Sustainable Product Design

For the first time the semester included product designers who were asked to develop a chair design for Ecosa. This chair is ultimately intended to be marketed as a part of a sustainable furniture line. The challenge is to develop a materials palette that can be proven to be sustainable through empirical methods. This includes researching toxicity, energy consumption and finishes in the manufacturing and distribution process. The concept of minimizing materials was also central to the brief. Packaging was also required to be minimized which resulted in a design that can be packed into a small space yet be quick and easy to assemble. A prototype was also required which will continue to modified as testing of the product continues. A life cycle cost assessment is currently being done by Keara Schwartz who worked on the chair design.

The padding material for the cushions is manufactured from the waste materials from the production of Jeans (Courtesy: Bonded Logic, Inc.)

The sling and fabrics are all sustainably produced and are non-toxic. (Courtesy: Carnegie Fabrics, Inc.).

To reduce shipping costs the chair breaks down and can be reassembled in two minutes with four screws. Additional modification and testing will reduce the time and the number of screws.