A keynote by Frank (Ecodesign Centre) on good design given at the "iSustain Symposium. ‘Does it pay to be green?" organised by the Institute of Sustainable Design (ISD)

2. Good
design
makes
sense:
Full
stop.
@frank_oconnor
Director
@ecodesigncentre
iSustain
Symposium
2013
June
2013

3. “… 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

4. “… 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

5. so what happened
between 1976 and 2013?

6. image source:
www.castlereagh.gov.uk
…we
conCnue
to
live
in
a
throwaway
society.
..
yet
there
is
sCll
no
away!

7. image source: ads-ngo.com
source:
Edwin
Datschefski
&
United
NaCons
University
…
and
now
98%
of
products
are
thrown
away
within
6
months!

8.
we
conCnue
to
over
consume.

9. Image
source:
Banksy
we
see
even
more
of
a
disconnect
between
people
…..
and
between
planet
and
people.
..
and
true
costs
are
not
being
accounted
for!

10. neodymium
image sources: Harman & wiki
car
speaker

11. image source: hybridcars.com
polluCon
true
cost

12. image source: dailymail.co.uk
toxicity,
health
true
cost

13. source: wiki.umd.edu / getty images source: Chris Jordan
polluCon
true
cost

14. good design.
how do we know its good?

15. good design is:
innovative
useful
aesthetic
understandable
unobtrusive
Dieter Rams (from the ’70s)
honest
long-lasting
thorough
environmentally friendly
as little design as possible

16. 606 Universal Shelving System
Designed by Dieter Rams in 1960 and made by
Vitsœ ever since

17. source: design21, Lifestraw
lifestraw

18. source: miscell. web sites
iPoSy
real need?
banana
guard

19. can design be good?
if it does not consider the key
environmental and social impacts
along the life cycle?

20. can design be good?
if it does not consider the key
environmental and social impacts
along the life cycle?
bad design
is a social crime

21. we
conCnue
to
experience
a
collecCve
unconscious
behaviour
…..
with
catastrophic
unintended
consequences.
good design is a
behaviour.

22. every design choice has
a consequence
image
source:
Chris
Jordan
80% of impacts
are determined
at design stage

23. design businesseducation
policy
design

24. image
source:
Fuse
/
Ge8y
good design requires life
cycle / systems thinking

25. designers interact
between industry, users
and other actors
industry
consumers
design

26. designers can influence
how people consume,
use, behave …
industry
consumers
design

27. population growth
source: engine group and UNFPA
source: engine group and UK statistics
ageing population
a move to cities
inclusive
resource scarcity
knowledge
emerging economies

28. we
ALL
have
to
change
!

29. our mission is to make ecodesign happen
through collaboration along the life cycle

30. snapshot of current collaborative work in Europe

31. the
single
biggest
problem
in
communicaCon
is
the
illusion
that
it
has
taken
place.
George
Bernard
Shaw
image source: flickr.com

32. images:
Apple
products,
Harman,
miscell.
sites
1988
1993
2013
2009

33. way
forward?

34. image: Jesse Stewart /
www.areaofdesign.com

35. NO
MAGIC MATERIALS

36. Cradle to Cradle
“remake the way we
make things” thinking about the materials we use, how
our products are designed and assembled, and their cycles
of use with our customers.
No matter how good your products are, there comes a time
when their first useful life comes to an end. In considering
product life cycles Cradle to Cradle asks us to re-think the
commonplace approach of “take, make & waste” and this
prompted us to act.
During the early stages of the design of Ara we established a
relationship 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 use
in our products but our aim in working with EPEA is to ensure
that 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 inhibit
this aim and need to be substituted or remove as a result.
Cradle to Cradle is an approach to design which looks to make
us truly environmentally effective, by developing products for
closed loop systems in which all the materials used are safe and
beneficial - either to biodegrade naturally or to be fully recycled
into 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 once
you’ve finished with them. It’s pretty simple, all you need to do
is visit our website at www.orangebox.com/endoflife.htm
Returning your ARA at ‘End of Life’
Armsupportthat’sthereonlywhenyouneedit.
Ourgoalwastodesignanewarmpadthatwasmorecomforta
thanever,usingmaterialsthatcouldbesegregatedeasilyandrecyc
moreeffectively.ThetraditionalPUisreplacedbyaflexiblepolym
withaseparateinsertmadefromrecycledfoam.Theresultis
armrestthat’srobust,easytouseandprobablythemostcomforta
we’veevermade.
Dosomethingreallysimple;makethechairbase100%
recyclable.
Notthemostcomplicatedpartonataskchair,granted,butweas
ourselvesthequestion-somelookmuchbetterthanothersbut
plasticchairbasesareprettymuchthesame,aren’tthey?Wellin
sensetheyare,andwithveryfewexceptionstheyallhaveam
collarmouldedintotheplastictostopthegasliftcreepingthroug
thebase.Greatfornotdraggingyourchairacrossthecarpetbut
notsogreatwhenyoucometorecycleit,asthecollarcanbever
difficulttoremove.
Smartdesignandcarefulmaterialselectionhasenabledustocre
abasewithoutacollarinsert.Asimplepointbutunlikealmost
otherplasticbasesoursis100%recyclable.Andrestassuredwe
testeditlikemad.
Weknowthatpeoplecomeinallshapesandsizes.That’swhy
smartengineeringinsidethemechanismmeanstheridecanbe
tunedandbalancedtoyourpreciseneeds,usingadjustment
controlsthatareeasytooperateandlabelledclearly.
disassembly
takeback, reuse
cradle to cradle
ecodesign
is
good
design

39. hire
lease
/
service
consumer
goods
cooperaCve
full
ownership
shared
(adapted from Cooper et al.)
individual
no
ownership
responsible
business
models

40. product
service
systems

41. source: ser_is_snarkish
product
service
systems

42. product
ecodesign
the ‘environment’:
• true cost
• consumption
• business model
• infrastructure
• people
• LCA, etc.
image source:
http://www.cpnd.org/

43. good
design
consideraCons
consideraCon
of
full
life
cycle
/
system
/
true
cost
consideraCon
of
all
key
issues
/
LCA
no
shiG
between
stages
of
life
cycle
/
LCA
design
for
transformaCve
use
cycles
design
for
new
models
of
business
&
un-­‐ownership
1

44. ecodesign
criteria
long-­‐life
non-­‐toxic
localise
renewable
energy
2

45. innovaCon
through
mindset
changes
–
think
…
‘resource’
instead
of
‘waste’
‘need’,
‘use’
instead
of
‘consume’
how
to
transform
‘stuff’
&
not
destroy
wider
life
cycle
/
‘circular
economy’
team
3

46. do
not
accept
‘that’s
the
way
it
is’

47. a
world
where
eco/good
design
is
the
norm

48. designed,
made,
remade.
zero
waste.
only
resource
passport source: Habufa

49. to believe in something,
and not to live it,
is dishonest.
Mahatma Gandhi

50. thanks:
@ISD_Wales
&
Waste
Strategy
Branch
@WelshGovernment
Ecodesign
Centre
colleagues
&
you.
good
luck!
ecodesigncentre.org
@ecodesigncentre
@frank_oconnor