2.5 Green Design

2.5

Green Design

Essential Idea: Green design integrates environmental considerations into the design of a product without compromising its integrity, and reducing its environmental impact

Green design refers to the development of products to have a reduced impact on the environment, without causing irreversible damage to ecosystem health. The difference between “green” and “sustainable” is essentially that “sustainable” refers to the social and economic benefits whilst protecting the public health, wealthfare, and environment. 

Design Objectives for Green Products

Materials

• Environmentally friendly packaging
• Minimizing the number of different materials used in a product
• Labelling the materials for recycling
• 
  

Energy 

• Reducing the amount of energy used 
• Increasing the efficiency
• Reducing the embodied energy and the potential impact

Pollution and Waste

• Minimizing long term pollution and waste 
• Analyzing and minimizing potential safety hazards - where will it end up?
• Reducing long term harm eg. waste
• Reducing environmental damage or pollution from the materials selected
• Reducing or negating noise or smell pollution 

Product life cycle, Life Cycle Analysis, Life Cycle/Environmental impact matrix

Green legislation

Timescale to implement green design

Drivers for Green Design (Consumer Pressure and Legislation)

Consumer Pressure: Collections of individuals who hold a similar viewpoint on a particular topic, for example the environment, who take action to promote positive change to meet their goals.

• Public have become more aware of environmental issues through media focus; thus consumers can make the choice of more sustainable products
• This public awareness has put pressure on corporations through voting and purchasing power
• Consumers will also seek energy efficient products

Legislation: Environmental legislation has encouraged the design of greener products that tackle specific environmental issues, for example, eliminating the use of certain materials or energy efficiency – it can be incremental, making it easier to apply 

• Environmental legislation has encouraged the design of greener products that tackle specific environmental issues, for example, eliminating the use of certain materials or energy efficiency
• Can lead to financial penalties as a deterrent from unsustainable methods of production to the materials used

Examples:

• Government legislation requiring the declaration of plastic types for recycling
• Ban on CFCs (harmful greenhouse gasses) 
• Ban on using styrofoam containers
• Green/High-Performance Building Legislation in the States

“The Designer’s Role”

The environmental impact of the production, use, and disposal of a product can be modified by the designer through careful consideration at the design stage. Designers have the choice of materials, processes, amongst others, to encourage sustainable design. 

Design Objectives for Green Products

Again, the design objectives for green products relate to three essential broad environmental categories: materials, energy, and pollution/waste.

As such, the objectives include:

• Increasing efficiency in the use of materials, energy, and other resources
• Minimizing the damage or pollution from the chosen materials
• Reducing to a minimum any long term harm
• Taking into full account the effects of the end disposal of the product
• Minimizing community nuisances / negative impacts
• Labelling products to be identifiable for recycling 
• Minimizing the number of different materials used in a product

Example in green building:

Strategies for Designing Green Products

Incremental Innovation  is referred to product improvement over time leading to new versions and generations as a result of small changes applied to the product. It may include changes to the materials (to recyclable), material optimization, manufacturing techniques, and designing for disassembly (end-of-pipe).

Radical Innovation  is when a new product is devised by going back to the roots of a problem and thinking about the solution in a different way, creating an entirely new product design or idea. Some examples include an overhaul of the manufacturing process to using radical clean technology systems. A high level of uncertainty is associated with radical innovation projects, especially at early stages. 

Extension on strategies:

Consider the following;

• Raw materials used
• Packaging
• Reducing the incorporation of toxic materials or VoCs
• End-of-life disposal issues
• Production methods

The Prevention Principle

The prevention principle is defined to be the avoidance or minimization of producing waste in relation to the production, use, and disposal of a product. This means that the actions must be taken before damage occurs.

The Precautionary Principle

The precautionary principle is defined to be the anticipation of a potential problem or problems in relation to the environmental impact of the production, use, and disposal of a product.