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to put thought into what implications their actions could cause in the future with regards to quality
of life for society. The interest in these environmental concerns grew with consumers and businesses
and from that, in the 1980’s, came green design and eco-design (Wootton, 2006).

Green design involves designing products/buildings which minimise the use of non-recyclable
materials and using materials that cause a low amount of upstream environmental impact. There
must be a focus on making products as energy efficient as possible (The difference between green
and sustainable,2007)

The eco design principle is that the effect that a product has on the environment must be considered
and reduced at all stages of the products’ life cycle. These stages include what materials are used to
produce the product, the manufacturing processes involved, its marketing and distribution, the
products’ use and its eventual disposal (Vienna TU, no date).

Sustainable Design today
Sustainable Design is one design movement which has stayed within society. The world faces many of
the same problems as it did when the movement first began in the 60’s. The need for sustainable
design solutions is more prevalent today than it was ever. Architecture, especially, is one of the most
essential areas to apply the principles of sustainable design. Per Horsey states that (2013),
buildings
represent approximately half of the total energy and emissions and three quarters of electricity
consumption in the United States.
Currently, there are 7.2 billion people on earth. The world only has enough resources to meet the
demand of 2 billion. Water depletion is becoming even more serious than oil depletion. Rising global
temperatures and increased irrigation are some of the maincauses.

With oil reserves still depleting and yet 40% of the world’s energy coming from it, there is a great
necessity for more alternatives to be discovered to replace the use of fossil fuels.

Forests all around the globe are rapidly being cut down due to growing urbanisation and use for
agriculture. This can contribute to global warming, flooding and drought and loss of many different
species to which forests are their natural habitat (The World Counts,2013).

Victor Papanek was a designer, teacher and author born in Vienna in 1923. He emigrated to the US in
1939 and studied at Cooper Union and MIT. He briefly studied under the architect Frank Lloyd
Wright. He wrote the book Design for the Real World: Human Ecology and Social Change (1971)
which became a great success (Papanek Foundation, 2011). The book shows how design can be made
to combat many problems such as overcrowding, pollution and obsolescence. The book shows the
negative effects of the wasteful society that had developed and how we should work towards
socially responsible design (Designers & Books, 2013)

i
Alastair Fuad Luke is professor of design research at the Faculty of Design and Art and eco degn
facilitator. He has published several books including Design Activism (2009) and The Eco-Design
Handbook (2002) (Luke, no date)
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