How can design help reduce our energy consumption?

The Design Council's latest newsletter has a feature on how design can reduce energy use.

check it out here:
How can design help reduce our energy consumption?

Nearly half of the UK's carbon dioxide emissions come from energy we use every day - at home and when we travel. We know we should be reducing our energy consumption to save money (if not the planet) - but where, and how, to begin?

The average household produces 6 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. But that doesn’t mean very much to most people: what does a tonne of carbon dioxide even look like?

Can design help us visualise what we are spending, and wasting, on energy? Could design help us to uncover new ways we can reduce our carbon footprints? And what role can design have in making energy saving not only user-friendly, but also desirable?

Religious Green

Apparently, the Vatican has just received a donation that will offset it's carbon emissions.

Vatican Penance: Forgive Us Our Carbon Output

TISZAKESZI, Hungary — This summer the cardinals at the Vatican accepted an unusual donation from a Hungarian start-up called Klimafa: The company said it would plant trees to restore an ancient forest on a denuded stretch of land by the Tisza River to offset the Vatican’s carbon emissions.

The trees, on a 37-acre tract of land that will be renamed the Vatican climate forest, will in theory absorb as much carbon dioxide as the Vatican will produce in 2007: driving cars, heating offices, lighting St. Peter’s Basilica at night.


The New York Times has the full story.

Design for Sustainability Colloquium (Arch 249)

Gail Brager is once again coordinating a design for sustainability speaker series. It's only 1 unit and has a great line-up of speakers...

Prof. Gail Brager

Thursdays, 12:30-2:00, Rm 112 Wurster

Date	Speaker	Title
Aug 30	Gail Brager Professor, Dept. of Architecture, UCB	Introduction to Sustainability: Green Buildings and the LEED Rating System
Sept 6	Harrison Fraker Dean, College of Environmental Design, UCB	Made in China: “Eco-blocks” – A Replicable Model for Sustainable Neighborhoods
Sept 13	Kirsten Ritchie Director of Sustainable Design, Gensler	Return on Investment: The Impact of Green Buildings on the Triple Bottom Line
Sept 27	Kang Kiang Senior Associate, Chong Partners	Green Innovations: The New CA Academy of Sciences
Oct 4	Dave Johnson Director, West Coast Studio, McDonough & Partners	Toward Eco-Effective Architecture and Community Design
Oct 11	Bry Sarte Principal Engineer, Sherwood Design Engineers	Water as a Nexus for Urban Design Transformation
Oct 18	Joel Loveland Director, Integrated Design Lab, University of Washington	Light Re-Construction: Lessons about Daylighting from the Pacific Northwest
Oct 25	Judi Heerwagen Principal, J.H. Heerwagen & Associates Kevin Powell Director of Research, U.S. General Services Administration	Testing Sustainable Design Hypotheses: Are Green Buildings Better for People?
Nov 1	David Bushnell Principal, 450 Architects	Advocate, Educate, Design, Sustain: An integrated, community based, socially-responsible design process."
Nov 15	Cole Roberts Senior Consultant, Arup	Integrated Design and the Role of Life-Cycle Analysis
Nov 29	Bruce Hammond Principal, Hammond Fine Homes	Sustainable Design & Construction: A Builder’s Viewpoint
Dec 6	Panel Discussion (speakers TBA)	Women in Green

Sustainable Furniture?

Legare makes 'eco friendly furniture' with no tools required. The wood used is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC):

All Legare furniture is constructed of the finest natural plywoods sourced only from FSC Certified mills. The use of plywood is important not only for strength, but also because if the efficient use of logs and minimal amounts of toxic adhesives used in its manufacture.

The FSC Certification means that only legally harvested and forested lumber is used in production - no lumber from ecologically significant, socially valuable, specially protected or uncontrolled forests is allowed.

Welcome to the Green Product Development Class blog

This blog is to keep track of relevant and interesting snippets, products, data, ideas or opinions regarding green product development.

The blog accompanies the new Berkeley and CCA Fall 2007 class:
Green Product Development: Design for Sustainability
(or New Product Development with a focus on Sustainability)

taught by

Alice Agogino (Berkeley Engineering)
Sara Beckman (Haas Business School) and
Nathan Shedroff (CCA)

A little admin...

If you're interested in signing up for the class it may not yet be too late.

The class is cross-listed at Berkeley as:

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 290H
INFORMATION 290 P 005 LEC (Special topics in Information)
MBA 290N-2: New Product Development with a Focus on Sustainability