PRINCIPLES OF SUSTAINABLE DESIGN

Principles of Sustainable Design

The next question for us to explore is how the meanings of sustainability extend into technical
spheres, specifically engineering, design, and technology development.

The term design is normally referred to the "way of doing things or making things" in various areas
of human activity. Design is always driven by a specific objective, such as making the product or
system most efficient, or most profitable, or most aesthetically impressive, etc. Such objectives
can be drastically polar and to reach them, designing phase may require change of thinking and
high level of creativity. So, what is sustainable design?

This concept was largely advocated by William McDonough, an American designer, architect,
author, and thought leader, who espouses a message that we can design materials, systems,
companies, products, buildings, and communities that can continuously improve over time.

"If design is the first signal of human intention, our intention today can be to love all ten billion
people who will live on our planet by 2050. We can do this. If we imagine and embrace our cities
as part of the same organism as the countryside, the rivers and the oceans, then we can celebrate
ourselves, all species and the natural systems we support and that support us. This is our design
assignment. If we are principled and have positive goals, we can rise to this occasion. It will take
us all; it will take forever, that is the point." (McDonough, 1992)

McDonough crafted sustainable design principles for Expo 2000, The World’s Fair, which became
known as “The Hannover Principles: Design for Sustainability”.

THE HANNOVER PRINCIPLES [McDonough, 1992]

1. "Insist on rights of humanity and nature to coexist in a healthy, supportive, diverse and
sustainable condition.
2. Recognize interdependence. The elements of human design interact with and depend
upon the natural world, with broad and diverse implications at every scale. Expand design
considerations to recognizing even distant effects.
3. Respect relationships between spirit and matter. Consider all aspects of human
settlement including community, dwelling, industry and trade in terms of existing and
evolving connections between spiritual and material consciousness.
4. Accept responsibility for the consequences of design decisions upon human well-being,
the viability of natural systems and their right to coexist.
5. Create safe objects of long-term value. Do not burden future generations with
requirements for maintenance or vigilant administration of potential danger due to the
careless creation of products, processes or standards.
 6. Eliminate the concept of waste. Evaluate and optimize the full lifecycle of products and
processes, to approach the state of natural systems, in which there is no waste.
7. Rely on natural energy flows. Human designs should, like the living world, derive their
creative forces from perpetual solar income. Incorporate this energy efficiently and safely
for responsible use.
8. Understand the limitations of design. No human creation lasts forever and design does
not solve all problems. Those who create and plan should practice humility in the face of
nature. Treat nature as a model and mentor, not as an inconvenience to be evaded or
controlled.
9. Seek constant improvement by the sharing of knowledge. Encourage direct and open
communication between colleagues, patrons, manufacturers and users to link long term
sustainable considerations with ethical responsibility, and reestablish the integral
relationship between natural processes and human activity."

The Principles of Sustainable Design according to Jason F. McLennan, “The

Philosophy of Sustainable Design”, 2004
Principle 1

Respect for the Wisdom of Natural Systems-The Biomimicry Principle

Respect for the wisdom of natural systems is centered on the idea that we should use nature as a
mentor and model for all of our designs. In fact, the source of all of our innovations can be traced
back to nature itself. Where technologies have been misapplied, they are usually examples of
forgetting the lessons inherent all around us. In order to return to a path of true sustainability our
communities and built environment need to emulate natural systems.

Principle 2

Respect for People-The Human Vitality Principle

Sustainable design endeavors to create the healthiest, most nourishing places possible for people
without diminishing the ability of nature to provide nourishing places for the rest of creation and
for our own species in the future. Respect for people reminds us that sustainable design is about
creating healthy habitats-for us and the rest of creation.

Principle 3

Respect for Place-The Ecosystem/Bioregion Principle

Sustainable design is built on the idea of regionalism. It honors the differences that exist between
places, both on the macro level, with climate regions, and on the micro level, with topographical
and biological differences. The philosophy of sustainable design rejects the notion that our
buildings should look the same and be built the same in any region regardless of whether we have
the technological know-how and resources to do so. Indeed, it demands that our buildings respond
to place in fundamental ways-from the level of the site to that of climate and bioregion.

Principle 4

Respect for the Cycle of Life-The "Seven Generations" Principle

In nature, all waste products are useful to other organisms as food. Respecting the Cycle of Life
involves eliminating things wherever possible that are toxic to people and the environment so that
the environment is safe "to all people, for all time" 1 Following this principle also means that there
should be an appropriate fit between the life expectancy of an object and its use, be it an appliance
or a whole building.

Principle 5

Respect for Energy and Natural Resources-The Conservation and Renewable

Resources Principle Simply put, we live in a finite world but treat our resources like they are
infinite. This principle starts out by recognizing that all of our natural resources have intrinsic and
foundational value in their natural state. It is a principle that recognizes that our whole industrial
economy is but a mere subset of the natural economy and that we have a responsibility to use as
little of any resource as is necessary for a given job.

Principle 6

Respect for Process-The Holistic Thinking Principal

It is not possible to build for a sustainable future using the same design and construction processes
that have created the environmental burdens in the first place. Its major message can be summed
up by a single sentence; if we want to change a result, we must first change the process that led to
the result.
------- --------------- --------------- --------------- ----------------

It (Sustainable Design) is a philosophy that can be applied in the fields of architecture, landscape
architecture, urban design, urban planning, engineering, graphic design, industrial design, interior
design, fashion design, human-computer interaction, and many other areas depending on modern
technologies.

In the consideration of the above principles, a strong emphasis is put on #6 [waste elimination],
since it perhaps has the most profound impact on environment and human health as well as contains
possible solutions for smart use and reuse of limited natural resources. A good waste prevention
strategy would require that everything brought into a facility or process be recycled for reuse or
recycled back into the environment through biodegradation. This would mean a greater reliance
on natural materials or products that are compatible with the environment. Any resource-related
development is going to have two basic sources of solid waste — materials purchased and used by
the facility and those brought into the facility by visitors. The following are some waste prevention
strategies that apply to both, although different approaches will be needed for implementation:

 Low-impact materials: Choose non-toxic, sustainably produced or recycled materials

which require little energy to process.
 Energy efficiency: Use manufacturing processes and produce products which require less
energy.
 Emotionally Durable Design: Reduce consumption and waste of resources by increasing
the durability of relationships between people and products, through design.
 Design for reuse and recycling: "Products, processes, and systems should be designed for
performance in a commercial 'afterlife'."
 Biomimicry: "redesigning industrial systems on biological lines ... enabling the constant
reuse of materials in continuous closed cycles..."
 Service substitution: Shift the mode of consumption from personal ownership of products
to provision of services which provide similar functions, e.g., from a private automobile to
a car sharing service. Such a system promotes minimal resource use per unit of
consumption (e.g., per trip driven).
 Renewability: Materials should come from nearby (local or bioregional), sustainably
managed renewable sources that can be composted when their usefulness has been
exhausted.

What Is 'Emotionally Durable' Design

In 2005 a book was published called Emotionally Durable Design: Objects, Experiences and
Empathy. It was a call to arms for professionals, students and academic creatives to think about
designing things we would cherish and keep, rather than throw away.

Jonathan Chapman, professor of sustainable design at Brighton University, wrote the book eight
years ago. But is it having any impact? Chapman states that "the process of consumption is, and
has always been, motivated by complex emotional drivers, and is about far more than just the
mindless purchasing (and discarding) of newer and shinier things".

"It's actually very easy to design and manufacture a toaster that will last 20 years; that can be done.
What's not so easy is to design and manufacture a toaster that someone will want to keep for 20
years, because as people... we haven't been trained to do that,"

To this end, 'emotional durability' can be achieved through consideration of the following five
elements:
  Narrative: How users share a unique personal history with the product.
 Consciousness: How the product is perceived as autonomous and in possession of its own
free will.
 Attachment: Can a user be made to feel a strong emotional connection to a product?
 Fiction: The product inspires interactions and connections beyond just the physical
relationship.
 Surface: How the product ages and develops character through time and use.

As a strategic approach, "emotionally durable design provides a useful language to describe the
contemporary relevance of designing responsible, well-made, tactile products which the user can
get to know and assign value to in the long-term."

BIOMIMICRY

Biomimicry is the imitation of the models, systems, and elements of nature in design, engineering,
and science primarily for finding new solutions to scientific or technological challenges. The
biomimicry has given rise to new technologies created from biologically inspired engineering at
both the macro scale and nanoscale levels. In fact, humans have been looking at nature for answers
to both complex and simple problems throughout world history. Nature has solved many of today's
engineering problems such as hydrophobicity, wind resistance, self-assembly, and harnessing solar
energy through the evolutionary mechanics of selective advantages. Here are several examples
(out of many) showing using biological subjects as models in technology.

Because natural systems are a priori sustainable, designs observed in the nature can be viewed as
prototypes of smart technologies for potential anthropogenic sustainability systems.

1. The morpho butterfly (shown in the image above from Wikipedia) gains its color due to
special structural orientation of scale in its wings. Incident light is reflected at specific
wavelengths to create vibrant colors due to multilayer interference, diffraction, thin film
interference, and scattering properties. Now some companies (Qualcomm) use this
principle in manufacturing colored displays at much lower power consumption (as
compared to production of dyes).
2. Researchers studied the termite's ability to maintain virtually constant temperature and
humidity in their termite mounds in Africa despite outside temperatures that vary from 1.5
°C to 40 °C (35 °F to 104 °F). Researchers initially scanned a termite mound and created
3-D images of the mound structure, which revealed construction that can influence human
building design. The Eastgate Centre, a mid-rise office complex in Harare, Zimbabwe
(image on the left), stays cool without air conditioning and uses only 10% of the energy of
a conventional building its size (Source: Biomimicry).
3. Holistic planned grazing, using fencing and/or herders, seeks to restore grasslands by
carefully planning movements of large herds of livestock to mimic the vast herds found in
nature where grazing animals are kept concentrated by pack predators and must move on
after eating, trampling, and manuring an area, returning only after it has fully recovered.
Developed by Allan Savory, this method of biomimetic grazing holds tremendous potential
in building soil, increasing biodiversity, reversing desertification, and mitigating global
warming, similar to what occurred during the past 40 million years as the expansion of
grass-grazer ecosystems built deep grassland soils, sequestering carbon and cooling the
planet (Source: Biomimicry).
4. Paper wasps' nests are made out of cellulose (or chewed up wood) and wasp saliva. The
wasp uses saliva that has a lot of protein in it and that protein mixed with the cellulose
creates a water insoluble but also waterproof covering. It is interesting that in rainy
environments, wasps are found to use more protein in their saliva in order to make the nest
more waterproof. And because protein is quite expensive from a wasp’s standpoint because
they have to go get more insects to get more protein, they are only going to use it if they
really need it. So, if this is in a dry environment or protected from overhead, they are not
 using as much protein. This idea can be borrowed to make non-toxic, waterproof paper, or
other biodegradable materials (Source: Biomimicry Case Examples)

PRINCIPLES OF SUSTAINABLE ENGINEERING

"Engineering in context, engineering with a conscience, engineering for a finite planet and the
indefinite future"

-Benoit Cushman-Roisin

Sustainable engineering should be based on principles that support sustainable development, as

defined in the upper sections of this lesson. Engineering forms an interface between the design
(i.e., the idea how to provide a sustainable solution to a technical problem) and implementation
and production. In case of technology development, engineering phase is linked to almost every
level of technology readiness spectrum. Sustainable engineering principles should be
contemplated and applied early to ensure that technology development and scale-up follow the
environmentally benign route. It will be hard to turn back to redo and redesign things from later
stages! In that sense, the sustainable engineering principles should be taken into account in
decision making for both research and industrial projects as well as in policy making and decisions
regarding funding of technological research.

There have been multiple attempts by academic and industrial institutions to formulate sustainable
engineering principles. All of them fall within the triangle with Environmental, Social, and
Economic values as cornerstones. The overarching goal is to generate a balanced solution to any
engineering problem. If an engineering project benefits one of these three aspects but ignores the
others, we have a lopsided system which creates tension, instability, and new problems in the long
run.

Here are some of the aspects that differentiate the traditional and sustainable approaches in
engineering:

Traditional Engineering Sustainable Engineering

Considers the object or process Considers the whole system in which the
object or process will be used
Focuses on technical issues Considers both technical and non-technical
issues synergistically
Solves the immediate problem Strives to solve the problem for infinite future
(forever?)
Considers the local context Considers the global context
Assumes others will deal with political, Acknowledges the need to interact the experts
ethical, and societal issues in other disciplines related to the problem
Figure above lists the various principles of sustainable engineering versus environmental, social,
and economic poles. Some of these principles clearly gravitate towards one of the corners of this
triangle and thus address particularly societal, environmental, or economic concern. But some
others, which are placed along the sides of the triangle, have connections to two of the poles of the
diagram and address both societal and economic, or both economic and environmental concerns
in some proportion. Those principles placed in the center of the diagram combine all three aspects
of sustainability to a certain degree and hence their implementation would benefit all societal,
environmental, and economic stakeholders. We should not consider this collection of principles
set in stone. Many sources and organizations build on the existing documents and provide their
own visions. I invite you to reflect on this diagram and provide your comments for making it more
complete and more concrete for our future consideration.
These principles can be viewed as guidelines for a specific engineering project. We are going to
look at a specific example where the engineering solution was able to address the need and benefit
sustainability, not sacrificing one for the other.

The goal of an engineering project can be to create a system, a device, a process, or any other
outcome that would provide a certain service or benefit to society. One of the important outcomes
of an engineering project is the creation of technology.

ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY

Role of technology can be actually viewed as the interface that provides connection of an idea
realized through design and engineering effort with practical and consumable outcomes, such as
products or services. The latter would affect and shape societal lifestyle over time. Figure below
presents a hierarchical view of these connections in the sustainability context.

Hierarchy of sustainability guidelines and role of technologies emphasized.

Figure above shows how the most general sustainability principles are narrowed down to specific
material outcomes for the society. The principles of sustainability guide the sustainable design, the
process of thinking. This stage determines how things are supposed to be made and how they will
function over their whole lifecycle. Further down the funnel, the sustainable engineering stage
deals with technical implementation of ideas. Sometimes it is not an easy process, and some
aspects of design may be changed or compromised. When eventually the design and engineering
routes practically converge, we may have a technology created. Technology provides processes
and products. Only then the benefits of new ideas and new engineering developments become
available to society. Here we can identify the role of technology as some sort of portal through
which the established principles of sustainable design and engineering may affect people’s
lifestyle. Because of people's strong dependence on multiple technologies, those become the
factors that can facilitate change in society and can even become tools of manipulation and
initiation of global trends.

This way of thinking emphasizes the importance of technologies in the whole hierarchy of causes
and factors that regulate the sustainable development.
 Principles of Sustainable Engineering. Modified from Sustainability Science and
Engineering.

Principle Approach Importance

1. Strive to ensure that (a) Reduce hazard. Reduces/minimizes dangers
material/energy inputs and by reduction of intrinsic
outputs not hazardous (b) Reduce exposure. hazards.
2. Waste minimization over Good design is creative about Lowers expenses in
waste management. use of by-products purchasing and disposal.
3. Design for easy Plan for recycle and reuse. Easy separation/purification =
separation and purification. easy waste management.
4. All components must be Smaller is generally better. Lowers expenses.
designed for maximum
mass, energy, and temporal
efficiency.
5. Avoid unnecessary Production must respond to Minimization of
consumption of real-time demands. overproduction.
mass/energy versus.
6. Use entropy and Not all products should Disposal solutions can no
complexity as guidelines to receive the same end-of cycle longer be seen as one-size-
decide end-of-cycle. treatment. fits-all.
7. A product must not Over-design is a design flaw. Decrease accumulation of
outlast its uses. high-tech waste.
8. A product must not have Design for realistic uses and Reduces/eliminates the use of
unnecessary conditions. components needed.
capabilities/capacities.
9. Minimize material Minimize the use of different Simplify waste management.
diversity. materials, esp. adhesives,
sealants, coating.
10. Product creation is only Take into account methods of Minimize environmental
one part of the cycle. extraction of needed impact of related life-cycle
resources and transport. steps.
11. Evaluate products based Take into account methods of Minimize environmental
on life-cycle analysis. extraction of needed impact of related life-cycle
resources and transport. steps.
[Link] the use of Avoid using non-renewables, Minimize the overall impact
renewable and readily except when using of resource use.
available resources. renewables may be more
damaging.