Materials Experience: Chapter 8. The “Material” Side of Design for Sustainability

by Carlo Vezzoli

The designer plays an important part in choosing and using materials, and in the perspective of environmental sustainability design choices should be aimed at materials causing the lowest environmental impact. This assumption, that seems almost a triviality, needs to be seen in a systemic it is mandatory to refer to the life cycle of the product and to its functional unit, in other terms choosing and using materials within a product Life Cycle Design approach. Furthermore such an approach could fit well in Product-Service System business models, capable of decoupling the economic and competitive interest for an increase in resources consumption and more in general an increase in environmental impact. Within this framework an introduction to the product Life Cycle Design is given at first, followed by the description of a material selection in such an approach, finally the conclusions, will frame material selection in system approach to design for sustainability..

26 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 24, 2013