Engineering Design DSN2096

Course Type: LT Credits: 2

Prepared by
Dr Komarasamy G
Associate Professor (Grade-2)
School of Computing Science and Engineering
VIT Bhopal University

Unit-5 1
 Unit - 6
Sustainable Design: Concepts of sustainable
development, Sustainable design principles - Design
for Environment; Life Cycle Assessment;

Models of sustainable design- Biomimicry, Eco Design,

Recycling; Social Innovation
 Sustainable Design
Sustainable design seeks to reduce
negative impacts on the environment.

Sustainable design acts as a philosophy

that is applied by different companies,
governmental entities, and non-
governmental organizations to achieve a
better future for the human race through
the wise and low-volume consumption of
Earth’s resources.

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 Principles of Sustainable Design
Form:
• Visual shape of the product
• The design should save energy consumption, packaging and transporting cost
Function & Usability:
• It helps consumers use the product in less time with less energy
• Less waste and throwaways
Cost-Effective Solution:
• Reducing the cost of current sustainable products
Renewable Energy:
• Not carbon energy, maybe solar or wind energy
Durable Design Solutions:
• Should reach zero waste
• Decrease the dependence on Earth’s resource
Design for Reuse and Recycling:
• Afterlife of the product
Bio mimicry:
• redesigning industrial systems on biological lines

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Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

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 LCA
Life-cycle assessment (LCA) is a technique to assess environmental impacts associated with all the
stages of a product's life from raw material extraction through materials processing, manufacture,
distribution, use, repair and maintenance, and disposal or recycling.

The 4 steps of LCA methodology

1. Goal and scope:

• ensures the LCA is performed consistently.

2. Inventory analysis:
• look at all the environmental inputs and outputs associated with a product or service

3. Impact assessment:
• environmental impacts, impact on human health

4. Interpretation:
• check that your conclusions are well-substantiated

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 Bio mimicry
Biomimicry is an approach to innovation that seeks sustainable solutions to
human challenges by emulating nature’s time-tested patterns and strategies.

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 Bio mimicry
Biomimicry is an approach to innovation that seeks sustainable solutions to
human challenges by emulating nature’s time-tested patterns and strategies.

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Eco Design

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 Eco Design
• What is Eco-design and Why is it so important?
• There's something wrong about a society that uses 7,500 liters of water —
the amount drunk by a person in seven years — to manufacture a pair of
jeans. This fact, published by the UN in 2019, is the tip of an iceberg that
needs solutions like eco-design.
• It is a new philosophy that considers product sustainability from start to
finish, where extraction, manufacturing, distribution and consumer use
must all adhere to green criteria.
• Eco-design is a linchpin of the circular economy, a strategy the purpose of
which is to give products an indefinite life within a closed, waste-free circuit. 
• Designing with sustainable materials means that the goods in the circular
economy reach the end of their useful life in a suitable condition to be put
to new uses, unlike the buy-use-throw away or 'linear' economy.

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 Eco Design
• FEATURES AND EXAMPLES OF ECO DESIGN
• The eco-design approach has an impact on many product characteristics, which
include:
• Fewer materials
Manufacturing using fewer materials and less energy. This protects resources
and reduces emissions.
• Easy to recycle
Ensuring easy disassembly means using materials that are easily identified,
reused or recycled.
• Use of bio-materials
Using a single type of material or a biodegradable material is best, whether
natural or a derivative.

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 Eco Design
• Long-lasting
Shapes and sustainable materials should be long-lasting, maximising the useful
life of the product.
• Multipurpose, reusable and recyclable
• Products should have multiple uses, be suitable for reuse, and be
manufactured with recyclable materials.
• Lowering emissions
• Products should be of a suitable size to save material and fuel
consumption during transport to reduce CO2 emissions.
• Innovative
Technological innovations can optimize product efficiency and sustainability.
• Green message
Sustainable design spreads the idea of sustainability with messages intrinsic to
the product itself.
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 Recycling
• The collection and conversion process of waste materials into usable and new
materials is called Recycling.
• It is one of the eco-friendly methods of solid waste management for a
sustainable society instead of letting it go to landfills. Current disposal
methods threaten our environment and health, but with sustainable
recycling, we conserve natural resources and decrease the harm we cause to
the world.
• Recycling non-renewable materials reduce environmental pollution and
protect natural ecosystems.
• Nevertheless, we have to remember that not every recycling operation is
sustainable and beneficial for our environment.

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 Recycling
• Importance of Recycling
• Recycling plays a major role in today’s standards of welfare. The new era of
sustainability in the 21st century is one of the major concerns that created a
need for an alternative to conventional waste disposal.
• An increasing number of governments, companies, organizations and people
encourage recycling. Let’s find out why!
• The amount of waste transferred to landfills and incinerators are reduced.
• The finite natural sources are kept safe! Recycling saves trees and forests,
decreases the need for extraction of new metal ores.
• Protects the ecosystem and wildlife.
• Macroeconomic goals are sustained by keeping the source of materials in
domestic markets.

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 Social Innovation
• Social innovation refers to the design and implementation of new solutions
that imply conceptual, process, product, or organizational change, which
ultimately aim to improve the welfare and wellbeing of individuals and
communities.
• Many initiatives undertaken by the social economy and by the civil society
have proven to be innovative in dealing with socio-economic and
environmental problems, while contributing to economic development.
• To fully tap the potential of social innovation, an enabling policy framework is
needed to support public, non-profit and private actors to co-construct and
implement socially innovative solutions and thereby contribute to address
socio-economic issues, build stronger territorial resilience and better respond
to future shocks.

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