unido ceu slides ecodesign centre-foc_3_july2013

guest lecture / workshop on ecodesign at the Green Industry Summer Course organised by Central European University, in partnership with UNIDO

July 2013

ecodesign Dr Frank O’Connor Director @ecodesigncentre @frank_oconnor

!

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

so what happened between 1976 and 2013?

source: http://www.realcycle.co.uk

we continue to live in a throwaway society. ………… yet there is still no ‘away’.

image source: ads-ngo.com

source: Edwin Datschefski & United NaFons University

… and now 98% of products are thrown away within 6 months.

we conFnue to over consume.

… If everyone in the world were to consume natural resources and generate carbon dioxide (CO2) at the rate we do in the UK, we‘d need three planets to support us. source: WWF UK, DEFRA

three planet living

factor ‘X’?

Image source: Banksy

we see even more of a disconnect between people ….. and between planet and people.

.. and true costs conFnue not to be accounted for.

car components

source: WHO / BBC source: Harman speakers

neodymium

image sources: Harman & wiki

car speaker low carbon

image source: hybridcars.com

polluFon

true cost

image source: dailymail.co.uk

toxicity, health

true cost

source: wiki.umd.edu / getty images source: Chris Jordan

polluFon

true cost

source: mywindpowersystem.com

low carbon / high on criFcal materials

good design.

how do we know its good?

good design is:

innovative useful aesthetic understandable unobtrusive Dieter Rams (from the ’70s)

honest long-lasting thorough environmentally friendly as little design as possible

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

source: miscell. web sites

iPo^y

real need?

banana guard

can design be good?

if it does not consider the key environmental and social impacts along the life cycle?

we conFnue to experience a collecFve 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.

every design choice has a consequence

image source: Chris Jordan

80% of impacts are determined at design stage

“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

designers interact between industry, users and other actors

industry

consumers

design

designers can influence how people consume, use, behave … live.

industry

consumers

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

emerging economies

1 billion of these people are living in slums, squats & unofficial settlements

source: UNHABITAT

NO MAGIC MATERIALS

source: http://readwrite.com/

‘things’ are hopelessly over-rated John Thackara (Social Innovation Expert) @johnthackara http://doorsofperception.com

social crimes

!

air pollu6on kills 3 million people each year, mostly in poor countries

source: WHO / BBC

responsibility

polluFon

responsibility

polluFon

between 100 and 1000 species become ex6nct each year, because their habitats are changing or being destroyed.

source: UK Government

responsibility

degradaFon

Image www.castlereagh.gov.uk

responsibility

so much waste

over 1 billion people do not have access to clean drinking water

source: UNDP

responsibility

access to water

80% of all disease in developing countries is caused by consump6on of contaminated water

source: WHO

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

responsibility

health

illustraFon: Nathan Halle^

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 Dr. Emma Dewberry to the Ecodesign Centre & partners in 2008

wisdom knowledge through practice over time

foo

lishn

ess

source: from a presentation by Dr. Emma Dewberry to the Ecodesign Centre & partners in 2008

‘commandments of industrialised society’

1)  create more desire (perceived needs) 2)  thou shalt consume (= good life) culture of consumpFon -‐ devaluing of culture

source: Henry 1949 cited in Jones 1987

we ALL have to change

us business education

policy

design

the single biggest problem in communicaFon is the illusion that it has taken place. George Bernard Shaw

image source: flickr.com

source: Nathan HalleP

images: Apple products, Harman, miscell. sites

1988

1993

2013

2009

2006 !

refle

cFon

s on my journe

y

our mission is to make ecodesign happen

through collaboration along the life cycle

eco-strategies: ecodesign is an approach to designing products and services that aims to reduce environmental impacts over the full life cycle. eco-innovation is an approach to innovation that leads to a reduction in environmental impacts through targeted technological, organisational or institutional mechanisms.

source: EU Eco-‐innova6on Ac6on Plan website: hPp://ec.europa.eu/environment/ecoap/index_en.htm

ecodesign thinking considers the materials, processes & pracFces of a organisaFon. It can idenFfy layers of waste but also layers of value

effecFve ecodesign thinking is open, process-‐oriented, mulFdisciplinary and cross-‐funcFonal, involving ‘people’ as well as ‘stuff’

it’s a way of thinking and doing to saFsfy real societal needs in a responsible way

recent Ecodesign Centre briefings & outputs

•  Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) •  Critical Materials (CRM) •  survey of European Design Centres •  Eco-innovation

•  baseline study on resource hungry products Visit: http://www.edcw.org/en/resources

snapshot of current collaborative work in Europe

@LCAtogo

Bio-based plastics

PhotoVoltaics

Electronics PCBs Semi-conductors

Smart Textiles

Industrial Machines Sensors

@cycLEDeer

designing an eco-innovation framework for SMEs and larger businesses (project focuses on LEDs)

@cycLEDeer

shifting the innovation spectrum: incremental/technological - radical/systems

source: OECD eco-‐innova6on framework hPp://www.oecd.org/s6/ind/greengrowthandeco-‐ innova6on.htm

collaborative eco-innovation

design

manufacture

materials

use reuse assembly

refining

recycling

collection

ww.braun-‐ligh6ng.com www.ona.es

www.riva.sc

www.etapligh6ng.com

Service model

Servicability

service-life

production /consumption

demonstrating eco-innovation

a way forward

image: Jesse Stewart / www.areaofdesign.com

managing resources requires a deeper system understanding

managing resources requires a whole new way of doing business & governance

responsible business require shifting our mindset from ‘supply chains’ to ‘supply circles’

source: Nathan Hallett

every product tells a story J

"Sonicare Elite 7000“ produced at 11 locations and in five time zones, comprised of 38 components, parts supplied by Japan, France, China and Malaysia, materials and production in Austria, Sweden, assembly in Philippines and United States, when fully assembled and packaged in Seattle the components have travelled a full 27,880 kilometres, two thirds of the Earth's circumference.

source: SPIEGEL Magazine

source: Warwick Business School published in The Guardian, 26th June 2013

image source: Fuse / GePy

life cycle / systems thinking

circular economy

extract from a paper on materialism by

Alwyn Jones, 1987

this type of thinking is not new!

source: adapted from Danish Design Council

ecodesign

common ecodesign strategies / approaches / tools

design for…. full life cycles life cycles, nutrient cycles, material selection, cradle to cradle

image source: mc donagh / braungart

design for…. fair & just production health and safety, employees

rights, unions, forced labour, child

labour, discrimination,

source: martin charter / CFSD

…...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

invesFgate the internal and external drivers for packaging, product or service (re)design. these drivers could include legislaFon, customers, new technology, compeFFon.

assess the environmental impacts of the packaging and product. map the life cycle so you understand where these impacts occur. idenFfy where materials and energy is used and where waste is produced.

select ecodesign strategies that will allow designers to tackle the main environmental impacts. explore the compromises and trade-‐offs. involve others from markeFng, sales, producFon, purchasing.

develop a clear brand and markeFng strategy to reflect and communicate the environmental improvements. consider how the packaging will impact upon the brand.

rethink assess communicate design

1. 2. 3. 4.

ecodesign tools qualitative quantitative

ana

lysi

s/st

rate

gy

de

taile

d d

esi

gn

/ la

unc

h

stakeholder assessment

rules of thumb

market

analysis

ECO-Indicator

applied

ethnography

material

selection

benchmarking

carbon

footprint Life Cycle

Assessment

checklists /

LiDS Wheel

MET Matrix

guidelines /

standards

Life Cycle

Costing

strategy

tools

driver

analysis

design for…. low impact materials recycled, recyclable, bio materials, compatibility, compostable,

renewable, sustainable

image source: inhabitat, Worn Again, Moscardino, Remarkable, Sony

design for…. eco-packaging natural, returnable, reusable, multifunction, biodegradable

design for…. renewable power human powered, solar, wind, bio, re-chargeable

image source: Philips, Freeplay, Solio

image source: Panasonic

design for…. disassembly recycling, servicing, end-of-

life, upgrade, lean

manufacturing, cleaner

production, down-cycling,

material segregation,

design for…. durability longevity, durability, desire

image source: dualit, kitchenaid

design for…. product systems returnable, remanufacture,

re-use, closed-loop, end-of-life,

product-service-system

image source: RSA

a marketable set of products and services capable of fulfilling a user’s need (Goedkoop et al.)

product service systems

… also known as a funcFon oriented business model (e.g. Xerox)


hire lease / service

consumer goods

cooperaFve

full ownership

shared

(adapted from Cooper et al.)

individual

no ownership responsible business models


source: ser_is_snarkish


source: London Bus Museum

source: design21, Lifestraw

lifestraw

source: Droog, Tejo Remy

@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: ecodesign = good design

@Orangebox_Ltd

do: more for less

part reduction (25% less weight), disassembly, dematerialisation & material streamlining

@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 ecodesign led approach employed as part of core business strategy.

@Orangebox_Ltd

@Orangebox_Ltd

product design

the ‘environment’: •  true cost •  consumption •  business model •  infrastructure •  education •  procurement •  people •  LCA, etc. image source:

http://www.cpnd.org/

good design consideraFons considera6on of full life cycle / system / true cost no shi[ between stages of life cycle / LCA design for transformaFve use cycles design for new models of business & un-‐ownership

1

ecodesign criteria long-‐life non-‐toxic localise renewable energy

2

good business consideraFons adaptable supply circles instead of chains transparency, honesty & openness (traceability) true collabora6on through empathy & extending trust framework to build capacity & competencies

3

innovaFon 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

4

do not accept ‘that’s the way it is’

generic first steps 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

generic first steps clearly define your values set a clear vision, mission seek to understand, empathise, trust focus on building capacity ‘walk the talk’ keep it simple, do it now

do not accept ‘that’s the way it is’

a world where responsible design & business is the norm

designed, made, remade ….

passport source: Habufa

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

a journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step. Lao Tzu

!

today is one step ……….. good luck!

!

support reading - personal viewpoint Can design be good? http://www.thepeoplesdesignlab.org.uk/can-design-be-good/ Why we cannot accept bad design http://www.edcw.org/en/why-we-cannot-accept-bad-design Being design http://hiatusbookblog.wordpress.com/2013/02/22/frank-oconnor-eng/

thanks: @WelshGovernment @UNIDO @ceuHungary @ecodesigncentre colleagues & you.

ecodesigncentre.org @LCAtogo @cycLEDeer @frank_oconnor

sample activities to undertake

!

consider why disposal is such a large part of many product stories. and why we choose to purchase these products.

!

consider what products lend themselves to product service systems?

!

choose a product to ecodesign? explain your choice (of product) and approach (i.e. key strategies).

!

choose an item of clothing and map out its story / life cycle? how would you re-‐ecodesign? explain your decision making.

!

what is the one thing you would do to make ecodesign happen?

!

what is the one thing you would do to make responsible business happen?

!

consider the role of: § government? § industry? § educaFon?

in an world where responsible design & business is the norm.

!

choose a product sketch circle(s) of use include key stages identify key actors select a life cycle strategy consider role of: government, business, education and design

!

unido ceu slides ecodesign centre-foc_3_july2013

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