The commercial benefits of design-led sustainability

• 
  Joe O'Halloran
• Published: 28 Jan 2008

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Interest in environmentally responsible technology has never been higher; a lot of powerful marketing is being done by major IT suppliers’ brands to highlight their efforts in this area and much of what is being done is very laudable, but not particularly sustainable.

Research by Kyocera has shown a dramatic decline in the number of organisations willing to pay a modest premium for environmentally sound products, down from 60% in 1993 to just 31% today. This factor, coupled with the continuing perception that environmentally responsible products come at the expense of performance, demonstrates a “hard green line”, which places the onus on suppliers to absorb any costs of going green.

A lot has been said about initiatives in recycling, and offsetting schemes, especially in the world of printing, but they can have the unfortunate side effect of creating a culture of “excusing” environmental damage, a feeling that corporate guilt can be assuaged simply by paying a fee to a carbon offsetting company.

This approach in itself is not a sustainable way of dealing with the environmental challenges that we face. It is far more valuable to invest in attempts to reduce that damage in the first place, which is where sustainable design comes in. And this approach can also yield business benefits.

The benefits of design-led sustainability are straightforward: A product that consumes fewer resources at the outset is generally likely to cost less to manufacture. Similarly, the greater the thought put into minimising a product’s impact at the end of its life, the less cost will be associated with dealing with that impact.

This podcast will aim to show clearly the commercial benefits of design-led sustainability.

It will;