Green Design

Book excerpt: In this timely book, author Marcus Fairs helps readers understand the shift of green design from marginal to mainstream by featuring products and buildings that address immediate concerns about global warming and environmental degradation. Through vast architectural projects to modest one-off pieces of salvaged furniture, the book shows how the design world is responding to the environmental challenges of this century. Author Fairs demonstrates key developments in sustainable design as seen in lighting, houseware, furniture, textiles, products, interiors, architecture, and transportation, including the innovative use of fuel-cell technologies and ultra-lightweight materials. The book shows how the introduction of eco-friendly materials is changing the products around us and charts the rise of low-energy lighting sources and their impact on lighting design. Emerging trends in green design are also covered, from recycling (reusing existing objects to create new products) to ethical sourcing (ensuring products come from sustainable sources). By presenting existing green innovations as well as visionary projects, Green Design paints a bright future in which technology and ethics merge for the benefit of people and the planet.