Design for Environmental Sustainability

by Carlo Vezzoli, Ezio Manzini

This volume is a technical and operative contribution to the United Nations "Decade on Education for Sustainable Development" (2005-2014), aiding the development of a new generation of designers, responsible and able in the task of designing environmentally sustainable products. The book provides a comprehensive framework and a practical tool to support the design process. This is an important text for those interested in the product development processes.

Genres: Design

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Yoo-Yoo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chapters full of guidelines and case studies on how to do *product design* for environmental sustainability. While there are tons of books on architectural/building sustainability (LEED certification helped push that along), there aren't as many focused on design of everyday products that we buy and junk. This book adopts a holistic framework, reviewing how the whole product cycle from production to disposal must be taken into account. Most of its guidelines have aged well - design for longevity, repair, and recyclability are still our best methods today. Looking forward to trying them out on a work project soon.

Some parts can be a bit dry to read - skim over to the case studies and guidelines and enjoy!

Interesting to relive the advances in technology have occurred since 2008, when this book was published -- hybrid cars are now ubiquitous, solar carports are now pretty common.
Unfortunate to note most product design today still doesn't take into account product disposal, and most electronics still end up as e-waste in landfill.

[JUAN CARLOS VILLASEÑOR · Rating 5 out of 5]

Las directivas mencionadas son muy útiles, y generalmente ignoradas . Fabricar productos más duraderos y reparables o reutilizables nos llevarán a consumir menos sin reducir nuestro nivel de vida. La propuesta para la sustentabilidad desde la perspectiva de necesitar consumir menos sin reducir el nivel de vida es complicada, pero puede llevarse a cabo desde estas directivas. De cualquier forma parece que no hay muchas alternativas. Le conocía circular no es una opción, creo que no hay alternativa.