Ecological design or ecodesign is an approach to designing products and services that gives special consideration to the environmental impacts of a product over its entire
lifecycle. Sim Van der Ryn and Stuart Cowan define it as "any form of design that minimizes environmentally destructive impacts by integrating itself with living processes."[1] Ecological design can also be defined as the process of integrating environmental considerations into design and development with the aim of reducing environmental impacts of products through their life cycle.[2]
The idea helps connect scattered efforts to address environmental issues in
architecture, agriculture, engineering, and ecological restoration, among others. The term was first used by John Button in 1998. [citation needed] Ecological design was originally conceptualized as the “adding in “of environmental factor to the design process, but later turned to the details of eco-design practice, such as product system or individual product or industry as a whole.[3] With the inclusion of life cycle modeling techniques, ecological design was related to the new interdisciplinary subject of industrial ecology
.
Overview
As the whole product's life cycle should be regarded in an integrated perspective, representatives from advanced product design, production, marketing, purchasing, and project management should work together on the Ecodesign of a further developed or new product. Together, they have the best chance to predict the holistic effects of changes of the product and their environmental impact. Considerations of ecological design during product development is a proactive approach to eliminate environmental pollution due to product waste.[4]
An eco-design product may have a
cradle-to-cradle life cycle ensuring zero waste is created in the whole process. By mimicking life cycles in nature, eco-design can serve as a concept to achieve a truly circular economy
.
Environmental aspects which ought to be analysed for every stage of the life cycle are:
Consumption of resources (energy, materials, water or land area)
Emissions to air, water, and the ground (our Earth) as being relevant for the environment and human health, including noise emissions
Waste (hazardous waste and other waste defined in environmental legislation) is only an intermediate step and the final emissions to the environment (e.g. methane and leaching from landfills) are inventoried. All consumables, materials and parts used in the life cycle phases are accounted for, and all indirect environmental aspects linked to their production.
The environmental aspects of the phases of the life cycle are evaluated according to their environmental impact on the basis of a number of parameters, such as extent of environmental impact, potential for improvement, or potential of change.
According to this ranking the recommended changes are carried out and reviewed after a certain time.
As the impact of design and the design process has evolved, designers have become more aware of their responsibilities. The design of a product unrelated to its sociological, psychological, or ecological surroundings is no longer possible or acceptable in modern society.[5]
With respect to these concepts,
online
platforms dealing in only Ecodesign products are emerging, with the additional sustainable purpose of eliminating all unnecessary distribution steps between the designer and the final customer.
Another area of ecological design is through designing with urban ecology in mind, similar to conservation biology, but designers take the natural world into account when designing landscapes, buildings. or anything that impacts interactions with wildlife.[6] A such example in architecture is that of green roofs, offices, where these are spaces that nature can interact with the man made environment but also where humans benefit from these design technologies. Another area is with landscape architecture in the creation of natural gardens, and natural landscapes, these allow for natural wildlife to thrive in urban centres.
Ecological design issues and the role of designers
The rise and conceptualization of ecological design
Since the
energy resources and natural resources, and how to integrate machine tools into efficient systems of industrial production.[9] He promoted the principle of "ephemeralization", a term he coined himself to do "more with less" and increase technological efficiency.[10] This concept is key in ecological design that works towards sustainability. In 1986, the design theorist Clive Dilnot argued that design must once again become a means of ordering the world rather than merely of shaping products.[11]
Despite rising
sustainable economic growth on a global scale.[12]
Though Western society has only recently espoused ecological design principles, indigenous peoples have long coexisted with the environment. Scholars have discussed the importance of acknowledging and learning from Indigenous peoples and cultures to move towards a more sustainable society. Indigenous knowledge is valuable in ecological design[13] as well as other ecological realms such as restoration ecology.[14]
Sustainable development issues
These concepts of design tie into the concept of sustainable development. The three pillars addressed in sustainable development are: ecological integrity, social equity, and economic security.[15] Gould and Lewis argue in their book Green Gentrification that urban redevelopment and projects have neglected the social equity pillar, resulting in development that focuses on profit and deepens social inequality. One result of this is green or environmental gentrification. This process is often the result of good intentions to clean up an area and provide green amenities, but without setting protections in place for existing residents to ensure they are not forced out by increased property values and influxes of new wealthier residents.
Unhoused persons are one particularly vulnerable affected population of environmental gentrification. Government environmental planning agendas related to green spaces may lead to the displacement and exclusion of unhoused individuals, under a guise of pro-environmental ethics.[16] One example of this type of design is hostile architecture in urban parks. Park benches designed with metal arched bars to prevent a person from laying on the bench restricts who benefits from green space and ecological design.