What are the environmental risks and opportunities of green design?

Every green design initiative must be deeply rooted in the local environmental context. Solutions that work well in one region may not be suitable in another due to differences in climate, biodiversity, and cultural practices. Ignoring these can lead to green designs that are less effective or even harmful to local ecosystems. For example, introducing non-native plant species in green buildings' landscapes can threaten local biodiversity.

One risk of green design is unintended consequences that may outweigh its intended benefits. For example, a product or building designed to be environmentally friendly may have higher environmental impacts during production, transportation, or disposal. To avoid this, green design should assess impacts across the entire life cycle and consider multiple dimensions like water usage, land use, biodiversity, and human health.

Global legislation, including the European Commission’s Green Claims Directive, aims to curb greenwashing by setting strict criteria for environmental claims. Such claims must be supported by evidence and third-party verification, restricting using terms like ‘environmentally friendly’ and ‘eco’ without substantiation. Carbon offsetting cannot justify ‘carbon neutral’ labels and future performance claims must specify timelines. Misleading claims that omit negative environmental impacts are also regulated. These laws protect consumers and the environment and ensure the credibility of genuinely sustainable businesses, emphasising the importance of ethical communication to avoid legal issues.

Another risk of green design is greenwashing, where it's used as a marketing strategy to mislead consumers about a product's environmental benefits. This undermines trust and reduces incentives for genuine improvement. To prevent greenwashing, green design should be transparent, accountable, and use credible standards, labels, or certifications to communicate its claims.

First of all, we should really stop labeling everything as green. If we really want to speak about sustainability we should be calling it as it is sustainability and also to keep it separate from what “environmental” means. Design should be really thinking about how can it be resealing to the future, considering every risk and opportunity mapped in the social, government, interested parties, legal , environmental, technological and everything else that needs to be in the scope of work and the planning of the project before implementing it and start selling it as “green”

Green design presents an opportunity to drive innovation and creativity by applying sustainability, circularity, and biomimicry principles. It can inspire the development of products and systems that are more efficient, durable, adaptable, and regenerative. For instance, green design can lead to the creation of biodegradable or recyclable materials, technologies utilizing renewable energy or carbon capture, or innovative business models promoting sharing or leasing.

The success of green design hinges on a strategic, holistic approach that integrates risk management with opportunity maximization. This can include conducting thorough environmental impact assessments, engaging with local communities to understand their needs and values, and continuously monitoring and adapting projects to ensure they deliver the intended environmental and social benefits.

Green design offers the opportunity to generate value for the environment and the economy, benefiting various stakeholders. By minimizing environmental impacts and costs, it enhances competitiveness, profitability, and opens new markets. Additionally, by improving social and ecological outcomes, green design enhances product quality, desirability, and fosters customer loyalty and satisfaction.

To harness the complete benefits of green design, it's vital to measure and enhance its performance and impact. Utilizing tools like life cycle assessment, environmental impact assessment, sustainability indicators, and eco-design strategies aid in identifying key environmental aspects and impacts, comparing alternatives, setting goals, and implementing improvements. By assessing and enhancing the environmental performance of green design, its effectiveness, efficiency, and benefits for both the planet and people can be ensured.

Green design is a powerful tool for transforming companies. When products and processes are aligned with environmental and social concepts, you automatically generate value, as well as a lot of organic communication for being something INNOVATIVE and DIFFERENT in the market. Unfortunately, these projects are still few in the world, and the focus is on cheap, quick to produce, and scalable, which is what makes our society the way it is today, with waste, inequality, and lack of culture. Therefore, when working with green design, it is important to have a solid strategy with a well-defined purpose behind it, and in the end, grow sustainably.