viii
can undercut facts and best intentions to sustainably meet the world’s design
challenges.
Effective and iconic designs typically emerge as elegant manifestations that
move people. Today, they must also function to heal the planet. This will require all
the ingenuity our species can muster, and it cannot happen without establishing an
underlying system, like LCA, to track our progress toward the goal of a truly sustainable marketplace.
That said, design is primarily a visual discipline. Many practitioners, having
been educated in schools of art and design, may not be naturally inclined to embrace
such technically driven design methods, preferring instead to rely on more heuristic
or intuitive approaches. This book will introduce designers to a complementary set
of science-based perspectives and techniques that address a global market that
increasingly demands proof that things perform ecologically as advertised. Just as
good design wins minds by solving people’s everyday problems and wins hearts
through solutions that move beyond the mere utilitarian to inspire delight, LCA
data-supported design solutions win minds through proof and hearts through trust.
While this book will provide some detailed information about LCA, and refers to
the latest research in the field, it is not a technical compendium. Rather, it is a bridge
for those in the design fields who are uninitiated to but interested in how LCA is
helping to solve the grand environmental challenges of today and tomorrow through
data-driven, science-based techniques. Since our existential challenges are not
merely technical but are also rooted in misperception, misinformation, fear, and
confusion, some chapters in the book contextualize the problems for which LCA
and related analytical and visualization techniques can provide solutions. Other
chapters work to cast LCA as a normal part of the designer’s workflow.
Designers and their clients are primarily focused on appearance and performance; environmental impact issues are minor considerations relative to cost, utility, and aesthetics. Billions of consumers playing by traditional rules of the
marketplace will only accelerate ecological destruction. Environmentally responsive designs may never be realized if they are cost prohibitive. Complex and expensive regulatory or product certification systems create excuses for not bringing the
best solutions to market. Smoothing the path for designers to easily “bake in” invisible ecological benefits to everything they do, at little or no extra cost, requires
awareness, understanding, and evolution in twenty-first-century tools and work habits. This book is a guide and an exhortation to work smarter, provide added value to
clients, and to make these changes now.
Newark, NJ, USA
John Cays
Preface
can undercut facts and best intentions to sustainably meet the world’s design
challenges.
Effective and iconic designs typically emerge as elegant manifestations that
move people. Today, they must also function to heal the planet. This will require all
the ingenuity our species can muster, and it cannot happen without establishing an
underlying system, like LCA, to track our progress toward the goal of a truly sustainable marketplace.
That said, design is primarily a visual discipline. Many practitioners, having
been educated in schools of art and design, may not be naturally inclined to embrace
such technically driven design methods, preferring instead to rely on more heuristic
or intuitive approaches. This book will introduce designers to a complementary set
of science-based perspectives and techniques that address a global market that
increasingly demands proof that things perform ecologically as advertised. Just as
good design wins minds by solving people’s everyday problems and wins hearts
through solutions that move beyond the mere utilitarian to inspire delight, LCA
data-supported design solutions win minds through proof and hearts through trust.
While this book will provide some detailed information about LCA, and refers to
the latest research in the field, it is not a technical compendium. Rather, it is a bridge
for those in the design fields who are uninitiated to but interested in how LCA is
helping to solve the grand environmental challenges of today and tomorrow through
data-driven, science-based techniques. Since our existential challenges are not
merely technical but are also rooted in misperception, misinformation, fear, and
confusion, some chapters in the book contextualize the problems for which LCA
and related analytical and visualization techniques can provide solutions. Other
chapters work to cast LCA as a normal part of the designer’s workflow.
Designers and their clients are primarily focused on appearance and performance; environmental impact issues are minor considerations relative to cost, utility, and aesthetics. Billions of consumers playing by traditional rules of the
marketplace will only accelerate ecological destruction. Environmentally responsive designs may never be realized if they are cost prohibitive. Complex and expensive regulatory or product certification systems create excuses for not bringing the
best solutions to market. Smoothing the path for designers to easily “bake in” invisible ecological benefits to everything they do, at little or no extra cost, requires
awareness, understanding, and evolution in twenty-first-century tools and work habits. This book is a guide and an exhortation to work smarter, provide added value to
clients, and to make these changes now.
Newark, NJ, USA
John Cays
Preface