Our modern world faces many challenges and globally governments are tackling sustainability and carbon reduction targets through the introduction of legislation. With many sectors striving to improve their green credentials, there is an ever-increasing need for a readily accessible, certified and endorsed source of information.
The need to move to a circular economy is clear and our concept is a new one-stop ‘Sustain Our Planet’ Powerapp forum that will deliver design details and data for the most sustainable products, materials and approaches available, supporting truly responsible and purposeful solutions.
Typically, new project research requires accessing different data sources which can conflict with commercial pressures of a business and available time to do this. By partnering with approved suppliers and being accredited to professional and government bodies ‘Sustain Our Planet’ will host a series of ‘Certified’ material and application sheets for all sectors, listing their most sustainable materials, products and best practice approaches – and the impact these choices will have on the environment.
The app will be more than another reference site. It will be unique, giving engineer’s access to a trusted source of accredited and certified material, product and application data. It will create a much-needed voice and forum for sustainable engineering - allowing for discussion groups, committees and the sharing of best practice across the community and educational institutions. Collaboration will be encouraged and there is potential for new entrepreneurs to invest in the best solutions.
In support of SDG12 the site will be funded by those manufacturers accredited to the site but to remain independent no one manufacturer will be promoted over another.
Why an app? We are all comfortable working with apps from our mobile devices. This is certainly true of today’s engineers who are busy, on site and need instant access to the information.
@Jonathan Fashanu - hello :-) Do you have any tips on setting our personal actions for EWB? I have a few ideas, but they are quite focused on my own discipline and my professional role. I'd be keen to hear your thoughts on how I could expand on my knowledge base, grow my skill-set in sustainability and develop more confidence. I have quite a senior role, so end up acting as mentor and rarely get the opportunity to be a mentee! Thoughts from fellow team members and other teams very welcome too!
Hi Jonathan and thank you for your positive feedback - to introduce myself I work with thermal energy solutions for Spirax Sarco and my background is process and factory automation although my current role is very commercial as Channels Manager. We agree that the basic solution is not unique but believe the designer tools and solution support will be. How to be more inclusive is also key so we will give this further thought and look forward to your further thoughts
Hi Paul,
Thanks for the concept note. I've been assigned to your team as a mentor. As a designer I love the idea where you can find a database of sustainable products that helps you specify them. I'm a structural engineer and a passive house designer so we are always looking for solutions that incorporate best practices.
I would love to know who everyone is and their area of expertise/study. So please don't be shy with everyone contributing. I have a few thoughts which I would like you as a group to discuss further:
Let's drill down a little deeper and identify the solution that you are proposing here. is it a database of sustainable products? Is it a sustainable platform for idea sharing? Is it an accreditation board? Or is it a specifiers tool? Is it a way for manufacturers to market new products? I don't see the app as a solution but more as a means of delivering a solution but we have to figure out what the solution is and then we can find the best way to distribute the information. Start with Why, What, Who, How? Then we can hone in the purpose of the solution.
What you are proposing isn't a novel solution however the application of the solution can be very unique. Have a think about why there isn't a solution like yours in the market yet. What are the challenges? What is the competition? What areas are there opportunities in? A SWOT analysis of the solution might help. https://asbp.org.uk/ https://passivehouse.com/ https://www.greenbuildingstore.co.uk/
While the need to move to a circular economy is clear, do we need to create more awareness? Will the awareness be created by the app? What are the benefits to using the app? As a manufacturer what do I get out of it? As an end-user what do I get from it?
Are there other ways for the app to fund itself? Designer subscription? How will you fund the initial development of the app? I believe there is some funding available as design development grants.(https://www.ukri.org/councils/innovate-uk/guidance-for-applicants/) VC funded? You mention funded by manufacturers - the only issue with relying on those manufacturers to fund it is product placement.
I was involved in the prototyping of an app and it always help to do some sketches on some aspects of the functionality this will help highlight areas of unnecessary complexity in the process.
Try and demonstrate how the solution will incorporate a more inclusive audience, let's think about everyone in the supply chain and cross disciplines, architects, other industry professionals etc. Will it foster greater collaboration or will it monopolise? Sometimes our solutions can have unintended consequences.
Can you demonstrate how the solutions implemented by the app will foster a positive feedback in society? How can we make the solution more regenerative and give back?
I hope this is a starting point for some of the areas that we could work on in the brief. As a design challenge it's important to include a level of detail about the proposed solution so it's worth a think about it.
I'm happy to discuss here or on a video call if required. Please feel free to challenge any of the points. Looking forward to hearing from you.