Assistant Professor, Arizona State University
Philip White, IDSA, is an ecological design strategist who develops ecologically intelligent products and systems. He helps students, practitioners and companies apply ecodesign strategies and advanced environmental impact assessment methods. He is a longtime member of IDSA; he joined the Society in 1996. "IDSA is an incredibly receptive network where designers can explore the responsibility of designers, which can be traced in many respects to 1999 IDSA Personal Recognition Award winner Victor Papanek and his interactions with IDSA in the 1970s and 1980s," says White. "IDSA affords the best way establish a dialogue with the dispersed members of our influential discipline."
As an assistant professor at Arizona State University, White teaches courses on design for ecology and social equity, industrial design focusing on low-impact system design, life cycle assessment and design for The Circular Economy. How does he describe the next generation of designers? "The realities of modern environmental damage are increasingly palpable," says White. "Hurricanes of unprecedented scale and intensity; floating oceanic plastic waste gyres the size of Texas; the large-scale melting of two-million-year-old glacial ice. Although some designers feel numbed by the immensity of the global environmental crisis, many are dedicated to find opportunities and make solutions. These designers are the rock stars!"
White’s early studies with the late designer, anthropologist and educator Victor Papanek spurred his passion for design for the environment. He is the primary author of Okala Practitioner, an ecodesign guide, including the development of Okala Impact Factors. In 2014, White co-edited and co-authored Environmental Life Cycle Assessment: Measuring the Impacts of Products. He has earned honors including IDSA's International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) and Red Dot and holds 14 patents. He published articles in many journals including the International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment and Innovation Quarterly.
Designing Durability: Emerging Opportunities
The durability of designed systems is an essential characteristic. We know that we should support the durability of designed systems as an ethical imperative. Despite this, most design briefs do not specify system durability. Accordingly, design teams do not maximize the durability of most new products. How can designers and design teams best support the durability of the systems that we design?
This paper explores the implicit opportunities. How can we meet the demands of marketing, leverage the power of design teams, and analyze the causes of failure in existing product lines while modeling failure in new designs? What constructive roles can software developers, legal advisors, product certifiers, and educators play?
The age-old problem of planned obsolescence and its flagrant waste of products and materials will not be resolved easily. But this should not deter us from exploring the opportunities.
During White’s time as chair of IDSA’s Sustainability Section, he established a partnership between IDSA and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Why should designers join IDSA’s Sustainability Section? “You can become more informed of emerging trends in environmentally-related design topics,” he explains. “To name a few: What do the 2017 Chinese used material import restrictions mean for US recycled material feedstock markets? With the United Kingdom, Germany, and France all planning to phase-in electric automobiles and phase out fossil-fueled automobiles by 2040, what can we learn about building the burgeoning electrical charging infrastructure in the United States? In what ways can designers support the transition to renewable energy and The Circular Economy?”
He hopes the Sustainability Section can be a forum to discuss critical environmental issues and design strategies; a place to find like-minded designers for ideas and moral support. “Set against the ongoing tragedy that is the American political system, this is immeasurably satisfying,” says White.
