Hi Mark,

There has been a lot of work in this area already and the effects have been
extensive - we-ve just either got used to them or we don't see them (e.g.
the design implications of product  take back policies, reuse by Xerox,
improved dismantling by Hoover). Try googling  recycle design and  reuse
"product design". The origins can be seen in the 60s design literature.

Most of the  research and design work has been done  in engineering design
research areas. Perhaps someone else can point to documentation of research
done in Art and Design?

An important issue to face is that many aspects of design, reuse, recycling,
'made to last' and 'eco-design' often have negative environmental
consequences.

For example, long lasting design of vehicles is problematic because
environmentally, vehicles now are much better designed than they were a
decade ago and very very much better than cars from the 70s. Rapid
obsolescence in computer servers is good in energy terms. Current computer
servers are energy hungry and it is clear that new directions in server
farms will be much more energy efficient. Ditto lighting. Turbines and
generators for electricity generation have  a significant problem that they
last decades. One of the best ways to reduce UK emissions is to update all
turbines and generator technology to the current best practice - difficult
as many of the existing setups have decades of life left in them. 

Some recycling processes use more energy and resources and create more
pollution  than creating virgin material. Often material separation is a
problem for recycling (e.g. the labels on plastic parts can badly
contaminate recycling).

Reuse can be a problem with cross contamination - especially of biologically
activr ingrediaents. In developing counbtries, re-use and recycle strategies
can slow overall economic and knowledge development.with problematic social
consequences.

Another issue is that many  of the 'environmentally better solutions'
aren't. Two examples from the vehicle world are current hybrid cars (small
turbo diesels do better) and bio-ethanol.

One of the most amazing counter intuitive findings is is the indication that
environmental design should avoid tree planting - soil-based CO2
sequestration is apparently much better than trees (obvious - they are CO2
neutral) and trees reduce the effectiveness of soil-based CO2 sequestration.

On the re-use in design front, there are obvious efficiencies in reuseing
design knowledge. Some recent research I did with Trudi Cooper indicates,
however, that this often leads to unexpected shifts in paoer towards
hegemonies.

Its clear that successfully designing for re-use.,  re-design and eco-design
is not as easy as it appears.

Best wishes

Terry

-----Original Message-----
From: PhD-Design - This list is for discussion of PhD studies and related
research in Design [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Mark
Richardson
Sent: Wednesday, 29 August 2007 12:46 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Redesign

Thanks Terry,

It would be interesting to know of some of the pitfalls of the re-design and
re-use systems discovered in past research.  It makes me wonder why it has
not been successfully integrated into design methodology as a sophisticated,
broad scale infrastructure.  Is it because we, as designers, are too
concerned with 'newness' and the exploration of virgin territory, or that
our social environmental consciousness has not had enough momentum to drive
the acceptance of used components.  Or is it simply that technology has not
been available to support an effective used-parts infrastructure?  I suspect
it's probable all of the above.

Cheers,
Mark

Terence wrote:
> Dear Mark,
> There was a tremendous amount of work done in this area by members of the
> ECO2-IRN group based at Cranfield during the 1990s (see
> http://www.mcaloone.com/environment/eco2/intro.htm ) Some of the members
of
> that group are members of this list. My guess is it is still available.
Tim
> MacAloone and Tracy Bhamra were key contacts.
> Best, 
> Terry
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: PhD-Design - This list is for discussion of PhD studies and related
> research in Design [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Mark
> Richardson
> Sent: Tuesday, 28 August 2007 10:55 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Redesign
>
> Dear Francois,
>
> I think a comprehensive literature search and review in the area of
> component and material reuse would be highly beneficial.  I (along with a
> number of other researchers I know) would be keen to develop such a list.
> I'd also be keen to know how many other design researchers on the PhD
design
> list are already looking into this area.  It would be good to to take the
> theory and begin to fashion it into a collaborative infrastructure of
design
> practice.
>
> Regards,
>
> Mark Richardson
>
>
>
> Francois-Xavier Nsenga <[log in to unmask]> wrote:> Dear Mark,
>
> Thank you for sharing the information! It really feels good to see more
and
> more likeminded people around!
>
> I have just sent off-list a note to Stella (one of the previous posts)
> suggesting to form a team that would look into the possibility of a
> compilation and annotation of available literature on information from
users
> to designers...
>
> Would you also be interested to join in?
>
> I am very much interested to have a look into your 'redesign' project, and
> please forward a copy to me after your paper is delivered at the IASDR 07
> conference.
>
>
> Kind regards!
>
>
> Francois
> --
> Transport Design Coordinator / Ph.D. candidate Monash University Faculty
of
> Art & Design Department of Design, Industrial Design 900 Dandenong Rd
> Caulfield East 3145 Victoria, Australia
>
> Ph: +61 3 9903 1859
> Mob: 0425 726 011
>