Earlier this week, green-product design software and information company Sustainable Minds launched its first information services aimed at providing designers with some much-needed advice on sustainability issues. In this SLM interview, CEO Terry Swack walks us through the new offerings - and explains why they're needed now more than ever.

SLM: Is the design community suffering from a lack of information on green product design?

Terry: Yes and no. There's been a wide range of information on green product design (aka ecological design or eco-design) generated over the last two decades by industry, academia, governmental and non-governmental organizations; and more recently by virtual groups and social networks.

The challenge is the lack of accessible, easy to use information that design teams can integrate into their processes to design greener products. Consumer awareness about environmental issues is driving demand for greener products. Designers need to know "how to do it" and are feeling overwhelmed.

Key issues include:

• Understanding what the key sustainability and environmental issues are, and the strategies and practices that can be brought to bear in the design process to inform design decisions
• How to organize and communicate green product design information and knowledge such that it's useful and usable by all members of product design organizations
• Lack of product and material data and other information required to support evaluation techniques

The bottom line is, there is no such thing as a green product – all products use materials and energy, and create waste. Further, there is no measurable definition of "green." As such, there is no standard set of understandable metrics to compare the environment performance of one product to another, or of competing product concepts during the design process.

That's why Philip White, Louise St. Pierre, and Steve Belletire created Okala - a teaching tool and lifecycle assessment methodology that helps product teams learn how to design more ecologically sustainable products – and understand the environmental impacts of their design decisions. Kind of like "Intel Inside," Okala is the science behind Sustainable Minds' software, and lays out the foundational concepts behind our information services –the key concept being to bring lifecycle thinking and a whole systems approach to the beginning of the design process. Product teams need to understand the impacts of their design decisions holistically and early enough in the process so they can create a greener product from the start.

What kinds of information will designers find on the Sustainable Minds website that they might have trouble finding elsewhere?

Terry: These are the first of our information services which deliver new knowledge, processes and strategies for a lifecycle-based approach to product design, and are the counterpart to our decision support software. Our aim is to cover the exceptionally broad topic of sustainable design with experts from diverse areas who drill down to specifics that practitioners will find illuminating. One of the new sections is Ask the Okala Experts, where readers can ask for advice from the co-authors of Okala. The co-authors, Philip, Louise, and Steve, are educators and designers who have spent years developing Okala to help guide product teams to design more sustainable products. They provide knowledge, insights and practical solutions to the latest sustainability issues facing product development organizations and individuals today, and are looking for both questions and feedback from readers.

In addition to Ask the Okala Experts, the Sustainable Minds Industry Blog connects readers with experts in design, marketing, green manufacturing and business. The posts cover a wide range of sustainability topics from contributors representing consultancies, non-profits and manufacturing companies such as Lunar, Gensler, Green Seal, Whirlpool, and Sun Microsystems. We invite readers to be part of the solution by adding their thoughts and ideas in response.

In the coming months we'll be bringing the Okala curriculum online and adding other forms of strategic, practical and inspirational information and tools to promote awareness and open knowledge sharing.

SLM: How specific does this information get? If I'm designing, say, a greener running shoe, what kind of advice might I receive in terms of materials or techniques?

Terry: Each week, the Okala authors will respond to a question that addresses issues many readers are likely to be facing. Regular readers are certain to find relevant information on an ongoing basis. That said, a question about a greener running shoe would likely elicit a response covering the current state of design – sustainability strategies, materials and processes; references to shoes that make some claims. Overall, the experts will recast the question from a life cycle perspective along with the associated environmental and human health impacts.

SLM: What, in your mind, is the role of collaboration in the sustainable design process? Is this something you're seeing a lot of in the field? What's your take on the Designers' Accord?

Terry: Design by its nature is collaborative. The more you integrate and include a broader group of people in the discussion about making products greener, the more success you're likely to achieve. That's why we created Sustainable Minds to be a resource for the broad range of people involved in making decisions about making more sustainable products, from hands-on designers to executives: designers and design engineers, product managers, marketers, sustainability managers, and VPs of sustainability.

Collaboration is essential to deploying a successful sustainable design process. The informed decision making it requires involves a wide range of expertise, interdisciplinary approaches and intra or inter organizational functions crossing R&D, business case development, financial modeling, brand and product strategy, marketing, conceptual and detailed design, engineering, manufacturing, procurement and supply chain, and logistics. It's also an iterative, learning process that requires ongoing communication, knowledge sharing and adjustment.

We support the Designers Accord and promote it on our site. It's quickly becoming a powerful global community raising awareness and generating a growing critical mass that is creating both supply and demand of sustainable product design.

SLM: You've lined up quite an impressive array of experts to post on the blog. Are there any key themes that have emerged from your conversations with these leaders in the field?

Terry: The broad range of categories listed above was created as a result of both the conversations we’ve been having, and the topics we knew we wanted to cover – which then inspired us to go out and find contributors to provide those perspectives.

We look forward to delivering more strategic, practical and inspirational information that helps people involved in product design learn from industry experts, and each other, about what it takes to make smarter, more sustainable products!

For more of Terry's insights on sustainable product design, watch this video.