We’re honored to have been included in the esteemed group of inhabitat.com 2013 eco-prognosticators.
Here are our predictions that you’ll find cross-posted there:
With the consequences of 2012’s severe weather events fresh in our collective memory, and yet having survived the momentous transition to the next Mayan b’ak’tun, we will begin 2013 with renewed focus on the real climate change threat to the stability of our planet. Designers will respond ever more directly to the challenges (opportunities) of the fossil fuel divestment and environmental justice movements, and show the world that it is possible to keep 4/5 of our proven reserves in the ground and further decouple GDP from fossil fuel consumption.
The expansion of the WindMade™ eco-label into other renewables will help to bring about a universal consumer awareness movement, making low-carbon retail goods as ubiquitous as certified organic foods. Cradle to Cradle® and similar certifications will make serious inroads into consumer goods at big box stores (such as pet products and kids’ toys), and integrated solar chargers will appear on many more items that would otherwise rely on disposable batteries.
Contemporary design manifestations on pre-industrial (low-energy) ideas will surface. For example, features like root cellars (a natural progression of the local food movement), yakhchal (ancient passive cooling system), and winter gardens (fresh food year-round) may become more prevalent in sleek new residential architecture.
Concentrated photovoltaic multijunction cells will leap past the 50% threshold of efficiency in the lab, and low carbon organic thin films will see groundbreaking efficiency gains and production cost savings, bringing the price per installed watt and payback periods down to levels that will create an historic tipping point.
Based on our experience this past year with LAGI 2012, we can safely predict that university art and design programs will more and more utilize interdisciplinary curricula that combine design with low-carbon engineering innovation.
Crowd-source funding and amortized purchase of renewable energy will continue to grow and we will see an outbreak of renewable energy cooperatives springing up to power neighborhoods. New innovative design solutions will emerge for the aesthetic integration of renewable energy infrastructure into the city and agricultural landscape.
In general, we are very optimistic about the trends for green design. We are encouraged every day by our interactions with innovative designers who are thinking holistically about permaculture and living solutions that can continue to raise our standard of living smartly and in harmony with our natural environment.
