Sustainable Design: Beyond the Innovation-Driven Business Model
By Hartmut Esslinger
IEEE Engineering Management Review, Vol. 41, No. 2, Second Quarter, June 2013
This article considers what the role for design engineers might play in ‘greening’ industry. Although I’m not sure I buy all the dire predictions about how quickly things will get in the immediate, yet I’m also all for being wise stewards of our planet. I hear all the messaging about scientific prediction and am reminded that it is just that, prediction. Such predictions are based on modeling using available data, and making probabilistic assumptions.
That said, I’m with Esslinger on part of the approach he espouses. “Designers have a unique opportunity to drive the development of sustainable products by virtue of our role in the early stages of the product lifecycle process.” Esslinger assumes “some radical change” is required, but also advocates “evolving our industrial processes” by taking advantage of opportunities to “apply technologies, or products, or practices that are currently available, or can be easily adapted from existing models or practices.” The more evolutionary portion of his proposal seems more realistic. Radical change can easily bring unintended consequences, making some things better, and other things worse.
By Hartmut Esslinger
IEEE Engineering Management Review, Vol. 41, No. 2, Second Quarter, June 2013
This article considers what the role for design engineers might play in ‘greening’ industry. Although I’m not sure I buy all the dire predictions about how quickly things will get in the immediate, yet I’m also all for being wise stewards of our planet. I hear all the messaging about scientific prediction and am reminded that it is just that, prediction. Such predictions are based on modeling using available data, and making probabilistic assumptions.
That said, I’m with Esslinger on part of the approach he espouses. “Designers have a unique opportunity to drive the development of sustainable products by virtue of our role in the early stages of the product lifecycle process.” Esslinger assumes “some radical change” is required, but also advocates “evolving our industrial processes” by taking advantage of opportunities to “apply technologies, or products, or practices that are currently available, or can be easily adapted from existing models or practices.” The more evolutionary portion of his proposal seems more realistic. Radical change can easily bring unintended consequences, making some things better, and other things worse.
| sustainable_design.pdf |
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