Design for the Environment
The natural world provides some of the most ingenious designs on the planet: beetles that can pull water out of fog, chameleons that can change their body color in an instant, camels that can store water in their bodies and lizards that can regenerate their broken tails; and that’s just the beginning. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of amazing organisms and ecosystems that influence how we interact with the world and other people. In this section the Green Innovator™ explores how scientists and innovators are using the natural world as inspiration for innovations in new technology and designs all over the world, not just because they are good ideas, but because they are helping us lead a more sustainable and greener lifestyle, save us money and can lead to more efficient designs.
Sustainable Mobility
Sustainable mobility is a new movement considering the impacts of not just vehicles, but the infrastructures and processes involved in the use of transportation devices. When we consider a car, the manufacturing design is sometimes an overlooked process but nonetheless, the steps involved in manufacturing can be some of the most important components to achieving an efficient and sustainable design. In this section of The Green Innovator™ we will look at several aspects of what sustainable mobility encompasses using case studies from several automobile manufacturers here in the U.S. Each example will highlight design and engineering decisions that ensure efficient and ecologically sound manufacturing processes, so that the cars you use, and the ways in which they are made, take into account you and your family and our home, the earth.
Sustainable Community Planning
Architects and urban planners all over the country are starting to use ecological and sustainable ways of thinking about community planning, architecture and systems dynamics when designing and constructing everything from the buildings we use everyday, to the roads that connect our cities and everything in between. Green design, sustainable architecture, smart growth and intelligent design are all buzz words being used by the design community all over the world. In this section The Green Innovator™ explores concepts of sustainable urban planning, design and architecture that will be introduced to students, exploring examples of communities and structures around the country that are revolutionizing how we construct our homes, our schools and places of work. A way of designing that is saving families more money while increasing their quality of life in the process.
Green Product Design
Every product we use, from your clothing to the very paper this design resource is printed on, contains a number of hidden design costs that all go through similar cycles of product design and manufacturing. But do you really know how these things are made? This section will look generally at how many common products we use everyday are made. We will look at the environmental consequences of these designs and begin to understand how we can redesign this process to be more sustainable for the environment.