In design, sustainability refers to an object’s ability to sustain itself over time. However, it is more challenging than it sounds. We must consider various issues, such as durability and ease of maintenance, while designing for sustainability.
Designing for Sustainability Principles
The design of an object or system can be evaluated using sustainable design principles. These principles help you design materials, products, and methods, which are economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable.
1. Form
Shape and form are the essential characteristics of an object. They also heavily impact its sustainability properties, such as strength, weight, and environmental impact. Materials such as wood, metal, and plastic come in various shapes, sizes and forms.
However, when developing a product’s layout, the designer should consider how the form will affect energy consumption and how the size will affect packing, transportation costs, and fuel emissions.
2. Function and Usability
In a roundabout way, how a product works and how easy it is to use contributes to its sustainability. This is because it helps people use the product more easily, in less time, and with less energy. People don’t want to keep things that are hard to use, and reusable products are a way to go for less waste and throwaways.
3. Cost-Effective Solutions
A sustainable product is always at par with the needs of the product’s users. It should also provide the same level of satisfaction for the users. The cost-effective nature of the product affects its sustainability as well. Sustainability is about designing cheaper products but also long-lasting ones.
Cost is one of the primary hurdles that stop many consumers from abandoning their reliance on non-sustainable items and switching to sustainable alternatives. Therefore, the designer and decision-makers are accountable for decreasing the price of sustainable items now on the market.
4. Resource Efficiency
Resources are used to make products frequently; therefore, efficient use is crucial to achieving long-term sustainability. The designer should employ technical and social design solutions to maximize efficiency.
5. Social
A product’s environmental and social responsibility must be considered when developing a sustainable design. This is why the design of products and the materials used to make them directly impact the people using them. Therefore, the designer should create designs that complement their users’ well-being and biological needs.
6. Renewable energy
An environmentally sustainable product uses renewable energy sources such as sunlight, wind, water waves, tides, gravity, etc. A product designed using renewable energy sources, such as solar panels, will be sustainable in the long run. Signs that a product is a sustainable include:
- Does not contribute substantially to climate change
- Does not require excessive amounts of energy for production
- Is recyclable or compostable for end-of-life
- Does not release harmful chemicals or pollutants
- Does not produce solid waste or toxic byproducts
- Does not contribute to a decline in biodiversity
- Does not endanger any eco-systems or wildlife habitat
- Does not introduce invasive species
7. Biomimicry
In the field of biomimicry, people look for answers to technological issues by finding solutions that are already present in nature. To develop human technologies and designs that are more sustainable and healthier, the idea encourages learning from and then imitating the natural forms, processes, and ecosystems as much as possible.
8. Inclusive Design
Inclusive design strives to improve the functioning of an environment, product, or service so that it may be accessed and utilized by as many people as possible, regardless of age, gender, or degree of ability.
Products that cater to the needs of people with disabilities have multiple short- and long-term benefits – for not only those individuals but also their families and communities. This accessibility and inclusiveness in design is extremely important for people with disabilities.
The Role of Design in Sustainability
One of the designer’s responsibilities is to develop creative goods or services that address challenges. Given the critical problems our planet faces due to the irresponsible consumption of natural resources, designers play a crucial role in providing solutions to this problem and replacing obsolete products with innovative and sustainable alternatives that ensure lower resource consumption and less waste.
A comprehensive view of design inside an organization or business may uncover latent skills for considering sustainable solutions that can replace outdated ones in current innovations or inspire the creation of new products throughout the new product development (NPD) process.
Designer involvement spans the whole product life cycle, from initial concept through post-launch assessment and analysis of user input. Sustainability is carefully examined at all stages of the
Here is when something called a product roadmap comes into play. Roadmaps may serve as a single source of truth and an effective planning tool to ensure that the vision, direction, priorities, and progress associated with product design and development are all properly aligned. In addition, roadmaps can be a source of communication inside and across different business units, improving openness and clarity while simultaneously managing expectations at all levels.
Vision: what does a product or service’s future look like, and how will it help meet sustainability goals?
Strategy: What actions, resources, and milestones are necessary to implement the vision?
Goal: How long will it take, and what are the benchmarks and measures of success?
By including these factors in a digital roadmap, firms may find synergies and temporal inconsistencies in strategic planning. This agile innovation ecosystem will assist companies in the making better, more informed choices that will benefit their aims and a more sustainable, egalitarian, and prosperous future.
Here are more sustainability tips and guides: How to Achieve Economic Sustainability, How to Build a Sustainable Future, Sustainability and Transformation Plans
Author’s Note
Designers have an essential role to play in reducing our environmental impact. They can create more sustainable products, build awareness about environmental issues, and encourage people to reduce their carbon footprints. However, designers need help to solve all the environmental challenges. This takes collaboration between designers, manufacturers, and consumers.
Furthermore, designers need help to design sustainable products; instead, they rely on input from engineers, manufacturers, and consumers. Still, they play a crucial role in changing consumer habits and developing products that help make sustainability a more accessible lifestyle choice. Though designers can’t solve all the environmental challenges alone, they can help bring about the changes needed to transform industries and become a sustainable society.
