A framework for sustainable design

Over at livingprinciples.org they have distilled the decision process that goes into everyday design practice into a framework that anyone can follow.

The "Living Principles for Design" framework takes the four main areas of sustainability - environment, people, economy and culture and shows how these factors can be considered holistically.

In the road map they asks some questions to spark thoughts and consider alternatives in the following main areas.

Environment:

• Behaviours
• Creation
• Durability
• Disassembly
• Supply chain
• Waste
• Impacts

People:

• Impacts
• Conflicts
• Desirability
• Need/Use
• Long view

Economy:

• Systemic view
• Metrics
• Benefits
• Transparency
• Waste reuse

Culture:

• Visions
• Meanings and reactions
• A systemic view
• Diversity

Check out the road map and see if you can integrate these questions into your design process.