join our site: We just added this feature. Please become a member of our blog so we can begin to build a community around the idea of sustainable age design.
|
 by Kevin, on April 4th, 2010 
What’s that totally overused expression – hindsight is 20/20? I guess it’s used so often because there’s a certain amount of truth in it. And in looking back over the past three months that have been the UCLA Extension program winter quarter, I may have learned far more than my students did. I have to admit that I began the course following a pattern that’s become my routine. I will often get a commitment for something new, like a lecture, or in this case a teaching gig, and only partially pre-prepare. I intentionally try not to figure it all out. I like generating opportunities for serendipity. When it works well, I’m able to create an atmosphere of compression that forces things to happen. With just enough planning, it forces a higher level of performance.
For those who work with me there are moments of stress. And with this course, I’m certain my students experienced many moments of anxiety. To further complicate matters, this was the first time the course had been offered, so I was testing much of the content on these students. So what worked and what didn’t?
Let me start with what went well. I believe the students were beginning to comprehend the complexity of closed loop systems by the end. I know that half way through, many were scratching their heads wondering where we were headed. After six classes we hadn’t covered enough material to start connecting meaningful dots and linking concepts. Cradle to cradle, or closed loop systems thinking is more than just a matter of rethinking waste. Transitioning from the linear path of current industrial systems to cyclical ones requires a broader understanding of contributing factors. Elsewhere on this site you can read about our own transition template where we’re attempting to establish a framework of strategies and decision making. In it we identify twelve issues to consider – resource preservation, waste reduction, closed loop, energy conservation, embodied energy, alternative supply, toxin elimination, community engagement, nurturing environments, net zero cost, life cycle cost, and ecosystem cost. The course was too short to cover all twelve, but we did cover eight in varying depth.
Read more UCLAx – wrap up 
by kevin, on March 28th, 2010  Image courtesy of Wiki Commons Our twelfth class was also the last of the quarter. The past three months have passed so quickly. I have to admit, I had a crisis of conscience just past the mid point. I was concerned that we had not yet covered enough of the material outlined in the syllabus, still had many concepts and ideas to present, and it seemed likely that we would run out of time. I did make some adjustments, and we did manage to discuss all the topics I had intended. Looking back now, I’m pretty amazed at how much we were able to accomplish in twelve evenings.
Since it was our final class, we spent the bulk of the time discussing the quarter long Disassembly Project. With it, their task was to select an every-day object seen or used regularly, disassemble it, catalog all the component parts, analyze the materials those parts are made of, trace the origins of those materials, research any organizations or agencies that regulate manufacturing standards or regulations, and make suggestions for how the object and its production could be improved to diminish environmental impact. Students were also responsible for three other research projects, discussed in earlier posts, which investigated materials/resources, companies/people, and certificates/labels. In assigning those three in conjunction with the Disassembly Project I hoped students would begin to see the complexity of products we take for granted.
Cradle to cradle, or closed loop, systems are more than just converting waste to useful raw material. To consider changing even the smallest elements of any production framework requires some understanding of materials and resources, the total impact and sources of waste, how much energy is consumed, how much water is embodied, what unintended toxins are present, how far materials travel, and much more. To contemplate a transition from current linear industrial production to sustainable alternatives demands investigating more than rerouting or repurposing waste material.
Read more UCLAx – class 12
by kevin, on March 23rd, 2010
For our eleventh class, we spent the first half discussing the third Profile Project focused on certifications and labels. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the students did three profile projects – one about materials and/or resources, one about companies and/or people, and one about certifications and/or labels. Survey the green [...]
by kevin, on March 15th, 2010
For our tenth class, we continued a discussion begun the week prior during our field trip to Steelcase regarding toxic substances. Prior to the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 knowing what was in our food or what nutritional its ingredients contained was anyone’s guess. Even though many people today, after [...]
by kevin, on March 10th, 2010
For our ninth class we return to our normal class room, but at an alternate time and date. This week was a make-up class required due to a scheduling conflict. We continued discussion of an earlier topic – waste reduction – and transitioned to resource preservation.
In previous classes where waste [...]
by kevin, on March 8th, 2010
Our eighth class was our second field trip, this time to the Santa Monica showroom of Steelcase. My first experience with Steelcase dates back only five years. I was attending the ASID (American Society of Interior Designers) Interiors 05 conference in Nashville TN and Steelcase was offering attendees a special deal on [...]
by kevin, on February 21st, 2010
For our seventh class, I again turned over lecture duties to the students. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the students will do three profile projects – one about materials and/or resources, one about companies and/or people, and one about certifications and/or labels. Last week they selected a company or person [...]
by kevin, on February 15th, 2010
To understand cradle to cradle concepts, it’s helpful to first get a good feel for how our current cradle to grave industrial system works. This week’s class extended discussions begun during previous classes regarding waste reduction, and was focused on the grave – or what happens to all that trash.
Four weeks ago, [...]
by kevin, on February 8th, 2010
Our fifth class was a field trip into downtown Los Angeles to visit the new showroom of InterfaceFLOR. Having seen company founder Ray C. Anderson speak just a few weeks before (posted here), we were treated to a tour and presentation of their efforts to reduce waste from every system. We did [...]
by kevin, on January 29th, 2010
For our fourth class, I turned over lecture duties to the students. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the students will do three profile projects – one about materials and/or resources, one about companies and/or people, and one about certifications and/or labels. Last week they selected a material and/or resource to research and [...]
|
