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  frankjackdin@usa.net