You are here
Sustainable Design
The global market is under increasing demand for products and cost-effective processes. Effective processes are highly valuable – the reduction or elimination of waste or unproductive time can positively impact not only profits, but global sustainability.
While we know this, we rarely consider where waste products end up after leaving our hands or even whether we need all of the products we have in the first place. In order to become more sustainable, we need to start thinking more about the 3Rs: reduce, reuse and recycle. We need to start asking ourselves whether we need to the product we are about to consume, whether there is a more sustainable option, and if we do need it, whether the product can be redesigned in such a way that it can more easily be reused or recycled.
This project sees students conducting a personal waste audit where they critically examine the waste they produce. They then conduct a life cycle assessment where they track a product of their choosing throughout its life – from manufacture to disposal - and use this assessment to propose ways to reduce waste either at home or at the school, as well as proposing ideas for redesigning products to make them more sustainable.
We’ve developed this project as a six-week project. To assist you in offering project based learning, we’ve developed a package that will help you manage the classroom aspect of your project, as well as gain the necessary technical knowledge you need.
Sustainable Design: This document guides you through the technical aspects you need to know while doing sustainable design project with your students.
The most important thing about project based learning is implementing a solid structure around your project. Students should be free to explore, but they need to know what is expected of them, and when. It is also likely that they will need time to learn how to work as a team.
Our project workbook consists of a project outline, a tentative calendar for you to use, sample assessment strategies and rubrics that you can use.
Project Calendar (with flow-chart)
Sample Table of Contents for proposed reports
Team Development: Single PDF or ZIP file of individual Word documents
Assessment Rubrics: Single PDF or ZIP file of individual Word documents
Copyright 2008-2011