Sustainable design

Environmentally sustainable design (also called environmentally conscious design, eco-design and related terms) is an approach to designing products, buildings, landscapes, infrastructure and services so that they reduce environmental impacts while supporting human health, comfort and well-being. It applies ecological sustainability to decisions about materials, energy, water, waste, land use, construction, production and user behaviour.

In the built environment, sustainable design seeks to reduce the consumption of non-renewable resources, minimise waste, improve building performance and create healthy, productive indoor and outdoor environments. It is closely associated with sustainable architecture, sustainable engineering, ecological design, life-cycle assessment, renewable energy, circular economy principles and sustainability assessment systems such as LEED and BREEAM.

The scope of sustainable design extends from individual products and interiors to buildings, infrastructure, cities and landscapes. Contemporary practice increasingly considers not only operational efficiency, but also embodied carbon, resource circularity, biodiversity, climate resilience, social value and long-term economic performance.