case study on sustainable design

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April 22, 2019

30 Sustainable Projects Leading the Way for Green Design

Sustainability is more important than ever and is on its way to becoming a standard in architecture, but LEED certification is only the beginning. Sustainable interior design requires a multifaceted approach, thoughtful consideration, and careful planning. From a SuperBowl stadium where 91 percent of waste is recycled, composted, or donated, to green roofs galore, to a university center that could be the most environmentally responsible building in Boston, these projects prove green design is good for all.

Editor’s note: This story was updated in August, 2023, to include our latest stories on sustainable design.

These Sustainable Spaces Showcase Innovative Materials and Designs

1. a sustainable home overlooking puget sound.

At times, renovating a home can prove more challenging than starting over from the ground up, especially when it comes to putting sustainability first. But the architects and designers behind  The Miller Hull Partnership thrive on such a mission. Read more

2. An Eco-Sensitive Update for the American Geophysical Union

Nearly 20 white papers later, the American Geophysical Union’s Washington Headquarters and Hickok Cole had mapped out a comprehensive plan of energy reduction, reclamation, absorption, and generation for the 84,000-square-foot project, which includes two underground levels (the lowest a parking garage), five above-grade floors, and a rooftop penthouse and terrace. Read more

3. Industrial Meets Natural for a Bike Park in Chicago

The marshes on Chicago’s southeast side were once a dumping ground for slag from nearby steel mills, the casualty of little to no environmental regulation up until the 1970’s. Now they’re Big Marsh, a new bike park that covers almost 300 acres with walking and cycling trails plus a 9,300-square-foot environmental education center that tells the history of the site. Marrying the industrial with the natural,  VDT  designed a nail-laminated timber structure with hydraulic hangar doors that close over windows at night. NLT is a renewable resource, highly effective at carbon sequestration, and requires less energy to produce than steel or concrete.  Read more

4. A New Cultural Center Celebrates UNESCO-Protected Wilderness

The Danish nonprofit Realdania and local governmental groups have opened the Ilulissat Icefjord Centre on the edge of the UNESCO-protected Greenland wilderness, 150 miles north of the Arctic Circle. The 16,000-square-foot winglike building is by  Dorte Mandrup , an architect whose namesake Copenhagen studio won the 2016 competition to design the project, beating out such firms as Snøhetta and Kengo Kuma & Associates.  Read more

5. Inside an Energy-Efficient Educational Space

ZGF was initially commissioned for the upgrades to make the building habitable on a temporary basis for both administrative staff and student services while a replacement was being built. Then came the pivot. “We said it’s such a good building with the potential for energy efficiency,” Woolum continues. “Wouldn’t you rather adapt and re-use and create the new building for something else?” Why not indeed. Read more

6. Behind the Design of the Arvo Pärt Centre in Estonia

Spanish firm  Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos  won a two-phase competition to design this center with their thesis that links music and architecture. Considering the ratio of glass to metal also became essential because of the layers of thermal insulation needed to create a sustainable and easily heated structure. But first Nieto Sobejano decided what the project shouldn’t have: right angles, a main facade, and a discernable front or back. Instead, what emerged was a pattern of “continuous links echoing the trees,” Sobejano says. Read more

7. Sustainably Designed Buildings in Singapore

Not only is the entire 27-floor external facade wrapped in a natural vine covered sunscreen, but the  Oasia Hotel Downtown also has four lush sky terraces, 1,793 large planter boxes, and four large structural cores that allow for good cross ventilation reducing the overall energy cost. Designed by  WOHA and completed in 2016, the hotel is home to over 33 species of plants and 21 species of creepers. In addition, the 314-room property is notable for its striking interior design by  Patricia Urquiola .  Read about 7 more sustainable buildings in Singapore

8. 3XN Creates a Modern Design for Olympic House

Two of the most poignant concepts  International Olympic Committee  President Thomas Bach wanted the design to articulate were sustainability and transparency.  3XN certainly delivered; the build is LEED platinum-certified, and has reused 90 percent of the concrete from the previous headquarters that was demolished to make way for the new build. Read more

9. Inside Mega Project Parq Vancouver

Six stories high, capped with a 30,000-square-foot roof garden, this contemporary structure “is an urban oasis,” ACDF Architecture CEO Maxime-Alexis Frappier says. ACDF partnered with Architecture49  and their response was not a looming hulk but rather a curving, low-rise presence wrapped in a mirrored facade that reflects its surroundings. Aluminum louvers, capturing sunlight, reflect pixelated images of the Rocky Mountains in the distance. The daylight resulting from abundant glazing contributes to the project’s LEED Gold status, proving Parq fits into the global environment, too. Read more

10. TPG Architecture Designs the Associated Press Office in New York

The AP staffers have had a chance to settle into their new digs by TPG Architecture , which have since been awarded LEED Gold certification. As you might expect, good news travels fast. As Carmel says, the office “compliments who we are as an organization.” That includes a bit of spirit, as seen at the perimeter of the café. There the white floor tile bursts into a confetti of colors, as if celebrating the much-decorated news agency. Read more

11. A Sustainable Space for an Amsterdam Tech Company

When an Amsterdam company that manages a file-sharing platform decided to move from the city center to a warehouse near the city limits, it shared a few tasks with local design firm Studio Rianknop : Create a flexible space for the company’s staff; make it sustainable; and take advantage of the industrial space in a relaxing, inviting way. In a clever nod to the wires funneling data across the globe, a “cable tree” grows from the lower level with branches powering first-floor public spaces and a tubular chandelier. Read more

12. The Center for Fiction Brings Books and Sustainability to Brooklyn

The Center for Fiction  started out as the Mercantile Library in 1821 and moved locations throughout Manhattan over the years. In 2008, it was rebranded, and more than 10 years later, the Center has a permanent home in a LEED Silver-certified building in downtown Brooklyn by  BKSK Architects . In the writers’ studio, locally-made custom wool felt panels are perforated with the Center’s logo, an open book. Read more

13. The World’s First LEED and WELL Platinum-Certified Space

The Washington, DC office, designed by Perkins + Will , is brimming with features that support health and wellness. One is a circadian lighting system that mimics natural daylight, paired with automated shades that follow the sun’s movement to help eliminate eye strain. The design team also implemented  biophilic design  strategies, for instance by using a range of natural materials and patterns. Read more

14. Mohawk Group’s New NYC Showroom Embraces Wellness

Located in a former textile factory in historic Chelsea,  Mohawk Group ‘s 13,000-square-foot showroom was designed by Gensler and incorporates LEED and WELL Building Standard qualifications, fully expressing Mohawk’s company ethos: Believe in better. Read more

15. Huntsman Architectural Group Downsizes McKesson for Maximum Efficiency

For McKesson’s San Francisco office,  Huntsman Architectural Group  went with undeniably contemporary furnishings. Sui generis, however, is a break room’s custom bench, a repurposed conveyor belt hinting at McKesson’s core business. Which brings us to the fact that the premises are going for Well Building certification as well as LEED Gold.  Read more

16. Perkins&Will Designs the Nixon Peabody Office in New York

Perkins&Will  designed this space to be easily reconfigured as needs change. A feature stair connects the office’s three levels with show-stopping views of the city, and floor-to-ceiling glass walls help foster synergy between practice areas. It was also awarded LEED Gold certification. In all, the office is a balance of functionality and design statement. Read more

17. Five Global Green Projects Pay it Forward

For  Park + Associates ‘s own office, minimal intervention transformed a 1960’s former school into a showcase of clean-lined design, thanks to vintage furnishings, a black-and-white palette, and painted-steel arches highlighting the reinforced-concrete barrel vaults. Read about all 5 global green projects

18. SKB Architects Creates Lively Lobby for Key Center Office Tower

No longer merely pass-through places, lobbies have become hotel-esque settings. They entice potential tenants to lease, and existing tenants get a perk that might entice them to stay. Such is the case at the Key Center office tower across the water from Seattle. After purchasing the 23-story building, Kilroy Realty Corporation opted to implement changes resulting in LEED Platinum certification and to transform the immense lobby into a “people place,”  SKB Architects  senior principal Shannon Gaffney recounts. “That’s our thing.” Read more

19. Mosa Tiles Enliven Venetian Villa by JM Architecture

Italian studio JM Architecture outlined a sustainable agenda to maximize the home’s energy-efficiency. Mosa’s LEED-contributing ceramic tiles, which received Cradle-to-Cradle® Silver certification, join the multitude of eco-friendly features that distinguish the villa, including inlaid photovoltaic panels and radiant floor heating. Read more

20. Alliance Architecture Designs a Sustainable Law Office

Moving to a gleaming LEED Platinum palace in the booming East End, this  117-year-old law firm  left behind the endless dreary silos of its former headquarters and embraced a cultural shift toward wellness and ergonomics. Thanks to  Alliance Architecture , sunlight penetrates offices with clear glass enclosures, every employee has a motorized standing desk, and the café opens onto a terrace complete with barbecue grills, a fire pit, a bar, and a bocce court. Read more

21. 1 Hotel’s Miami Beach Debut by Meyer Davis Studio

Meyer Davis Studio  was charged with transforming the lower eight stories of a 1968 building into 1 Hotel Miami. “We paid homage to the natural landscape of south Florida,” Meyer notes—versus the art deco razzle-dazzle typically associated with the area. Moves large and small rack up points in the quest for LEED Silver certification. Uses of reclaimed wood represent a virtual forest preserved. Dialing down to details, Meyer and Davis specified organic bed linens, hemp mattresses, and clothes hangers molded from recycled paper, while bedside note pads have disappeared in favor of chalkboards. Read more

22. Six Futuristic Projects Sprouting Green Roofs

From reducing storm water runoff and city dust to energy-efficient cooling, the benefits of green roofing go beyond beautification. As costs lower and technology makes installation easier, this environmentally conscious trend is increasingly defining the facades of both existing and new buildings. A 660-foot-long undulating wave of verdant green grass forms a rooftop park at Université Paris-Est’s technology and science center, the Espace Bienvenüe designed by Jean-Philippe Pargade. Read about all six green roofs

23. Kimpton Travels to the Caribbean

Amid the sea blues and sandy whites of this resort, there’s a good amount of green, too: A solar array generates electricity, rainwater is harvested for maintaining the landscape, and air-conditioning is geothermal. Read more

24. HKS’s Loretta Fulvio Decodes Site of Super Bowl LII

When designing for a Super Bowl–sized audience, there’s no greater expert than Loretta Fulvio, lead interior designer for architecture firm  HKS ’s Sports sector. When tasked with designing the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Fulvio and her team sought to create experiences that extend far beyond Super Bowl Sunday. In the stands, visitors can feel good about making a positive impact: 91 percent of waste is recycled, composted, or donated, due to the concession stands using compostable packaging. And the entire venue is run on wind power. Read more

25. A Bamboo Kitchen Dominates This Super-Green House

Built with prefab panels, this 2,500-square-foot structure by  Minarc  is sustainable to the max. Bathrooms overflow with eco consciousness. In the powder room, wood scraps stack up to form a vanity supporting a sink in recycled rubber. For a truly back-to-nature experience, right next to the soaking tub in the master bathroom, there’s a lush plant wall. Read more

26. Sleek and Sustainable Automobile Examples

Debuting at Milan Design Week, the Maserati GranTurismo Luce boasts interiors made of ECONYL, a regenerated nylon yarn, resulting in a unique aesthetic metamorphosis: the monochromatic blue interior references the sea from whence the sustainable material came. Other auto manufacturers are also riding the green wave, with Kia committing to phasing out leather interiors completely in all new products. Read more

27. A Sustainable, Passive-House Design by OHLab

Paseo Mallorca 15, an apartment building designed by OHLab in Palma, on the Spanish island of Mallorca, is a stunner: Covered in pine shutters, it relies on passive heating and cooling techniques and consumes little energy. The design draws on vernacular Mallorcan architecture, such as Mediterranean pergolas and shutters, and uses such traditional techniques as cross-ventilation to keep rooms cool. Read more

28. A Delta Airlines Terminal With Sustainability Principles Takes Off

The Delta Airlines Terminal C in New York’s LaGuardia Airport is gaining accolades after a eco-forward redesign that highlights abundant natural light. Suspended above the concourse is an assemblage of salvaged skylights from the atrium ceiling that forms Skylight Gems, an installation that encourages visitors to look up and celebrate the sen­sation and spectacle of flight. Additionally, the design team employed a vast thermal storage system, harvesting to reduce artificial lighting use, and electrochromic smart glass to control glare and heat gain. Read more

29. A Zero-Waste Coffee Shop Uses Upcycled Materials

A community gathering space and premier example of sustainable design, Early BKK café, a two-story coffee shop in Saphan Sung, Bangkok, was forged from local upcycled materials. Milk cartons mixed with plywood, known as re-board, were utilized for the door, ceiling, and furnishings while 600 beer bottles frame its facade. Read more

30. This Boston University Building Puts the Planet First

The Center for Computing & Data Sciences at Boston University is one of the most environmentally responsible buildings in Boston, if not New England. For one, there are no gas lines: 31 geothermic wells 1,500 feet underground provide heating and cooling. It’s also resilient, set 3 feet above the Charles River Dam to guard against floods. The sustainable ideas don’t stop there, though. Read more

These eco-friendly projects are setting an example for the architecture and design world. Green design is no longer an afterthought; it’s a requirement. See INTERIOR DESIGN’s complete coverage of sustainable projects, products, and news here . For more ideas about sustainable interior design, see how the 2023 Sustainability Giants are putting Mother Earth first.

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December 8, 2021

26 Case Studies in Design for Impact

Metropolis’s new publication, Design for Impact, showcases how innovative architects and interior designers are leading the charge in creating a healthy, just, and sustainable world.

 There is a sustainability revolution underway. At the World Economic Forum’s Davos Agenda 2021 event earlier this year, Bain & Company chairman Orit Gadiesh warned: “With consumers and investors demanding significant change, profit pools shifting away from incumbents to insurgents, and even the most carbon-heavy companies making net-zero pledges, executives ignore this revolution at their peril.”

Real estate is an essential tool in this revolution. The building industry accounts for 40 percent of the world’s carbon emissions, yet it can also have an outsize influence on people’s health and happiness. For any organization or individual interested in making a positive impact in the world, architecture and interior design can show the way forward.

Design for Impact showcases a comprehensive cross section of projects that are driving incredible positive outcomes in energy reduction, carbon reduction, health, economy, and community. Taken together, they offer some vital insights into the state of responsible design and construction:

  Certifications are important, but outcomes are critical. Systems like LEED, the WELL Building Standard, Fitwel, and the Living Building Challenge provide benchmarks and standards for sustainable, efficient, and people-centered facilities and spaces. But the ultimate success of any project lies in its real-world impact.

The “green premium” is a thing of the past. Architects and designers now know how to create spectacular, sust-ainable spaces at low or no additional cost, whether it’s schools, workplaces, hospitals, hotels, community centers, or homes. Moreover, upfront investments in resilient and responsible development and construction generally pay for themselves within a matter of a few months or years—generating savings for the rest of the project’s life.

More from Metropolis

We can make a holistic positive impact with buildings. For many years, executives, developers, and facilities managers remained focused on saving energy through smart design, but now we know that the right real estate decisions can have far-reaching impacts on health, pro-ductivity, and community as well. 

Add those up, and you can see why every building and interior space we create in the future must follow the example set by the 26 case studies in this book. The teams behind the projects that follow are heroes, working tirelessly toward the goal of a healthy, just, and sustainable world.

We hope you find inspiration—and future partners and collaborators—through Design for Impact . 

Would you like to comment on this article? Send your thoughts to: [email protected]

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  PRINT

• 150 best sustainable home ideas / Francesc Zamora Mola. 2013.
• 21st century sustainable homes / edited by Mark Cleary. 2011.
• 150 best eco house ideas / editor and text, Marta Serrats. 2010.
• Blue houses : sustainable homes / [editor], Cristina Paredes Benítez. 2011.
• Culture-nature : green ethics, habitat, environment / a cura di = edited by Alessandra Coppa, Fortunato D'Amico. 2010. Catalog of an the 2010 Venice Architecture Biennale.
• Earthships in Europe / Mischa Hewitt and Kevin Telfer. 2012.
• Eco living / Chris van Uffelen. 2013. 124 international examples of residential architecture, from single-family homes to housing estates, that incorporate exemplary ecological living solutions, all of which take different approaches. Includes architects' index.
• Eco solutions : sustainable approaches for a bioclimatic home / editorial coordinator, Claudia Martinez Alonso; edition and texts, Marta Serrats. 2012.
• The ecological house : sustainable architecture around the world / text, Marco Moro, Beatrice Spirandelli ; preface, Ecosistema Urbano. 2011.
• Ecological living / edited by Manuela Roth ; [texts: Elke Weiler ; translations: Yannick Van Belleghem...[et al.]]. 2009.
• Environmental tectonics : forming climatic change / edited by Steve Hardy. 2008. The projects presented here emphasize multiple aspects of the environment, often addressing issues of aesthetics and pleasure alongside ethics.
• Green architecture / [editing, Chen Liu]. 2010. 42 international award-winning projects detailing award-winning reasons and materials.
• Green is beautiful : the eco-friendly house / [Claudio Santini ; text by Dafna Zilafro]. 2009.
• Green life : building sustainable cities / edited by Maria Berrini and Aldo Colonetti. 2010.
• Green houses : new directions in sustainable architecture / [editor, Josep Maria Minguet ; co-author, Óscar Mira]. 2013. Profiles eleven international projects which illustrate close co-operation between everyone involved - architects, engineers, interior decorators, landscapers and client - in all the project phases.
• Green school primer : lessons in sustainability / edited by LPA, inc. 2009. Eight case studies examining why and how schools should be made "green."
• The hybrid house : designing with sun, wind, water, and earth / Catherine Wanek. 2010.
• Inspired homes : architecture for changing times / Avi Friedman with Emma Greer. 2013.
• Innovative houses : concepts for sustainable living / Avi Friedman. 2013. Discusses and illustrates recent and notable residential trends. Organized into four broad areas of interest: demographic and social trends; design and production methods; energy and resource efficiency; and innovative landscaping.
• New natural home / Dominic Bradbury ; photographs by Richard Powers. 2011.
• Prefabulous + almost off the grid : your path to building an energy-independent home / Sheri Koones ; foreword by Robert Redford. 2012. Profiling thirty-two homes in the United States, this book explains many of the materials, systems, and techniques available to create a more energy-efficient, comfortable, and healthy home.
• Prefabulous + sustainable : building and customizing an affordable, energy-efficient home / Sheri Koones ; foreword by Robert Redford. 2010.
• Prefabulous world : energy-efficient and sustainable homes around the globe / Sheri Koones ; foreword by Robert Redford. 2014.
• Rural Studio at twenty : designing and building in Hale County, Alabama / Andrew Freear and Elena Barthel, with Andrea Oppenheimer Dean ; photography by Timothy Hursley. 2014.
• Small eco houses : living green in style / Cristina Paredes Benítez, Àlex Sánchez Vidiella. 2010.
• The sustainable Asian house / Paul McGillick ; photography by Masano Kawana. 2013.
• Sustainable design II : towards a new ethics for architecture and the city / Marie-Hélène Contal, Jana Revedin ; with the kind participation of Benno Albrecht and Elisa Brusegan. 2011. Presents the 2009 and 2010 winners of the "Global Award for Sustainable Architecture."
• Sustainable homes / [Pilar Chueca]. 2009. A sampling of highly innovative sustainable designs in the United States including upscale residences, posh cabins, and a geodesic dome.
• Geng xin Zhongguo : wei le yi ge ke chi xue de wei lai = Updating China : projects for a sustainable future = Nachhaltiges Planen und Bauen in China / curated by Li Xiangning ; edited by Li Xiangning, Christian Dubrau. 2010. Highlights 40 projects in China. Text in Chinese, German, and English.
• XS : small structures, green architecture / Phyllis Richardson. 2007.

FILMS - In-library viewing at the Media Resources Center in Moffitt Library

• Design e² [videorecording] : the economies of being environmentally conscious / director, Tad Fettig ; series producer, Elizabeth Westrate ; narration writers, Mark Decena, John Kenney ; produced by kontentreal, LLC. [Alexandria, Va.] : PBS Home Video, c2006. Watch additional episodes online .

ONLINE RESOURCES

History: Groundbreaking Books and Historic Sources

• Architecture and the urban environment : a vision for the new age / Derek Thomas. 2002.
• Big & green : toward sustainable architecture in the 21st / edited by David Gissen. 2002.
• Building cities: towards a civil society and sustainable environment / edited by Norman Crowe, Richard Economakis and Michael Lykoudis; with Mark Gage, et al. 1999.
• Cradle to cradle: remaking the way we make things / William McDonough & Michael Braungart. 1st ed. 2002. Focuses on the nature of sustainability and the transformation of human industry through ecologically intelligent design.
• Culture, architecture and nature : an ecological design retrospective / Sim Van der Ryn ; edited by Richard Olsen. 2014.
• Design outlaws on the ecological frontier / Chris Zelov, executive editor; Phil Cousineau, co-editor. Philadelphia, Penn.: Knossus Publishing, 2000 ed. Companion book to Ecological design [videorecording] : inventing the future . (director, Brian Danitz ; produced by Brian Danitz and Tzelovanikov ; writer, Phil Cousineau. 1994.)
• Design with nature / Ian L. McHarg. 1st ed. 1969. (Classic) Helped to define the fields of landscape architecture, urban and regional planning, and ecological design. Discussion of mankind's place in nature and nature's place in mankind within the physical sciences and humanities. Offers a blueprint for a new, healthier relationship between the built environment and nature. see also -- To heal the earth: selected writings of Ian L. McHarg / edited by Ian L. McHarg and Frederick R. Steiner; foreword by Robert D. Yaro. 1998. A retrospective collection of essays by Ian McHarg, written while he was at the University of Pennsylvania.
• Designing with nature: the ecological basis for architectural design / Ken Yeang. 1995.
• Environmental literature: an encyclopedia of works, authors, and themes / compiled by Patricia D. Netzley. 1999. Very good for historical references, includes important people, authors, events that have "advanced knowledge and changed the perception of the environment."
• The environmental tradition: studies in the architecture of environment / Dean Hawkes. 1996.
• From Bauhaus to ecohouse [electronic resource] : a history of ecological design / Peder Anker. 2010. Also available in print .
• From eco-cities to living machines: principles of ecological design / Nancy Jack Todd and John Todd. 1994.
• Gray world, green heart: technology, nature, and the sustainable landscape / Robert L. Thayer, Jr. 1994.
• Green shift: changing attitudes in architecture to the natural world / John Farmer; edited by Kenneth Richardson ; with supplementary text by Judith Farren Bradley, et al. . 2nd ed.1999.
• The greening of architecture : a critical history and survey of contemporary sustainable architecture and urban design / Phillip James Tabb and A. Senem Deviren. 2013.
• The nature of order: an essay on the art of building and the nature of the universe / Christopher Alexander. 2002. (classic) Center for Environmental Structure series; v. 9. Alexander develops a comprehensive theory of how matter comes together to form coherent structures.
• Planning for sustainability : creating livable, equitable, and ecological communities / Stephen M. Wheeler. 2004.
• A primer on sustainable building / Rocky Mountain Institute, Green Development Services; Dianna Lopez Barnett with William D. Browning. 2004. Topics include site and habitat restoration, transportation integration, edible landscapes, energy-efficient design, indoor air quality.
• Something new under the sun: an environmental history of the twentieth-century world / J.R. McNeill. 2000.
• The sustainable urban development reader / edited by Stephen M. Wheeler and Timothy Beatley. 2nd ed. 2009.
• Sustainable architecture and urbanism : concepts, technologies, examples / Dominique Gauzin-Müller ; with contributions by Nicolas Favet. 2002.
• Sustainable architecture white papers / edited by David E. Brown, Mindy Fox, Mary Rickel Pelletier.1st ed. 2000. selected essays by architects, designers on the current state of sustainable architecture and its many facets.
• Sustainable architectures : cultures and natures in Europe and North America / edited by Simon Guy and Steven Moore. 2005.
• Taking shape: a new contract between architecture and nature / Susannah Hagan. 2001.
• The timeless way of building / Christopher Alexander. 1979. (Classic). The Timeless Way of Building is the first volume of a three-volume set; Alexander presents a different perceptual framework for conceiving of, and creating architecture. In the second volume of the series, A pattern language , he discusses his own exploration of architecture within this perceptual framework and the two hundred fifty-three patterns that he has intuited. In the third volume, The oregon experiment , he explains how this "language" of two hundred fifty-three patterns was used in practice to design a building complex at the University of Oregon.
• Understanding sustainable architecture / Terry Williamson, Anthony Radford, and Helen Bennetts. 2003.
• Urban design: green dimensions / Cliff Moughtin with Peter Shirley. 2nd ed. 2005. Shows how sustainable urban design can be implemented on every scale. Second edition includes the Urban Park and Bio-diversity.

Sustainable Design should be beautiful

(Source: Fincube © 2010 )

A Case for Why Sustainable Design Must be Beautiful : Architect Lance Hosey argues that the way toward green design is through aesthetics rooted in nature.

• DIDI : Design Idea Dictionary / compilation, DAMDI Publishing Co. ; editor in chief, Pyo Mi Young. 2013. 10 volumes : color illustrations and color plans - not strictly a dictionary, more akin to a design sourcebook.
• Dictionary of architectural and building technology / Henry J. Cowan and Peter R. Smith ; with contributions by W.K. Chow et al.. 4th ed. 2004. Includes illustrations, definitions, modern terms, environmental definitions such as wind scoops, natural ventilation.
• A dictionary of environment and conservation [electronic resource] / Chris Park. 2007. Also available in print .
• A dictionary of architecture / James Stevens Curl. 2nd ed. 2006.
• Dictionary of architecture & construction / edited by Cyril M. Harris. 4th ed. 2006. Also available in print.
• Dictionary of ecodesign : an illustrated reference / Ken Yeang and Lillian Woo. 2010.
• Dictionary of environment and sustainable development / Alan Gilpin. 1996.
• The elements of architecture : principles of environmental performance in buildings / Scott Drake ; illustrations by Adam Brown and Tristan Wong. 2009.
• Elsevier's dictionary of environment in English, French, Spanish and Arabic / compiled by M. Bakr. 1998.
• The environment dictionary / David D. Kemp. 1998. Entry includes definition, illustrations and further reading list.
• The environmental regulatory dictionary / compiled by James J. King. 2005.
• Environmental encyclopedia / William P. Cunningham, et al., editors. 2nd ed. 1998. Includes definitions, cultural movements, biographies, regional events, community actions and a short bibliography for each entry.
• The Facts On File guide to research / Jeff Lenburg. 2005. Facts on File library of language and literature. Includes a chapter on "Ecology and the Environment".
• Green Building A to Z: understanding the language of green building / Jerry Yudelson. 2007. Offers the basics of green building and shows how it relates to key issues such as, water conservation, healthy buildings, use of recycled materials, reduction of carbon dioxide, and environmental site planning.
• Green cities: an A-to-Z guide / Nevin Cohen, general editor. 2010. UCB Only.
• Illustrated dictionary of architecture / Ernest Burden. 2012.
• Sustainable built environments / Vivian Loftness and Dagmar Haase (eds.). 2013. Selected entries from the Encyclopedia of sustainability science and technology.

Handbooks, Guides, and Other Selected Reference

• Adapting buildings and cities for climate change : a 21st century survival guide / Sue Roaf, David Crichton and Fergus Nicol. 2009.
• Aesthetics of sustainable architecture / edited by Sang Lee ; foreword by Kees Doevendans ; with contributions by Nezar AlSayyad ... [et al.]. 2011. Essays by leading architectural designers, theorists, and scholars.
• The Ahwahnee principles for smart economic development: an implementation guidebook / Rick Cole, et al. ; editing by Paul Zykofsky, Brad Norton and Dave Davis. 1998. Written for local policymakers, communities, regional development ideas.
• Architecture 3.0 : the disruptive design practice handbook / Cliff Moser. 2014. Focusing on the concept of disruption, the book provides a set of ideas and tools in order to create a new sustainable practice.
• Architecture in a climate of change : a guide to sustainable design / Peter F. Smith. 2005.
• The barefoot architect : a handbook for green building / Johan van Lengen. 2008.
• Be a successful green builder / R. Dodge Woodson. 2009.
• Building to suit the climate : a handbook / Gerhard Hausladen, Petra Liedl, Mike de Saldanha. 2012. A manual for integrated planning in the international context -- offers a comprehensive analysis of the interplay between climate, the building structure and the building envelope.
• Cities going green : a handbook of best practices / edited by Roger L. Kemp and Carl J. Stephani. 2011.
• Closing the loop : benchmarks for sustainable buildings / Susan Roaf, with Andrew Horsley and Rajat Gupta. 2004.
• Cohousing cultures : handbuch für selbstorganisiertes, gemeinschaftliches und nachhaltiges Wohnen = Cohousing cultures : handbook for self-organized, community-oriented and sustainable housing / ID22, Institute for Creative Sustainability, Experimentcity. 2012.
• Ecological design handbook: sustainable strategies for architecture, landscape architecture, interior design, and planning / Fred A. Stitt, editor. 1999.
• The economy of sustainable construction / edited by Ilka & Andreas Ruby and Nathalie Janson. 2014. Contained within its 400 pages are essays, reports, and case studies that examine the relationship between commercial and sustainable values, and explore the paths that construction will take in the 21st century. Packed with info-graphics.
• Environmental planning for site development: a manual for sustainable local planning and design / Anne R. Beer and Catherine Higgins. 2nd ed. 2000.
• The environmental resource handbook. / 2013/14. Directory of associations, awards, research, green city rankings. Includes statistics for brownfields, air quality, children's health, drinking water, noise pollution.
• A green vitruvius : principles and practice of sustainable architectural design / Vivienne Brophy and J. Owen Lewis. 2011.
• Going green : a handbook of sustainable housing practices in developing countries / [principal author, Emma-Liisa Hannula]. 2012.
• Green building : a professional's guide to concepts, codes and innovation : includes IgCC provisions / Anthony C. Floyd and Allan Bilka. 2012.
• Green building : project planning & cost estimating : a practical guide for constructing sustainable buildings : cost data for green materials, components & systems; special project requirements; financial analysis & incentives. / 2002.
• Green building and LEED core concepts guide / U.S. Green Building Council, 2011.
• Green neighborhood development : LEED reference guide for neighborhood development / U.S. Green Building Council, 2009.
• The green studio handbook : environmental strategies for schematic design / Alison G. Kwok and Walter T. Grondzik. 2011.
• Green town USA : the handbook for America's sustainable future / Thomas J. Fox ; introduction by Daniel Wallach. 2013.
• A green Vitruvius: principles and practice of sustainable architectural design / Vivienne Brophy and J. Owen Lewis. 2011.
• Handbook of sustainable refurbishment : housing / Simon Burton. 2011.
• The HOK guidebook to sustainable design / Sandra Mendler, William Odell, Mary Ann Lazarus. 2nd ed. 2006. Shows how to integrate sustainable design strategies into projects. Includes case studies, glossary, top 10 internet resources, bibliography.
• Homes reference guide / U.S. Green Building Council. 2008.
• Home work : handbuilt shelter / Lloyd Kahn. 2004.
• How to design and build a green office building : a complete guide to making your new or existing building environmentally healthy / Jackie Bondanza. 2011.
• Modern sustainable residential design : a guide for design professionals / William J. Carpenter. 2009.
• The natural building companion : a comprehensive guide to integrative design and construction / Jacob Deva Racusin and Ace McArleton. 2012.
• Rough guide to sustainability : a design primer / Brian Edwards. 2010.
• Sustainable and resilient communities : a comprehensive action plan for towns, cities, and regions / edited by Stephen Coyle ; foreword by Andrés Duany. 2011.
• The sustainable building bible : an insider's guide to eco-renovation & newbuilding / Tim Pullen. 2011. Rev. ed. of: Simply sustainable homes. 2008.
• Sustainable building sourcebook : supplement to the Green Building Program / Austin Energy. 2000. The general sections of the Sourcebook are Water, Energy, Building Materials, and Solid Waste. Each resource section and the appendix are hyperlinked for quick location.
• The sustainable design handbook : China : high environmental quality cities and buildings / Serge Salat, editor in chief. 2006.
• Sustainable healthcare architecture, 2nd edition / Robin Guenther, Gail Vittori. 2013. Also available as an electronic resource .
• Sustainable school architecture : design for primary and secondary schools / Lisa Gelfand, with Eric Corey Freed. 2010.
• The whole building handbook : how to design healthy, efficient and sustainable buildings / Varis Bokalders and Maria Block. 2010. Originally published in Swedish in 2004.
• Sustainability Hub – Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)
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15 Projects that showcase sustainability through landscape design

The art of blending the natural environment with the built environment to enhance the experience of the end-user could be defined as landscape architecture. It uses elements of nature like soil, plants, and water to plan and design spaces to help establish a relationship between nature and people. The calming and thought-provoking natural environment is essential to refresh the human mind when it is surrounded by a rapidly changing urban jungle. 

Sustainability and landscape are concepts that are interlinked as landscaping involves nature and nature has been self-sustained from the beginning of time. Sustainability is the need of the hour in the present context of climatic crises and through landscape architecture, these issues could be addressed and resolved. 

The need for sustainability in landscape design has brought about its evolution from static and manicured lawns to adaptable and energy-efficient designs. Habitat restoration, energy efficiency, and conservation of flora and fauna are all important attributes of sustainable landscape design. Here are 15 such projects.

1. Nature Discovery Park, Hong Kong

Designed by LAAB architects , Natural Discovery Park is situated in the heart of the city. It is an urban farm that offers to learn and practice agriculture in a city. It also has a dining experience where the food is prepared using the produce from the farm. There is a glasshouse in the centre made up of IUG glass to save energy and reduce heat gain. 

The park has a steel aluminium cladding framework holding the glass panes which creates a reflection of the farm against the surrounding skyscrapers showing the co-existence of nature and urbanism. The park has a special eco-tour that starts with a rare butterfly species archive followed by an aquarium which has the tropic marine species of the Victoria Harbour.

2. The Science and Technical Pole, Paris

With a sweeping green roof, this institution is a place built for education and research. It was constructed in 2014 by  Jean-Philippe Pargade . The design is a blend of innovation and sustainability while maintaining aesthetics and functionality. It has a bioclimatic design approach aiding the local climatic conditions and resolving contextual environmental issues. 

The south façade opens towards the campus retrieving solar energy and the north façade is closed offering an insulating wall with a strong thermal barrier. It has a groundwater body which is the main source of heat energy for the structure. The project very smartly shows the relation between the functionality and the purpose of the design.

3. Burj Khalifa Tower Park, Dubai

The tower park, designed by SWA Group in 2011, is inspired by an oasis found in deserts. The green oasis is filled with native plants and also has Islamic traditional elements like motifs and coloured tiles. It has a series of connected pools that reflect the Burj Khalifa. The harsh hot climate of the region is managed by the cool water pools, tall trees, and covered pathways. 

The special feature of the park would be the irrigation system which collects and pumps condensed water from the humid atmosphere through a water-cooling system located in the tower. A total of 15 million gallons of water is produced annually, from which a part is used for irrigation. 

This project not only fulfils the functional needs in an energy-efficient way but also meets the aesthetic standards of the highly developed nation.

4. Where the River Runs, Wuhan

Vienna- Beijing-based architecture firm Penda’s landscape pavilion ‘Where the River Runs’ won the international Garden Expo in 2015. The expo aimed to highlight the importance of clean water and protecting the environment . The pavilion is designed to take the visitor on a journey through hills and valleys that resembles the path of a river. 

Stating that water is the main connection between people and nature, the pavilion aims to spread awareness about sustainable living. At the beginning of the tour, at the entrance, visitors are offered seeds of local flowers and fruits that are sown by them on the ‘river bed’. 

5. Gardens by the Bay, Singapore

Spread across 102 hectares, Gardens by the bay is one of the largest landscape projects in the world. Designed by Grant Associates the project aims to strengthen the “city in a garden” vision of Singapore. The infrastructure involves the conservation of endangered plants native to Singapore. Exhibiting plants and flowers from the Mediterranean-type climatic regions and Tropical Montane are 2 biomes designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects. 

Designed based on sustainability and nature-inspired are two other structures – the Supertrees and the Cooled Conservatories . These structures are technologically driven having water and energy conservation systems integral to each other. Along with being a highly popular tourism spot, implementation of rainwater harvesting, ventilation, and micro-climate management are some other features that can be seen in the Bay. 

6. Solar City, Linz

The Austrian town, Linz was redeveloped during 1998 as it was in urgent need of expansion. The design aimed to create an ecological and balanced washland landscape design. The town was placed between two adjoining rivers that restricted the area for expansion. Atelier Dreiseitl, an architecture firm, won the competition to design the town. The natural washland was not disturbed and agricultural lands were increased. 

The first phase of the project had 32.5 hectares of building land that offered to house 4,500 people with the necessary facilities and 20 hectares of parkland. Groundwater supplementation flourished and man-made wetlands and gardens were occupied by natural flora and fauna. A dry streambed has re-flourished and a total of 1500 trees were planted in parklands.

7. Hoesan White Lotus Pond, Jeonranamdo

The largest habitat of white lotus is located in Muan, Korea, and is a famous tourist attraction. An ecological festival is held where people from different places come to see the rare white lotus flowers blooming in summer. It has a symbolic viewing deck designed by the Ctopos Design firm, based on the form of a lotus. 

The place is divided into 5 different parts of the lotus that show the implication of the flower in design. With a breathtaking view, the pond is the largest habitat for the rare white lotus covering an area of 330,000sqm.

8. Railroad Park, Alabama

Designed by Tom Leader Studio, the Railroad Park is built along the railway corridor of 11 tracks that were once operational and a warehouse where bricks were made. The materials found on the site were remains of historic use. The park successfully brings in water from harvested water on-site and useable recycled industrial water from off-site. to create a large reservoir which is also used for irrigation and the summer fountains. 

The park is also designed to have OATs and places for small and large events. The southern half of the park was excavated to build a new lake and water system. The excavated earth from the southern site was used to create knolls along the rails with seating carved into them. 

9. Vanke Research Centre, Shenzhen

A research centre that is built in the rapidly growing city in China is a place where studies are based on special architectural materials, low-energy consumption methodology, and eco-landscape study. The main aim of the design was to reduce the maintenance and make the place self-sustaining. This was achieved by using a stormwater management system and low-maintenance construction and planting materials. 

The “Ripple Garden” consists of two triangular portions where the slope of the lawn and water waves are adjusted to realize the infiltration process without logging the water. The “Windmill Garden” has a 32m tall windmill which is used to generate power for pumping the collected stormwater to the building roof for oxygen exposure. 

10. Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London

The 274 acres of parkland is designed by Hargreaves Associates for the London Games, the “Greenest Games”. It is considered as the “Winner of the Games” by the Mayor of London. It is built on historical land and has seen many British traditions and events for the past 150 years. 

The main aim of the design was to focus on sustainability by restoring River Lea, having themed gardens based on different countries that took part in the Olympic Games and ecological parks. The northern park has industrial canals which are converted into a natural river corridor with meadows and wetlands. The South park focuses on the themed Olympic Parks with colourful gardens and sculptures. 

11. Aalborg Waterfront II, Aalborg

Located in Denmark, the Aalborg Waterfront II is a landscape/urban design which aimed to revitalize and redevelop the abandoned industrial harbor that was blocking the connection to the main city center. C.F. Møller Landscape in collaboration with Vibeke Rønnow Landscape Architects started the Stage II design of the waterfront which involved a concert hall and a house of music. 

The main idea of the second phase was the continuation of the waterfront promenade as a “marsh” along with a curving urban plinth. It has a rich plantation that consists of trees, shrubs, and grasses that are native to North Jutland.

12. Guthrie Green Urban Park, Tulsa

Designed by SWA Group in the USA the park is built on a site previously used as a truck loading facility. The park is now a gathering space and acts as an urban square with fountains, a multipurpose lawn, an outdoor stage with vine-covered green rooms. 

There is a ground-source heat pump under the park. It has 120 dried walls with a depth of 153m which generates 600 tons of heating or cooling distributed in underground pipes across 11,148gqm of land. The heat pumps are supplied with energy generated by the photovoltaic panels on the roofs. This saves 60% of the energy requirement. The geo-exchange system makes the park a successful sustainable design.

13. Tongva Park and Ken Genser Square, Santa Monica

A flat parking lot was transformed into a dynamic landscape project with an urban square by landscape architect James Corner Field Operations and architecture firm Fredrick Fisher and Partners. A few hundred plants and trees were planted on the site. The irrigation of the green areas is done by obtaining water from the nearby Santa Monica Urban Runoff Recycling Facility (SMURRF) water reclamation facility. 

Park lighting is an important element in landscape design which has been kept to a minimum in Tongya Park by using LED and other energy-efficient lighting fixtures. Materials were procured locally like the non-tropical hardwood trees. Recycled parts, low VOC paints, and anti-graffiti surfaces were used to reduce the maintenance of the urban square. 

14. The Crystal, London 

As a part of the Cities Initiative, Siemens hired Townshend Architects to design a sustainable public square. The aim was to create an urban landscape that is an ecological centre in the middle of a city. The project aimed to get BREEAM “Outstanding” and LEED Platinum ratings. The landscape materials used were grade A or greater than BRE Green Guide Specification. 

The biodiversity aspect was supposed to be covered for a BRE rating. So, along with resourceful amenities, they added native wildlife meadows and traditional flower gardens. The plants specified are climate-sensitive to reduce water consumption. A black water recycling system is used for irrigation purposes.

15. Tianjin National Park, Tianjin

Located in one of the top cities of China, Tianjin national park was built to maintain the high-water table and prevent seawater from encroaching the city. The harsh climate was another key aspect that had to be taken care of with large open space dynamics with shading and landscape. 

The waterfront has a great view of the gallery and the museum has a trail where rows of trees were planted to control the cold Mongolian winds and store water for irrigation. The urban waterfront square creates a calming and refreshing atmosphere amidst a bustling city highlighting the culture and traditions as well. 

Spandana is an architecture student with a curious mind, who loves to learn new things. An explorer trying to capture the tangible and intangible essence of architecture through research and writing. She believes that there is a new addition to the subject everyday and there is more to it than what meets the eye.

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Home Case Study Library

Welcome to World Green Building Council’s Case Study Library. Here you can find examples of the world’s most cutting edge sustainable buildings. Each case study demonstrates outstanding performance of an operational building that complies with at least one of WorldGBC’s three strategic impact areas: Climate Action ; Health , Equity & Resilience ; and Resources & Circularity .

Explore the map below to find examples from across the globe!

Building type

Sustainability focus, certification/rating.

Kaiser Permanente Santa Rosa Medical Office Building

Urbanización el paraíso, 1 new street square, 117 easy street, 18 king wah road, 218 electric road, 435 indioway, 62 kimpton rd, 84 harrington street, 945 front street, dpr construction office, a zero-water discharge community  , adam joseph lewis center for environmental studies, oberlin college, affordable housing project , alpine branch library, arch | nexus sac headquarters, arlington business park, arthaland century pacific tower, ash+ash rainwater capture & reuse, ballard emerald star zero energy home, bcci construction company, bcci south bay, bea 347. oficinas bioconstrucción, bergen inclusion centre, birch house, bishop o’dowd high school environmental science center, booth transport logistics and distribution hub, bürogebäude herdweg 19, burwood brickworks shopping centre, camisas polo salvador, casa laguna, center for intelligent buildings tm, centre block, chai wan campus for the technological and higher education institute of hong kong (thei), city hall freiburg, construction industry council – zero carbon park, cooperative housing , craven gap residence, creating adequate, sustainable, and affordable housing through pension fund capital , cwra cape town, design engineers, disaster resilience retrofits , discovery elementary school, double cove residential development, east liberty presbyterian church, echohaven house, edificio lucia, el camino apartments , elobau logistics centre, energy+home1.0, enhancing lives of refugees , entegrity headquarters, entrepatios las carolinas, filiale kirchheimbolanden, five elements harvest house, floth 69 robertson street, fortitude valley, gibbons street , globicon terminals, green idea house, habitat lab, hadera alfa kindergartens, highland dr, hks chicago living lab, honda smart home us, ideas “z squared” office, indigo hammond + playle architects net pos energy office, integral group, toronto, integral office, oakland, interface global headquarters, irota ecolodge, j.p. morgan chase headquarters (under construction), kāinga ora – homes and communities, king county parks north utility maintenance facility, king street, knauf insulation experience center, lakeline learning center, langes haus, lincoln net positive farmhouse, lombardo welcome center – millersville university, madrona passive house, minneapolis net zero victorian, mohawk college the joyce centre for partnership & innovation, morningside crossing, mvule gardens , nasa sustainability base, ncr corporate headquarters, spring at 8th, nex shopping mall, ohm sweet ohm, packard foundation headquarters, panda passage, petinelli curitiba, phare building, noor solar complex, pitzer college robert redford conservancy, plantronics european office, pyörre house, quay quarter tower, rayside labossière architectes, renovating 32 terraced houses, enhancing satisfaction and comfort , residência loft, rocky road straw bale | community rebuilds, saint-gobain and certainteed north american headquarters, salyani housing project, sede rac engenharia, sfo – 1057 – airfield operations facility (aof), social housing , taft faculty house, te mirumiru early childhood education centre, kawakawa, te papa peninsula, the cork haus, the palestinian museum, the recycled houses, the rmi innovation center, toronto dominion centre, ernst and yonge tower, tour elithis danube, tour elithis dijon, trasciende la parroquia, univercity childcare center, university of california, berkeley haas school of business, ward village, wilde lake middle school, wo lee fabrication & distribution center, wsp brisbane fitout, xiao jing wan university, yitpi yartapuultiku.

Please note that the case studies shown on this page may include older entries. At the time of their submission, these buildings were certified under the relevant schemes and met the submission criteria. However, their certification status may have since expired. We will work towards updating these submissions to provide the most current information. Thank you for your understanding and patience as we strive to maintain the accuracy and relevance of our data.

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Sustainable Design Strategies: A Complete Guide

by Dr. Emily Greenfield | Sep 3, 2023 | Sustainability

Sustainable design has become a pivotal approach in various industries, aiming to create environmentally friendly and socially responsible solutions . Businesses and individuals increasingly adopt sustainable design strategies from architecture to product development to minimize their ecological footprint. This comprehensive guide delves into the core concepts, principles, and methods of sustainable design, focusing on its significance, benefits, and practical implementation.

Understanding Sustainable Design

Sustainable design is an approach that integrates environmental and social considerations into the design process of products, spaces, and systems. It aims to create solutions that minimize negative environmental impacts while enhancing the well-being of individuals and communities. By making intentional choices throughout the design journey, sustainable design seeks to reduce resource consumption , promote renewable energy use, and foster circular economy practices.

In today’s context of climate change and increasing resource scarcity, sustainable design plays a pivotal role in addressing these challenges. It goes beyond short-term gains, focusing on long-term benefits for current and future generations. This approach is closely tied to sustainability , aiming to balance economic, environmental, and social factors. As consumers demand eco-friendly options and regulations become more stringent, embracing sustainable design is responsible and essential for creating a more harmonious and resilient world.

Sustainable Design Strategies

Sustainable design strategies are specific approaches and methods designers, architects, and innovators employ to integrate environmental and social considerations into their projects. These strategies aim to create solutions that align with sustainability principles, minimize adverse impacts, and promote positive contributions to the planet’s well-being and its inhabitants. Here are some practical, sustainable design strategies:

1. Passive Design Techniques

Strategically orient buildings to optimize natural light and airflow, reducing energy consumption by minimizing the need for mechanical systems. This approach enhances occupant comfort and significantly decreases the project’s carbon footprint .

2. Energy-Efficient Technologies

Incorporate energy-saving technologies like LED lighting, intelligent insulation, and efficient HVAC systems to lower energy usage, operational costs, and carbon emissions. These innovations align with sustainability goals and promote eco-conscious practices.

3. Sustainable Material Selection

Prioritize locally sourced, eco-friendly materials with low embodied energy and high recyclability. This choice reduces environmental impact and supports responsible resource management and the principles of a circular economy.

4. Water Conservation Strategies

Integrate water-efficient fixtures and innovative rainwater harvesting systems to minimize water consumption and manage stormwater runoff. These strategies contribute to water resource conservation and alleviate pressure on local ecosystems.

5. Green Infrastructure

Implement green infrastructure elements like living roofs , vertical gardens, and porous surfaces to enhance urban biodiversity, mitigate heat islands, and address stormwater management. This approach fosters sustainable urban development and ecological balance.

6. Zero-Waste Design

Design products with minimal waste, considering disassembly, recycling, and upcycling. This approach promotes a circular economy, reduces landfill waste, and conserves valuable resources.

7. Adaptive Reuse and Retrofitting

Transform existing structures for new purposes, reducing environmental impact by repurposing and preserving historical significance. Adaptive reuse minimizes the need for new construction, thus lowering resource consumption.

8. Carbon Footprint Reduction

Utilize renewable energy sources, offset carbon emissions, and optimize transportation logistics to minimize the carbon footprint of projects. This strategy aligns with climate action goals and promotes sustainability.

9. Community Engagement

Involve local communities in design processes to ensure relevance, foster ownership, and create projects that benefit the community in the long term. Community engagement enhances social sustainability and supports collective well-being.

10. Biophilic Design

Incorporate elements of nature into design, such as natural light, indoor plants, and organic materials, to enhance well-being, creativity, and connection with the environment. This approach fosters a healthier and more productive environment.

11. Life-cycle Assessment (LCA)

Conduct comprehensive assessments of a design’s environmental impact throughout its lifecycle, guiding decisions that minimize ecological footprint and promote sustainable practices.

12. Design for Accessibility and Inclusivity

Create designs that accommodate diverse needs, fostering equality and social inclusivity by ensuring that spaces and products are accessible to everyone.

13. Socially Responsible Sourcing

When choosing materials and products, it’s essential to prioritize ethical sources that support fair labor practices and responsible resource management. It helps to create a more sustainable supply chain.

14. Education and Awareness

Inform users about sustainable features and practices associated with your design, promoting responsible behavior and encouraging a deeper understanding of environmental impact.

15. Longevity and Timeless Design

Design with an enduring aesthetic and functional appeal, promoting product longevity, reducing waste, and discouraging a culture of disposable consumption.

By integrating these sustainable design strategies into projects, designers can contribute to a more sustainable future while delivering innovative and impactful solutions that benefit both people and the planet.

Benefits of Sustainable Design

Sustainable design brings a multitude of benefits that extend beyond its environmental impact. Integrating sustainability into design practices yields positive outcomes across various dimensions, from economic advantages to improved well-being.

Sustainable design’s advantages span ecological, economic, and societal realms, underlining its critical role in shaping a more sustainable and harmonious future for the planet and its inhabitants.

Overcoming Challenges in Sustainable Design

While sustainable design offers numerous benefits, it also presents challenges designers must navigate to create impactful solutions. Overcoming these challenges is essential to realizing the full potential of sustainable design practices.

1. Balancing Aesthetics and Sustainability

• Challenge: Striking a balance between aesthetics and sustainability can be complex, as eco-friendly materials and designs might only sometimes align with desired visual outcomes.
• Solution: Innovate by exploring new materials and design techniques that combine aesthetics and sustainability , ensuring a harmonious blend.

2. High Initial Costs and Long-Term Savings

• Challenge: Upfront costs for sustainable materials and technologies can deter initial investment despite the potential long-term savings.
• Solution: Highlight the lifecycle cost savings and potential return on investment through reduced energy consumption, lower maintenance, and increased property values.

3. Limited Availability of Sustainable Materials

• Challenge: Sourcing sustainable materials can be challenging due to limited availability and variations in quality.
• Solution: Collaborate with suppliers and manufacturers to encourage the production of sustainable materials, fostering growth in the market.

4. Consumer Perception and Demand

• Challenge: Consumer awareness and demand for sustainable products and designs can vary, potentially affecting project viability.
• Solution: Educate consumers about the benefits of sustainable design, emphasizing the positive impact on health, environment, and long-term costs.

5. Complex Regulatory Environment

• Challenge: Navigating diverse and evolving regulations related to sustainability and building codes can be overwhelming.
• Solution: Stay informed about local regulations, work with experts, and anticipate future updates to ensure compliance and a streamlined design process.

Overcoming challenges in sustainable design requires creativity, collaboration, and a holistic understanding of the intersection between design, sustainability, and market dynamics. By addressing these hurdles, designers can unlock the full potential of sustainable solutions and drive positive change in various industries.

Case Studies: Exemplary Implementations of Sustainable Design

Real-world case studies of successful sustainable design implementations provide invaluable insights into the transformative power of eco-conscious practices. These examples showcase the positive impact of sustainability on diverse projects and industries.

• The Edge – World’s Most Sustainable Office Building : This Amsterdam-based building boasts advanced features like energy-producing facades, intelligent lighting systems, and efficient climate control. It achieved an exceptional BREEAM score of 98.36%, setting a benchmark for sustainable commercial architecture.
• Tesla – Merging Sustainable Energy and Automotive Design : Tesla’s electric vehicles and energy solutions are pioneering examples of sustainable design. Their vehicles reduce emissions and redefine the driving experience, accelerating the transition to cleaner transportation.
• Patagonia – Blending Sustainability with Outdoor Clothing : Patagonia’s commitment to sustainability goes beyond product design; it extends to ethical sourcing, repair services, and advocacy for environmental causes. Their holistic approach exemplifies how a brand can embed sustainability throughout its operations.

These case studies underscore how sustainable design can reshape industries, inspiring businesses and individuals. By embracing innovative approaches and integrating sustainability into core practices, organizations can drive positive change while reaping benefits far beyond the bottom line.

Sustainable design is not just a trend but a vital approach to creating a harmonious balance between human needs and the health of our planet. By embracing the principles and strategies outlined in this guide, individuals and industries can contribute to a more sustainable future. From architecture to technology and fashion, every field has the potential to champion eco-conscious design, fostering a world where innovation and environmental responsibility go hand in hand.

Also Read:   What Are The Sustainability Solutions?

Dr. Emily Greenfield is a highly accomplished environmentalist with over 30 years of experience in writing, reviewing, and publishing content on various environmental topics. Hailing from the United States, she has dedicated her career to raising awareness about environmental issues and promoting sustainable practices.

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Design for Sustainability: A Step-by-Step Approach

Design for Sustainability: A Step-by-Step Approach is the latest in the D4S publication series. A global guide for designers and industry, it provides support to ecodesign novices and those looking to further their understanding of the field. The manual focuses on three different design approaches: redesign of existing products, radical sustainable product innovation and new product development. An additional section acts as a comprehensive 'how-to' guide for first time users. Online materials - including case studies, additional design and management tools and worksheets - compliment the print version. The manual is the result of a long term partnership between UNEP, Delft University of Technology and international D4S experts from the Netherlands, Sweden, Italy, France, Germany, Japan, and Australia, with support from UNIDO, the Swedish EPA, and in Went, Germany.

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Architects with diverse and interesting green projects in North America will present their work, illustrating best practices for achieving high performance design with exceptional aesthetic and sustainability standards. The panelists will discuss three projects – small, medium, and large — to share how sustainability concerns were integral to the design process. Topics to be covered include selecting appropriate materials and technology, deciding on energy saving strategies, balancing aesthetics with performance, meeting and managing client expectations, achieving eco-friendly buildings on time and within budget, utilizing building information modeling (BIM), and applying post-occupancy lessons learned.

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Generative AI for Sustainable Design: A Case Study in Design Education Practices

• Conference paper
• First Online: 01 June 2024
• Cite this conference paper

• Meng Li   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-7095-0170 26 ,
• Yaning Li   ORCID: orcid.org/0009-0004-6305-5866 27 , 32 ,
• Chenyang He   ORCID: orcid.org/0009-0004-2952-8359 27 , 32 ,
• Houxiang Wang   ORCID: orcid.org/0009-0007-2144-1082 27 , 32 ,
• Jiaqian Zhong   ORCID: orcid.org/0009-0001-7047-2260 26 ,
• Shengxin Jiang   ORCID: orcid.org/0009-0003-4607-4400 27 , 32 ,
• Mingtao He   ORCID: orcid.org/0009-0005-2405-4286 27 , 32 ,
• Zhining Qiao   ORCID: orcid.org/0009-0001-5643-5324 27 , 32 ,
• Jiawang Chen   ORCID: orcid.org/0009-0003-8056-0349 27 , 32 ,
• Yuan Yin   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2037-0941 28 ,
• Ray Lc   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-7310-8790 29 ,
• Ji Han   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-3240-4942 30 ,
• Zengyao Yang 26 &
• Mohammad Shidujaman   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-7906-2508 31  

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 14687))

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• International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction

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The Sustainable Development Goals are currently the universal missions for all fields of engineering and design. However, many design problems in sustainable development are profoundly complex and nearly reach the limits of human capacity. This design challenge often involves a vast volume of data in social, economic, technological, and environmental factors. In response to this challenge, industrial and academic communities have devoted a large amount of effort in developing new technologies like artificial intelligence and applying them as new design tools. Generative AI is the latest advancement among these tools which can empower human designers with its capability to process massive data from diverse sources and recast them in a comprehensible form.

Despite the heated discussion on the relationship between creative innovation and frontier technologies, little attention was focused on empowering the next generation of designers with the new skills in the AI era. This study hence conducted a two-week design workshop to explore the interactions between generative AI tools and novice designers.

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School of Mechanical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xianning Road 28, 710049, Xi’an, People’s Republic of China

Meng Li, Jiaqian Zhong & Zengyao Yang

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Yaning Li, Chenyang He, Houxiang Wang, Shengxin Jiang, Mingtao He, Zhining Qiao & Jiawang Chen

Dyson School of Design Engineering, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, UK

School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong, Level 7, 18 Tat Hong Avenue, Hong Kong SAR, People’s Republic of China

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Li, M. et al. (2024). Generative AI for Sustainable Design: A Case Study in Design Education Practices. In: Kurosu, M., Hashizume, A. (eds) Human-Computer Interaction. HCII 2024. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 14687. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-60441-6_5

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UNITING THE BUILT & NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS

New case studies on sustainable landscape design.

A newly expanded and now mobile-friendly version of ASLA’s Designing Our Future: Sustainable Landscapes online exhibition highlights real-world examples of sustainable landscape design and its positive effects on the environment and quality of life. These spaces use natural systems to provide ecosystem services, transform untapped assets into vital community spaces, and create new economic opportunities — they ultimately provide significant environmental, social, and economic value.

Ten new case studies that range from a coastal ecological restoration project to a volunteer-run urban farm illustrate just what sustainable landscapes are and how they provide important benefits on a variety of scales. In the process, the case studies, written in clear, understandable language, also introduce users to what exactly landscape architects do.

The new case studies were carefully selected to show a diversity of landscape types and scales and reflect geographical diversity. There are now a total of 40 case studies.

New case studies include:

Burbank Water & Power Eco-campus , Burbank, California, a sustainable landscape for employees and visitors in the midst of a working power plant.

Drs. Julian and Raye Richardson Apartments , San Francisco, California, a safe and welcoming apartment complex, with beautiful design elements, for the chronically homeless.

Lafayette Greens , Detroit, Michigan, a volunteer-run urban farm in downtown Detroit where 800 pounds of fresh fruit and vegetables are grown every year.

Living Breakwaters , New York, New York, an innovative coastal ecological restoration project that won $60 million in the Rebuild by Design competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Pete V. Domenici U.S. Courthouse Sustainable Landscape Renovation , Albuquerque, New Mexico, an underused plaza that has become a model of sustainable landscape design in the desert.

Quarry Garden , Shanghai, China, a derelict, polluted quarry that was transformed into a garden visited by more than 3 million people in its first year.

Sherbourne Common , Toronto, Cananda, a multi-functional park and wastewater treatment plant that includes an underground Ultraviolet (UV) water purification system.

The Steel Yard , Providence, Rhode Island, an abandoned steel manufacturing facility that has become a beloved community arts space.

Sunnylands Center and Gardens , Rancho Mirage, California, an extension to the Annenberg Estate that captures every drop of stormwater, with some collected in underground cisterns for later use.

Woodland Discovery Playground , Memphis, Tennessee, an immersion in nature play for children that features surfaces made of recycled athletic shoes.

The Web site also 30 other case studies; 10 animations created by Daniel Tal, ASLA, using Google Sketchup; and companion sustainability education resources that enable users to explore sustainable design concepts in greater depth.

Designing Our Future: Sustainable Landscapes was originally made possible with a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).

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A Case Study on the Economic Value of Sustainable Design

Since the advent of “sustainable design,” designers have argued there is more than an environmental rationale for sustainability – there is a valid economic case for green building design., today, between the data to back it up and the decreasing upfront cost of environmentally-friendly systems and materials, sustainable design is simply in the best interest – business and otherwise – of clients looking to renovate or build new..

The renovation of Rhoades Hall, a 1950’s academic building at UNC Asheville, serves as a case study for the economic value of sustainable design – delivering a 46.8% reduction in annual energy consumption and nearly a 25% reduction in energy costs . The LEED Gold certified academic building is home to state-of-the-art classrooms and teaching and research labs. Its renovation prioritized energy efficiency and the inhabitant experience, driving design decisions regarding daylighting, finishes, and systems.

Design dramatically reduces energy consumption and costs

Iterative energy modeling aided the project team in quantifying the ability to reduce mechanical system tonnage based on different glazing types, with the goal to reduce both upfront and lifecycle operating costs.

The first step in reducing energy usage is not using more efficient systems, but reducing the energy loads themselves. For example, the impact of features such as exterior glazing and sunshading on energy use is critical. Our energy modeling exercises revealed that the upfront cost savings in system tonnage more than offset the increased glazing costs in addition to reducing annual energy use and future replacement costs.

By conducting a comparative life cycle cost analysis of different grades of glazing and their impact on the tonnage required for the mechanical system, the design team was able to determine the most cost-effective option for the project. This choice delivered both an immediate cost savings and is saving the owner money over the life of the building.

Reduction in water use exceeds LEED requirement by 42%

When it comes to sustainability, both economics and principles have a role to play. In addition to their interest in reducing operating costs and energy consumption, UNC Asheville values water management and conservation, which made the reduction of water use central to our design process. At Rhoades Hall, a 10,000 gallon cistern captures 100% of the roof area, along with air conditioning condensate, and the water is then treated within the building for non-potable use. This generates enough water to use 72% less water than baseline, which significantly exceeds the LEED certification requirement of 30%. Additionally, the facility uses no potable water for sewage conveyance.

Renovation is inherently sustainable

Renovations are inherently sustainable because they preserve an existing building’s embodied energy. These structures not only represent the energy it took to build them, but also the energy to manufacture and transport the materials they’re composed of. Preserving and reusing existing exterior building components, and interior (to the extent possible), makes renovation one of the greenest options in terms of minimizing environmental impact.

Rhoades Hall delivers a tremendous return on investment - it reuses 97% of its existing exterior walls, floors, and roofs, costs less per square foot than comparable new buildings, and reduces energy use by nearly half. By another perspective, this renovation saves enough energy to power another entire classroom building, which translates to meaningful impact for a higher education campus.

David Lancor , AIA, LEED AP BD+C, is an architect and associate principal with Clark Nexsen. He is dedicated to sustainable design and brings a focus on integrated design, creating buildings that work as whole systems. To speak with David, please call 828.232.0608 or email [email protected] .

Top 10 Sustainability Case Studies & Success Stories in 2024

During my academic research on corporate sustainability efforts, I realize that environmental and social practices have a significant impact on the long-term success of businesses. Some businesses outperform others in this area, giving them a competitive advantage.

See 10 sustainability case studies to incorporate sustainability strategies into corporate actions: 

1. UPS ORION: Improve transportation efficiency

Transportation activities accounted for almost 30% of US greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). 1 For a company like UPS, which distributes goods across regions, transportation activities make up the bulk of GHG emissions. As a result, enhancing transportation efficiency is crucial for organizations like UPS to remain sustainable.

As a solution, UPS adopted an AI system called ORION which is a route optimizer that aims to minimize the number of turns during the delivery. 2 Initiation began in 2012, and ORION saves UPS 10 million gallons of fuel per year, which means that in addition to the financial benefits, it decreases UPS’s carbon footprint by 100,000 metric tons per year, or the equivalent of removing more than 20,000 cars from the roads.(An average car emits 4.6 metric tons of GHG per year. 3 )

In addition to private solutions like ORION, there are public cloud route optimizer systems that businesses can deploy without building hardware. These tools help firms to use their software as a service by paying a subscription cost.

To learn more about ensuring supply chain sustainability with technology you can read Technologies Improving Supply Chain Sustainability .

Figure 2: US GHG emission distribution

Source: U.S Environmental Protection Agency 4

2. IKEA IWAY: Make business with ESG-oriented corporations

Supplier codes of conduct are established guidelines that require other businesses to demonstrate their operations’ social and environmental impacts. The objective is to reward companies that meet strong ESG standards. It is also one of the positive governance indications for organizations, as we highlighted in the ESG metrics article .

IWAY is the supplier code of conduct of IKEA forcing suppliers to meet certain environmental and humanitarian qualities to work with. 5 The initiative has been in place for over 20 years, and over that time, IKEA has refined it based on their prior experiences. IWAY six is the most recent version of IKEA’s supplier code of conduct, which evaluates:

• Core worker rights.
• Safety of the working place.
• Life-work balance of employees.
• Water and waste management of potential suppliers.
• Prevention of child labor. 

3. General Electric digital wind farm: Produce green energy efficiently

Wind turbine productivity varies greatly depending on the design, weather conditions, and geography of the location it is deployed. Using IoT and digital twins to collect data on each wind turbine and simulate possible modifications, such as adjusting the direction of the wind turbine, can assist corporations in locating their wind turbines in a wind farm more effectively.

Furthermore, the performance of wind turbines declines with time and may require maintenance; employing sensors and digital twins can assist in determining the appropriate time for repair.

Figure 3: How digital twins can optimize wind turbine productivity

Source: DNV 6

General Electric’s (GE) digital wind farms are based on these two elements. GE optimized turbines using sensors and digital twin real-time monitoring technologies. Each wind farm can create up to 10% more green energy as a result of the digital wind farm initiative, which helps to enhance our worldwide green energy mix. 7

4. Swire Properties green building: Minimize GHG emissions

Swire Properties is a construction company that operates in China and especially in the Hong Kong area. In 2018, the company built One Taikoo Place which is a green building that aims to reduce GHG emissions of Swire Properties in order to align with sustainability goals of the company’s stakeholders.

Swire properties use 3D modeling techniques to optimize the building’s energy efficiency. Reduce electricity consumption by using smart lighting systems with sunshine and motion sensors. 8 A biodiesel generation system has been installed in the building, which converts waste food oil into biodiesel. Swire Properties additionally uses low-carbon embedded materials and a lot of recycled materials in their construction. 9

Swire Properties was able to cut GHG emissions intensity throughout their portfolio by nearly 20% because of the usage of digital technologies and low carbon integrated materials. 10

5. H&M let’s close the gap: Deposit scheme for gathering raw material

In 2023, we consumed 1.8 times more resources than Earth generates annually because our economic outlook is based on production, use and disposal. 11 Such an economy is not sustainable and that is the reason why the concept of circular economy (CE) is trending nowadays.

The most basic principle of CE is to use trash as a raw material for production through innovation, recycling, or repairing and reusing existing products.

H&M’s “Let’s Close the Gap” project began in 2013 as a CE best practice that collects and categorizes discarded clothing from customers. 12 If the garment is in decent condition, they will restore it and find a new owner for it. If a garment reaches the end of its useful life, H&M will recycle it and reuse the material in new goods.

Customers who bring in their old clothes are rewarded with tokens that can be used to get a discount at H&M shops. Incentivizing customers creates a complete CE loop. In 2019, 57% of H&M’s raw materials were sustainable. By 2030, the company plans to improve it by 100 percent. 13

6. Gusto: Hiring female engineers to close gender inequality gap

Gender inequality remains a major social issue despite all the improvements. 14 There are two common types of gender disparity in the workplace. The first is gender pay disparity, which occurs when companies pay male employees more and provide better working conditions than female employees in the same position.

The second is occupational segregation, in which women are hired for non-technical jobs while men hold the majority of leadership roles. This was the situation at the software firm Gusto, where female engineers made up slightly more than 5% of the engineering team at the beginning of 2015. 15

Julia Lee, one of Gusto’s first female engineers, claimed that other engineers did not accept her ideas because she was a “female engineer.” Gusto initiated an HR drive to reduce gender inequality by prioritizing the recruitment of female engineers, prohibiting female workers from scrolling, and deleting masculine job ads like “ninja rock star coder.”

Gusto was able to improve its female engineer ratio to roughly 20% by the end of 2015 thanks to the campaign. 16 The average ratio among software businesses’ engineering teams was 12% in 2013. Therefore, this was a significant improvement in a short period of time.  

7. HSBC: ESG concerned green finance

Finance companies can help speed up the transition to sustainable business practices by supporting initiatives run by responsible businesses. HSBC has committed to investing $100 billion in sustainability projects by the end of 2025. 17 In 2021, HSBC’s ESG practices were rewarded with an AA rating by MSCI. 18

HSBC is also working toward a goal of using 100% renewable energy as their source of electricity by 2030. The company reduces its consumption of paper and single-use plastic packaging for coffee and beverages. 19

For more information about best ESG practices, you can read ESG Reporting Best Practices .

8. Signify light-as-a-service: Enhance production stewardship

The product-service system (PSS) is a business model in which producers acquire a product over its lifetime and rent or lease it to the users. PSS ensures product stewardship since the product always becomes the asset of the company. It encourages producers to provide high-quality, repairable items in order to extend the product’s useful life. As a result, it helps to close the circularity gap by ensuring better use of natural resources.

Signify, a luminaire producer, adopts such a business strategy where it demands a subscription fee according to the usage period of their lighting systems. Signify claims that PSS allows them to produce 0 luminaire waste and drops maintenance costs. 20

9. Airbus additive manufacturing: Manufacture lighter planes with 3D printing

Additive manufacturing is a process where a computer-aided design (CAD) file is converted into a stereolithography (STL) file, which is then sliced into layers to guide the 3D printing of an object. 21 AIMultiple expects that additive manufacturing will disrupt airplane manufacturing since:

• It speeds up the manufacturing of parts compared to traditional molding techniques.
• It is cheaper due to effective use of raw materials and time reduction of production.
• It enables the manufacturing of lighter parts by up to 45%, resulting in lighter planes that burn less fuel. 22 According to Airbus, additive manufacturing technology can reduce an A320 plane’s annual GHG emissions by around 465,000 metric tons, which is roughly the same as eliminating 100,000 automobiles from the road for a year.

To effectively use 3D printers, Airbus partnered with Materialise, a Belgium-based technology company that specialize in additive manufacturing. 23

For more information regarding improving corporate sustainability by digital transformation you can read Digital Technologies that Improve Corporate Sustainability .

10. Tata Power: Solar plants on the roofs

Rooftops offer a lot of empty space that can be used to install solar panels. Such initiatives have been taken in various parts of the world. Tata Power does it in India and generates green electricity by using idle places of buildings.

In 2021, Tata Power was able to spread their program throughout 90 Indian cities, producing 421 million watts of electricity, which is equivalent to nearly 40 thousand homes’ yearly electricity use in the US. 24 The average annual power usage for a residential utility customer in the US was 10,791 kWh in 2022. 25

We expect that in the near future, the cooperation between energy and construction companies will enhance the use of idle places in buildings in a more effective way. Such an industrial symbiosis reduces both sectors’ ESG risk.

For more information on the top carbon footprint calculators, check Carbon Footprint Calculator Software/Tools for Businesses .

To learn more about corporate sustainability you can contact with us:

External Links

• 1. Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions . United States Environmental Protection Agency. Accessed: 4/September/2024.
• 2. UPS To Enhance ORION With Continuous Delivery Route Optimization . UPS. Accessed: 4/September/2024.
• 3. Greenhouse Gas Emissions from a Typical Passenger Vehicle . United States Environmental Protection Agency. Accessed: 4/September/2024.
• 4. Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions . U.S Environmental Protection Agency. Accessed: 4/September/2024.
• 5. Creating a sustainable IKEA value chain with IWAY . IKEA. Accessed: 4/September/2024.
• 6. WindGEMINI Digital twin for wind turbine operations . DNV. Accessed: 4/September/2024.
• 7. Digital Wind Operations Optimization from GE Renewable Energy . General Electrics. Accessed: 4/September/2024.
• 8. Unlocking a sustainable future: Why digital solutions are the key to sustainable business transformation . Schneider Electric. Accessed: 4/September/2024.
• 9. One Taikoo Place . HKGBC. Accessed: 4/September/2024.
• 10. Unlocking a sustainable future: Why digital solutions are the key to sustainable business transformation . Schneider Electric. Accessed: 4/September/2024.
• 11. Earth Overshoot Day . Geneva Environment Network. Accessed: 3/September/2024.
• 12. The only trends worth following? Recycling and repairing . H&M. Accessed: 3/September/2024.
• 13. Faithful, M. H&M And IKEA Want Your Old Stuff Back, Here’s Why . Accessed: 4/September/2024.
• 14. Kelan, E. Why Aren’t We Making More Progress Towards Gender Equity? Accessed: 4/September/2024.
• 15. Adams, S. The Tech Unicorn That Went For Women Engineers: Here’s How It Worked Out . Forbes. Accessed: 4/September/2024.
• 16. Adams, S. The Tech Unicorn That Went For Women Engineers: Here’s How It Worked Out . Forbes. Accessed: 4/September/2024.
• 17. HSBC sets out net zero ambition . HSBC. Accessed: 2/September/2024.
• 18. Investing for a sustainable future . HSBC. Accessed: 4/September/2024.
• 19. HSBC sets out net zero ambition . HSBC. Accessed: 2/September/2024.
• 20. Green Switch Program . Signify. Accessed: 2/September/2024.
• 21. Wong, K. V., & Hernandez, A. (2012). A review of additive manufacturing. International scholarly research notices , 2012 (1), 208760.
• 22. Pioneering bionic 3D printing . Airbus. Accessed: 4/September/2024.
• 23. Bridging the gap with 3D printing . Airbus. Accessed: 4/September/2024.
• 24. Unlocking a sustainable future: Why digital solutions are the key to sustainable business transformation . Schneider Electric. Accessed: 4/September/2024.
• 25. How much electricity does an American home use? U.S. Energy Information Administration. Accessed: 4/September/2024.

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Sustainable management definition & top 10 best practices in ‘24, top 6 circular economy best practices for businesses in 2024, top 6 esg & sustainability reporting best practices in 2024.

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A wonderful collection of case studies on corporate sustainability. I enjoyed the read. I am convicted to delve into promoting sustainability in Africa.

Hello, James! Thank you for your feedback. Awesome! That’s a great cause to pursue.

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Case studies of sustainable design and eco efficiency

Introduction to the unit.

Many designers have taken onboard the need to assist in achieving sustainability whilst fuelling a thriving economy with growth in production and consumption levels inherent in a capitalist framework. No two designers are necessarily the same. Their profiles, their designs and their ethical stances may also be quite different. This Unit examines how companies and individual designers have established a distinctive profile and have invested much of their creativity towards Sustainable Product Design (SPD).

Learning outcomes

The aims of this unit are to explore:

To examine examples of sustainable design

To evaluate eco efficiency in products and services

To consider indicators and metrics

1. Political Background

The term Sustainable Product Design (SPD) was coined at an International Symposium on Sustainable Consumption in Oslo, Norway in 1994. This meeting defined the term as:

‘the use of goods and services that respond to basic needs and bring a better quality of life, while minimizing the use of natural resources, toxic materials and emissions of waste and pollutants over the life cycle, so as not to jeopardize the needs of future generations.’

Some eight years later, the UK Government signed up to:

‘encourage and promote the development of a ten year framework of programmes…. To accelerate the shift towards sustainable consumption’ Securing The Future, 2005 (see website: Sustainable Development in Government)

Through a new Sustainable Design Forum, the UK Government is set on following home this declaration where it can champion those involved in eco-design and induct others into the process. It will promote best practice tools and approaches, which can then be adopted by others. It will also continue to develop its policies on sustainable consumption and production.

A second prong of the strategy is to develop the markets for such sustainable products. The Economic Regional Development Fund, for example, is partnering projects such as Remade and Enhance. Individuals starting up in the business sector are supported and a strong emphasis is being fostered to enhance sustainability and sustainable design in its portfolio and to target future designers, producers and manufacturers.

2. Eco Terminology

There is much debate over eco terminology as this branch of the subject continues to develop rapidly. In general, most designers will refer relatively loosely to eco-design or sustainable design. Those working in recycling will point generally to this as their abroad area of activity. Champeney (2006), however, has questioned the tendency for environmentalists to impose an environmental value to all objects made using recycled materials. It is important to establish here that eco-design does not deal with the fundamental question of whether a product is really needed in the full context of sustainability. To do this, we need to explore other elements such as: cultural attitudes, value systems, ethics, equity and access into design processes. Design for recycling and recycleability is often seen as the easy option when energy efficiency or reduced emissions may result in less environmental impact (Goggin and Dewberry, 1997). Turning rags to rugs and tin into jewellery is nothing new (Press, 1997).

The challenge for the manufacturer then is to focus on design-led thinking, the psychology of the designer, the intricate process of trade-offs that may arise and the creative and aesthetic opportunities that designing for sustainability presents.

Thinking Questions

• Are eco-preneurs motivated by a true desire to push change or simply looking for a niche to exploit?
• In what ways are they networking and how much is it integral to their success?
• Where do they fit into mainstream product design?
• How are they influencing the aesthetics of sustainable product design?
• Some are committed to the cause, some out for the main chance others a mix of the two.
• It depends who you talk to. Again, some are and some prefer to work in isolation.
• Some do and sometimes for large organisations such as Leitz, for example.
• Well, look at the Sony range of electronic products and you'll see some stunning ergonomics but then perhaps Bang and Olufsen steals the show here?

3. New Thinking

In 1984, Victor Papanek wrote challenging designers to rethink their practices, in ‘Design for the Real World’ . He followed up his challenge in 1995 with, ‘The Green Imperative: Ecology and Ethics in Design and Architecture’ . He emphasised here the need for designers to recognise their ecological responsibility. The designers were seen as teachers and in a position to inform and influence their clients and consumers. They could provide choices for people and these choices had to be meaningful, enabling them to make more of their own life decisions. He called for a rethinking of products and acknowledged that, ‘no product stands alone’. Products, therefore, that are designed specifically to help the environment along with design diversification are an example of responsible design. He pioneered a function matrix to explain the six phases of production and resulting pollution as:

• Choice of material
• Manufacturing process
• Packaging of product
• The finished product
• Transportation

Papenek’s Function Complex.

For your Personal Notes

• Come up with examples of the convenience traps of design to perpetuate markets. For example: miniaturisation, increased power, gadgetry, ‘state of the art’ and packaging as product.
• Now come up with examples of the opposite ie Green Design. For example: localised product, flexible, emphasis on quality, performance and craftsmanship.

Unfortunately what Papernek conceived as green design developed negative connotations associated with ‘green-washing’ as a superficial marketing attempt to ‘clean up’ products. His influence, therefore has received less attention than it should have for the past decades.

In his book, ‘The Total Beauty of Sustainable Products’ Edwin Datschefski (2001) describes the environmental and social impacts of products as their underlying ugliness and he then goes on to forward examples of sustainable products that he considers show total beauty. His five basic principles of sustainable product design are:

• Cyclic compostable or continuously recyclable
• Solar consumes only renewable energy
• Efficient energy, water and resource
• Safe products and by-products containing no hazardous materials
• Social product manufacture and its use supports basic human rights.

Traditionally, designers have seen their role to achieve both creative and technical aspects of quality by taking in such criteria as ergonomics, usability, performance, materials and energy optimisation. McDonough and Braungart (2002) challenge this viewpoint by asking for a redefinition of ‘quality’ adding ecological intelligence, social justice and celebration of creativity, to design criteria.

4. Case Studies

Inspire Recycle are a Kingston University partnership focussing on the area of recycling and design innovation. Paul Micklethwaite and the team there have written numerous papers on the UK scene, some of which they feature on their website:

http://www.inspirerecycle.org

These focus on the success stories and best practice case studies. They highlight the necessity for changing conventional attitudes on recycled products. For example:

‘People sometimes assume that recycled products will be poor quality or expensive. These negative perceptions will be challenged if attractive, functional and affordable recycled products are explicitly promoted and marketed as ‘recycled’ (2006).

To conclude this section, Manzini (2006) comes up with an abstract view of the aesthetics of recycling as complex links between human beings and the products they own. The problem as he sees it, is to amend the purely technical and organisational connotation which characterises today’s activities of separating, collecting and processing discarded products and bringing them out of the:

‘dark corner of our cultural universe whose industrial society hunts down anything that smacks of garbage and tries to hide it’.

5. Design Networking

Stakeholders from different sectors are beginning to network effectively. A sustainability network, ‘Sustainability in Practice’, for example, has been facilitating networking events for designers such as a series of lectures that take place bi-annually. These kinds of relationships have been presented graphically by Roberts, 2006 and are shown below in Figure 2.

Diagram to show Sustainability in Design Networking.

6. Concluding Remarks

6.1. concluding remarks.

We might conclude this Unit by noting that eco-designers are beginning to make their presence felt in mainstream design. The contradictions that persist throughout this subject, however, make it a bumpy ride. Successful innovative approaches at model level, for example, don’t always translate well to larger scales. Access to ‘eco-information’ specifically aimed at designers is also patchy, although this situation is improving

Illustration of an eco car.

Toyota has acknowledged a detrimental relationship exists between vehicle exhaust emissions, carbon dioxide, climate change and urban air pollution. In response it set about launching the revolutionary Toyota D-CAT (Diesel Clean Advanced Technologies) concept, which lowers emission levels to well below Euro IV standards for diesel engines.

The Eco Car They have also effectively pioneered a hybrid (petrol/electric) technology to produce the world's first mass produced eco-vehicle - the Toyota Prius. The Prius incorporates Toyota's innovative Hybrid Synergy Drive, which integrates all aspects of their Hybrid System, from an optimum combination of electric motor and petrol engine to electricity regeneration through the braking system.

Through the use of the Hybrid Synergy Drive system, the vehicle is run from an emissions point of view, under the most efficient mode. As petrol and/or electric. The greatest benefit here to the environment is the generation of up to 89% less tailpipe pollutants than conventional internal combustion engines. It also achieves 2.5 times the average fuel efficiency of conventional vehicles. Toyota plans to introduce the Hybrid Synergy Drive approach into more of its vehicle products.

Reflective Question 1

Explore the websites and marketing information emanating from organisations known to you. What key aspects and principles of sustainable product design apply? Make a note of your thoughts in your personal notes or learning journal.

6.2. Useful websites

You can explore some of the organisations and sustainable product design initiatives further at the following websites:

• Securing the Future. One Planet Economy. Sustainable Development Strategy. Chapter 3, Defra, March 2005: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/business/scp/
• Champeney, Anna. 2006. Adapted from Reclaimed:Contemporary British Craft and Design, The British Council: http://www.britishcouncil.org/arts-design-craft-reclaimed.htm
• Goggin, Phillip & Dewberry, Emma. Spaceship Ecodesign. 1997: http://www.co-design.co.uk/edew+pgo.htm
• Manzini, E. 2006 The aesthetics of recycling is not in the product: http://www.re-f-use.com

You might want to follow up this unit by looking at developments in Business and Sustainability. This could include the mixed messages emanating from business, an examination of the impact of eco-heroes and villains and also try to identify the resulting diverse approaches to sustainability in business.

Now you have completed this unit, you might like to:

Post a message to the unit forum.

Review or add to your Learning Journal.

Rate this unit.

You might also like to:

Find out more about related courses ran by the University of Exeter: MSc Sustainable Development

Book a meeting with FM to talk live with other learners

Create a Knowledge Map to summarise this topic.

Acknowledgements

John merefield.

John is an Environmental, European and Chartered Geologist with research interests in atmospheric particles and science education. John is a long standing member of the Institute of Science Technology, the Geological Society of London, the Association of Geoscientists for International Development and the National Society for Clean Air.

Formerly Director of the Earth Resources Centre, he is currently programme leader in Environmental Studies for the School of Education and Lifelong Learning and tutor in Business and Sustainability for the School of Geography, Archaeology and Earth Resources. His research, training and consultancy assignments have led to work in 20 countries and 70 publications.

John Blewitt

John has extensive experience in adult, further and higher education. He was formerly Course Leader for the BA Community Regeneration and Development and Undergraduate Course Chair in the School of Lifelong education and Development at the University of Bradford and a founder member of the Yorkshire and Humber Education for Sustainability Forum.

John joined the Exeter University in 2003 and is currently co-Director of the MSc Sustainable Development where he leads the Distance Learning, OPLeaders and Sustainable Communities pathways. John is also Director of the MA Archaeology and Heritage Management.

Recent external activities include work with the United Nations Advisory Panel on Sustainability Communications, WWF International on One Planet Leaders John is currently a member of Sustainability SouthWest, the UK Sustainable Development Panel and the IUCN Commission on Education and Communication.

John's research interests are in the areas of developing Sustainable Communities and New Media and Sustainability.

Photo of Solo - Hungarian eco car by Zsoolt available from Flickr under CC:Attribution-Noncommercial 2.0 Generic

All other photos contained within this unit originated at the University of Exeter.

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Sustainable development of digital cultural heritage: a hybrid analysis of crowdsourcing projects using fsqca and system dynamics.

1. Introduction

2. problem description and research framework, 2.1. defining digital humanities cultural heritage crowdsourcing projects and their sustainability implications, 2.2. “resource synergy–subject interaction–value co-creation” analytical framework, 2.3. integrated research paradigm based on fsqca-sd, 3. research process and results, 3.1. configuration analysis of digital humanities cultural heritage crowdsourcing projects’ sustainable development based on fsqca, 3.1.1. case selection and data collection, 3.1.2. measurement of condition variables and outcome variable, 3.1.3. data analysis and configuration analysis, 3.2. development of system dynamics simulation model, 3.2.1. model boundary determination and key variable definition, 3.2.2. causal loop diagrams of subsystems and their system dynamics modeling simulation.

• Configuration elements are not static combinations in project operation but engage in dynamic interactions.
• The impact of various configuration elements on project development involves a combination of immediate and cumulative effects.
• The effects of element combinations exhibit path dependence and positive feedback self-reinforcing effects.

3.2.3. Analysis of Simulation Results

3.2.4. theoretical correspondence between simulation results and fsqca findings, 4. discussion, 4.1. research summary, 4.2. theoretical contributions, 5. conclusions, 5.1. summary of research findings, 5.2. practical implications, author contributions, data availability statement, conflicts of interest.

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Zhang, Y.; Dong, C. Sustainable Development of Digital Cultural Heritage: A Hybrid Analysis of Crowdsourcing Projects Using fsQCA and System Dynamics. Sustainability 2024 , 16 , 7577. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16177577

Zhang Y, Dong C. Sustainable Development of Digital Cultural Heritage: A Hybrid Analysis of Crowdsourcing Projects Using fsQCA and System Dynamics. Sustainability . 2024; 16(17):7577. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16177577

Zhang, Yang, and Changqi Dong. 2024. "Sustainable Development of Digital Cultural Heritage: A Hybrid Analysis of Crowdsourcing Projects Using fsQCA and System Dynamics" Sustainability 16, no. 17: 7577. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16177577

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