The future of sustainable design: it's in the design

by Jennifer Tolo

In the future, designers will do more multi-level, cross-industry collaboration, to insure that their designs will lend themselves to a complete sustainable lifestyle. Vendors will be tied into the design process, to insure that the most earth-friendly practices are in place from beginning to end.

Education will continue to be a very large part of design, whether educating clients about the purpose of design and the accompanying process, or designers continuing to push the envelope with new, different, future-friendly resources and materials. They can pass these along to their clients, and, incorporated with their designs, can inspire their clients to continue to live sustainable lives.

This is where the design skills come into play. To convince clients that they should spend the extra money on sustainable resources for their annual report, or catalog, or corporate brochure for the good of the earth, we, as designers, will have to show them how good design can be using these earth-saving resources. Once we establish this ethic in the industry, and the world starts to see how, in the long run, these practices can be very cost-effective, (examples, examples) the higher initial cost will no longer be a consideration, and sustainable design will become the rule, not the exception. The transition has already begun.

Make it hip, and they will follow...

Jennifer Tolo is a Senior Designer at Chen Design Associates.

The future of sustainable design: it's in the infrastructure

by Martin Charter

The future of sustainable design lies within an update in current business concepts. Setting the right framework to stimulate sustainable innovation. A smarter use of demand and supply-side government policy tools (Integrated Product Policy [IPP], for example) that set stricter penalties for poor performance and more importantly provides positive incentives for good performance will start to create more opportunities for sustainable innovation. For example, 'producer responsibility' laws in Europe and Japan may provide a platform for a series of new sustainable business concepts in business-to-business markets. There also appear to be demand-side opportunities emerging for sustainable technologies, products and services in business-to-government markets in a range of countries. The implementation of the Green Purchasing Law in 2001 is one example. Japan has effectively created a green market in certain categories of public procurement which in turn has acted as stimulus to sustainable innovation by companies on the supply-side.

The United Nations Environment Programme's 10 year plan on Sustainable Production and Consumption (SPC) provides opportunities to foster sustainable innovation. However, it appears that many sustainable innovations, technologies, products and services come from the supply-side. In the future, we will do more to create appropriate demand-side signals to encourage the buying of these technologies, products and services through sustainable public procurement initiatives that stimulate more market-focused sustainable innovation, as well as how you create new green markets. Lessons need to be learned form the Japanese Green Purchasing Law and the Green Purchasing Network, which has over 2800 members. In addition, marketing will play a large role in fostering sustainable innovation in the future -- the profession has a pivotal position at the interface of production and consumption issues. However, as yet, they are not involved or engaged in the SPC or sustainable innovation debate (www.cfsd.org.uk/smart-know-net).

In a practical sense sustainable innovation is a new concept and there is a lack of a clear definition. However, it can be argued that sustainable innovation has four tiers:

• Tier 1: Products, services and technologies
• Tier 2: Process
• Tier 3: Organization
• Tier 4: Business

Once we bring these people together, better mechanisms to stimulate sustainable innovation early in the process or cycle need to be developed: at the creativity stage of product development (usually within a company) and early in innovation and technology cycles (usually within government). There is a need for more work on how to nurture the process of sustainable innovation: within large and medium-sized companies; between large and medium-sized companies; within entrepreneurial 'start ups'; between entrepreneurial 'start ups'; within governments; and between governments. It's all about communication.

So through better communication between individuals, companies, and governments, combined with a gentle push from regulations, sustainable design will not be a part of the future: it will be the future.

Martin Charter is the Director and Visiting Professor of Sustainable Product Design at The Centre for Sustainable Design at the Surrey Institute of Art & Design, University College. Martin has an MBA from Aston Business School in the UK, and has interests in sustainable product design, green(er) marketing and creativity & innovation.