ABSTRACT
The sustainable design of cities, buildings and products engages designers with a number of environmental challenges. The monster of all challenges is climate change, the main source of which is carbon emissions emitted from fossil fuel-based energy production and consumption. Energy use is the product of intensity and volume. The problem from a climate change perspective is that carbon and other climate-gas emissions emanate from energy use associated with virtually every form of economic and social activity. One of the main thrusts within sustainable design has been framed by European eco-design initiatives. The European Union's Eco-design Directive of 2009 established a framework for mandatory ecological requirements for energy-using and energy-related products, including many of the technologies commonly used in homes, such as cold appliances, windows and insulation materials. The new directions in sustainable design calling themselves smart give the impression of being apolitical, but this is deceptive.
