Skip to content
Product cover

How Sustainability Fuels Design Innovation

October 1, 2010 | Steven D. Eppinger, Michael S. Hopkins | Social Responsibility

There’s an alarmist view of sustainable design that tilts toward the all-or-nothing. But it’s not the best path, says new-product design expert Steven Eppinger. When it comes to the practice of what Eppinger calls “design for environment,” he rejects the radical and argues for the incremental. For one thing, allor- nothing isn’t an approach businesses are especially good at; it takes too long, and fails too often. For another, the sum of continuous incrementalism is likely, he says, to carry designs further toward the no-impact outcomes everyone desires. Plus, there’s a method to it. It can be learned. The secret is to focus on materials.

In this MIT SMR Sustainability Interview, Eppinger addresses the question of how environmental concerns can drive product design and innovation. Among his main points: 1) Design and product innovation for environmental sustainability should be framed as a materials problem; 2) How much material is used is less important than what material is used; 3) Don’t try to eliminate environmental impacts all at once. Try to get a little better each time you design any product.

Purchase Options

Educator and Student Discounts Available. Learn more »

  BENCHMARKS  
Loading Time: Base Classes  0.0010
My Controller Construct  0.0003
Build Nav  0.0030
Controller Execution Time ( Products / Route )  0.1767
Total Execution Time  0.1778
  GET DATA  
No GET data exists
  MEMORY USAGE  
1.5585 MB
  POST DATA  
No POST data exists
  URI STRING  
store/how-sustainability-fuels-design-innovation
  CLASS/METHOD  
products/route
  DATABASE:  MITSLOAN_DEV   QUERIES: 68  (Hide)
0.0013  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  '593bbd9631d5f39cf744c6860009b93e'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0059  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  '593bbd9631d5f39cf744c6860009b93e'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0008  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  '593bbd9631d5f39cf744c6860009b93e'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0010  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  '593bbd9631d5f39cf744c6860009b93e'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0020  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  '593bbd9631d5f39cf744c6860009b93e'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0040  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  '593bbd9631d5f39cf744c6860009b93e'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0041  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  '593bbd9631d5f39cf744c6860009b93e'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0078  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  '593bbd9631d5f39cf744c6860009b93e'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0004  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  '593bbd9631d5f39cf744c6860009b93e'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0013  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  '593bbd9631d5f39cf744c6860009b93e'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0012  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  '593bbd9631d5f39cf744c6860009b93e'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0008  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  '593bbd9631d5f39cf744c6860009b93e'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0005  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  '593bbd9631d5f39cf744c6860009b93e'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0005  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  '593bbd9631d5f39cf744c6860009b93e'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0012  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  '593bbd9631d5f39cf744c6860009b93e'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0017  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  '593bbd9631d5f39cf744c6860009b93e'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0048  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  '593bbd9631d5f39cf744c6860009b93e'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0031  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  '593bbd9631d5f39cf744c6860009b93e'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0019  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  '593bbd9631d5f39cf744c6860009b93e'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0018  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  '593bbd9631d5f39cf744c6860009b93e'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0008  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  '593bbd9631d5f39cf744c6860009b93e'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0003  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  '593bbd9631d5f39cf744c6860009b93e'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0028  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  '593bbd9631d5f39cf744c6860009b93e'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0026  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  '593bbd9631d5f39cf744c6860009b93e'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0015  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  '593bbd9631d5f39cf744c6860009b93e'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0039  

SELECT *
FROM (`carts`)
WHERE `cart_id` =  '593bbd9631d5f39cf744c6860009b93e'
ORDER BY `created_at` DESC 
0.0068  

SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS cat_id
FROM (`product_categories`)
WHERE `status_id` =  'A'
AND `url_friendly` =  'how-sustainability-fuels-design-innovation'
AND `parent_id` =  1 
0.0100  

SELECT c.parent_id, c.format_id
                    FROM products AS p, products AS c
                    WHERE p.prod_id = c.parent_id AND
                        c.avail_id IN ('A','B','D') AND
                        c.type_id = 'V' AND
                        (
                            c.sku = 'how-sustainability-fuels-design-innovation' OR
                            if(c.format_id = 'Certificate', '', p.url_friendly) = 'how-sustainability-fuels-design-innovation'
                        )
                    LIMIT 1 
0.0020  

SELECT `parent_id`
FROM (`products`)
WHERE `prod_id` =  729 
0.0038  

SELECT *
FROM (`products`)
WHERE `products`.`prod_id` =  '729' 
0.0004  

SELECT *
FROM (`authors`)
JOIN `products__authors` ON `authors`.`author_id` = `products__authors`.`author_id`
WHERE `products__authors`.`prod_id` =  '729'
ORDER BY `sort` ASC 
0.0013  

SELECT `cat_id`
FROM (`product_categories__products`)
WHERE `prod_id` =  '729' 
0.0002  

SELECT *
FROM (`product_flags__products`)
WHERE `prod_id` =  '729' 
0.0002  

SELECT `sku`
FROM (`products__xsell`)
WHERE `prod_id` =  '729'
ORDER BY IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position` 
0.0166  

SELECT `products`.`parent_id`
FROM (`transaction_lines`)
JOIN `products` ON `products`.`sku` = `transaction_lines`.`sku`
JOIN `product_categories__products` ON `products`.`parent_id` = `product_categories__products`.`prod_id`
WHERE `products`.`avail_id` =  'A'
AND TO_DAYS(transaction_lines.updated_at) < (TO_DAYS(NOW()) - 90)
AND `product_categories__products`.`cat_id` IN ('300') 
GROUP BY `products`.`parent_id`
ORDER BY COUNT(*) DESC
LIMIT 6 
0.0008  

SELECT `parent_id`
FROM (`products`)
WHERE `prod_id` =  '4706' 
0.0005  

SELECT *
FROM (`products`)
WHERE `products`.`prod_id` =  '4706' 
0.0034  

SELECT *
FROM (`authors`)
JOIN `products__authors` ON `authors`.`author_id` = `products__authors`.`author_id`
WHERE `products__authors`.`prod_id` =  '4706'
ORDER BY `sort` ASC 
0.0017  

SELECT `parent_id`
FROM (`products`)
WHERE `prod_id` =  '2875' 
0.0016  

SELECT *
FROM (`products`)
WHERE `products`.`prod_id` =  '2875' 
0.0004  

SELECT *
FROM (`authors`)
JOIN `products__authors` ON `authors`.`author_id` = `products__authors`.`author_id`
WHERE `products__authors`.`prod_id` =  '2875'
ORDER BY `sort` ASC 
0.0015  

SELECT `parent_id`
FROM (`products`)
WHERE `prod_id` =  '5' 
0.0011  

SELECT *
FROM (`products`)
WHERE `products`.`prod_id` =  '5' 
0.0012  

SELECT *
FROM (`authors`)
JOIN `products__authors` ON `authors`.`author_id` = `products__authors`.`author_id`
WHERE `products__authors`.`prod_id` =  '5'
ORDER BY `sort` ASC 
0.0024  

SELECT `parent_id`
FROM (`products`)
WHERE `prod_id` =  '3907' 
0.0013  

SELECT *
FROM (`products`)
WHERE `products`.`prod_id` =  '3907' 
0.0017  

SELECT *
FROM (`authors`)
JOIN `products__authors` ON `authors`.`author_id` = `products__authors`.`author_id`
WHERE `products__authors`.`prod_id` =  '3907'
ORDER BY `sort` ASC 
0.0009  

SELECT `parent_id`
FROM (`products`)
WHERE `prod_id` =  '969' 
0.0011  

SELECT *
FROM (`products`)
WHERE `products`.`prod_id` =  '969' 
0.0080  

SELECT *
FROM (`authors`)
JOIN `products__authors` ON `authors`.`author_id` = `products__authors`.`author_id`
WHERE `products__authors`.`prod_id` =  '969'
ORDER BY `sort` ASC 
0.0014  

SELECT `parent_id`
FROM (`products`)
WHERE `prod_id` =  '297' 
0.0006  

SELECT *
FROM (`products`)
WHERE `products`.`prod_id` =  '297' 
0.0007  

SELECT *
FROM (`authors`)
JOIN `products__authors` ON `authors`.`author_id` = `products__authors`.`author_id`
WHERE `products__authors`.`prod_id` =  '297'
ORDER BY `sort` ASC 
0.0010  

SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS media_id, position
FROM (`media`)
WHERE `foreign_key_table` =  'products'
AND `foreign_key_column` =  'prod_id'
AND `foreign_key_value` =  '729'
AND `kind` =  'image_600x600'
ORDER BY IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position` 
0.0007  

SELECT *
FROM (`media`)
WHERE `media`.`media_id` =  '356' 
0.0008  

SELECT *
FROM (`mime_types`)
WHERE `mime_types`.`extension` =  'jpg' 
0.0006  

SELECT *
FROM (`media_metadata`)
WHERE `media_id` =  '356' 
0.0008  

SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS media_id, position
FROM (`media`)
WHERE `foreign_key_table` =  'products'
AND `foreign_key_column` =  'prod_id'
AND `foreign_key_value` =  '729'
AND `kind` =  'gallery_image'
ORDER BY IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position` 
0.0004  

SELECT *
FROM (`products`)
WHERE `avail_id` IN ('A', 'B', 'C', 'H') 
AND `parent_id` =  '729'
AND `type_id` =  'V'
ORDER BY IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position`, `title` 
0.0008  

SELECT `c`.`format_id`, `c`.`price`, `c`.`sale_price`
FROM (`products` AS c)
WHERE `c`.`prod_id` =  '730'
LIMIT 1 
0.0018  

SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS media_id, position
FROM (`media`)
WHERE `foreign_key_table` =  'products'
AND `foreign_key_column` =  'prod_id'
AND `foreign_key_value` =  '730'
AND `kind` =  'thumbnail'
ORDER BY IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position` 
0.0007  

SELECT `product_categories__products`.`cat_id`
FROM (`product_categories__products`)
JOIN `product_categories` ON `product_categories__products`.`cat_id` = `product_categories`.`cat_id`
WHERE `product_categories__products`.`prod_id` =  '729'
AND `product_categories`.`parent_id` =  1
AND `product_categories__products`.`cat_id` NOT IN (1, 261)  
0.0029  

SELECT `cat_id` AS id, `parent_id` AS parent, `status_id`, `name`, `description`, `url_friendly`, `page_title`, `meta_keywords`, `meta_description`, `position`, `updated_at`
FROM (`product_categories`)
WHERE `cat_id` != 1
ORDER BY `parent_id`, IF(position = 0, 1, 0) ASC , `position`, `name` 
0.0026  

SELECT *
FROM (`product_categories`)
WHERE `status_id` =  'A'
AND `parent_id` =  1
AND `cat_id` NOT IN (1, 261) 
ORDER BY `name` 
0.0005  

SELECT *
FROM (`site_settings`)
WHERE `option_key` =  'announcement' 
  HTTP HEADERS  (Show)
  SESSION DATA  (Show)
  CONFIG VARIABLES  (Show)