.org/
@Orangebox_Ltd
case study: Welsh-based multinational
car audio systems Harman International
car components
source: WHO / BBC source: Harman speakers
neodymium
image sources: Harman & wiki
car speaker low carbon
image source: hybridcars.com
polluLon
true cost
image source: dailymail.co.uk
toxicity, health
true cost
source: wiki.umd.edu / getty images source: Chris Jordan
polluLon
true cost
source: mywindpowersystem.com
low carbon / high on criLcal materials
what next? what now?
be the change you want to see in the world Mahatma Gandhi
images: Apple products, miscell. sites, EDC logo
1988
1991
2013
2006 !
1995 rip it up & start again
rip it up & start again
1989 big change
2014 what now?
1999 big change
what is your why?
brand you?
make a real difference? or satisfy, nourish ego?
what one does is what counts. Not what one had the intenLon of doing Pablo Picasso
integrity – intenLon – capabiliLes – results • about journey as much as des6na6on
(unfixed) • how we behave, act, think … • empathy & trust
our responsibility is no longer to acquire, but to be Rabindranath Tagore
to be… We cannot just be by ourselves alone. We have to inter-‐be with every other thing Thich Nhat Hanh
you could … decide not to stay where you are find something you love, believe in, are passionate about take responsibility, lead don’t be afraid to fail learn from your mistakes understand your own role ensure you are contributing, relevant
and you could … clearly define your values set a clear vision, mission seek to understand, empathise, trust focus on building capacity ‘walk the talk’ share, give, help (abundance) keep it simple, do it now
and maybe not be a … simply a game player ego-designer (look at me .. / me, me, me ..) untruthful (wash)
do not accept ‘that’s the way it is’
do not accept ‘that’s the way it is’
“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” R. Buckminster Fuller
“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” R. Buckminster Fuller
don’t be afraid to ‘rip it up and start again’
a journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step. Lao Tzu
today is one step ………..
choose one thing to do now
thanks: Sonja & Georgia for suggesting I come along Paul for agreeing J all of you for being here J good luck – believe!
@frank_oconnor [email protected]