84124 Sustainability and Design
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Subject handbook information prior to 2020 is available in the Archives.
Credit points: 6 cp
Subject level:
Undergraduate
Result type: Grade and marksRequisite(s): 85503 Thinking Through Design AND 84110 Aesthetics in Industrial Design AND 84111 Understanding Three-dimensional Form AND 84115 Informing Industrial Design AND 85502 Researching Design Histories
Description
Among the more urgent needs of human societies today is to realise sustainable relationships with our planet's biosphere. The last decade has seen the emergence of increasingly comprehensive strategies by which designers can contribute to this wider societal goal. This subject provides frameworks for these strategies, options for their implementation in industrial design, as well as project opportunities to gain practical experience in their application.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
On successful completion of this subject, students should be able to:
| 1. | appreciate the impact of humans on the global environment |
|---|---|
| 2. | recognise an ethical and pragmatic need for the environmental impacts of products to be minimised |
| 3. | understand and apply the strategic frameworks through which industrial designers identify, assess, and respond to environmental concerns |
| 4. | access and use information on often complex environmental issues |
| 5. | use relevant methods to lessen the environmental impacts of their products |
| 6. | justify and convey their decision-making to others. |
Teaching and learning strategies
Subject delivery is a combination of lecture, tutorial and design workshop/studio classes.
Face-to-face classes incorporate a range of teaching and learning strategies that include; lectures, discussions, studio activities and student presentations, both individual and group work can be expected. These are complemented by independent student reading, drawing and model-making and reflection on class work.
Content (topics)
The subject comprises a series of lectures and related projects. The lectures address global environmental problems and detail how industrial designers can contribute to its solution through ecodesign practice. These lectures make clear the complexity of the task. The projects provide students with an opportunity to develop new approaches designed to lessen environmental degradation.
Assessment
Assessment task 1: Life Cycle Analysis Comparison
| Weight: | 40% |
|---|
Assessment task 2: Product Use and Behaviours
| Weight: | 20% |
|---|
Assessment task 3: Product/System Re-design
| Weight: | 40% |
|---|
References
Adams, W.M. 2009, Green development : environment and sustainability in a developing world, 3rd edn, Routledge, London ; New York.
Australia. Environment Australia. 2001, Are we sustaining Australia? : a report against headline sustainability indicators for Australia, Environment Australia, [Canberra].
Birkeland, J. 2002, Design for sustainability : a sourcebook of integrated, eco-logical solutions, Earthscan Publications Ltd, Sterling, VA.
Boylston, S. 2009, Designing sustainable packaging, Laurence King, London.
Brower, C., Mallory, R. & Ohlman, Z. 2009, Experimental eco - design : architecture, fashion, product, Rotovision, Mies, Switerland.
Christie, I., Warburton, D. & Real World Coalition. 2001, From here to sustainability : politics in the real world, Earthscan, London.
Ciambrone, D.F. 1997, Environmental life cycle analysis, Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton.
Dale, A. & Hill, S.B. 2001, At the edge : sustainable development in the 21st century, UBC Press, Vancouver., British Columbia.
Datschefski, E. 2001, The total beauty of sustainable products, Rotovision, Crans-Pres-Celigny, Switzerland.
Fry, T. & Eco-Design Foundation. 1992, Green desires : ecology, design, products, Eco-Design Foundation : Tower Books [distributor], Sydney.
Fuad-Luke, A. 2004, The eco-design handbook : a complete sourcebook for the home and office, New edition. edn, Thames & Hudson, New York.
Goedkoop, M., Effting, S. & Collignon, M. 2000, The eco-indicator 99 : a damage oriented method for life-cycle impact assessment : manual for designers, 2nd edn, PRé Consultants, Amersfoot, Netherlands.
Graedel, T.E. & Allenby, B.R. 2010, Industrial ecology and sustainable engineering, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.
Hinte, E.v. 2004, Eternally yours : time in design : product value sustenance, 010 Publishers, Rotterdam.
Horne, R., Grant, T. & Verghese, K. 2009, Life cycle assessment : principles, practice and prospects, CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Vic.
Lewis, H. & Gertsakis, J. 2001, Design + environment : a global guide to designing greener goods, Greenleaf, Sheffield.
Mackenzie, D. 1997, Green design : design for the environment, 2nd edn, Laurence King Publishing, [London].
Manzini, E. & Jégou, F. 2003, Sustainable everyday : scenarios of urban life, Edizioni Ambiente, Milan.
McDonough, W. & Braungart, M. 2002, Cradle to cradle : remaking the way we make things, North Point Press, New York.
Papanek, V.J. 1985, Design for the real world : human ecology and social change, 2nd edn, Thames and Hudson, London, England.
Papanek, V.J. 1995, The green imperative : ecology and ethics in design and architecture, Thames and Hudson, London.
Parsons, T. 2008, Thinking, objects : contemporary approaches to product design, AVA Academia, Lausanne ; Worthing.
Proctor, R. 2009, 1000 new eco designs and where to find them, Laurence King, London.
Ryan, C., Lewis, H., Gertsakis, J., Kestrel Film & Video (Australia) & Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. Centre for Design. 1997, The
Slade, G. 2006, Made to break : technology and obsolescence in America, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass.
Thorpe, A. 2007, The designer's atlas of sustainability, Island Press, Washington, DC.
Tischner, U. & Charter, M. 2001, Sustainable solutions : developing products and services for the future, Greenleaf, Sheffield.
Tischner, U., Masselter, S., Hirschl, B. & Germany. Umweltbundesamt. 2000, How to do EcoDesign? : a guide for environmentally and economically sound design, Verlag form, Frankfurt am Main.
Tukker, A. 2008, Perspectives on radical changes to sustainable consumption and production, Greenleaf, Sheffield.
Yencken, D.G.D. & Wilkinson, D. 2001, Resetting the compass : Australia's journey towards sustainability, Updated edn, CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Vic.