Energy-Conscious Products
December 15th, 2009Progressive energy-conscious products are those that are attractive.
Energy neutrality in product is now real, relevant and mandated. At the same time, the greenwashing drive of the early 00s is (thankfully) dissipating. However, the hangover from this era is an aesthetic language of environmental-friendliness.
It’s fair to say that a traditional approach to products in this category was to style them in a manner that communicated their energy-conscious bias. Take the Prius for example, does this look like a progressive piece of automotive design, or an overtly “hybrid” car?
What the consumer purchases is a statement of their environmental martyrdom. This prevents mass adoption, prevents true proliferation of products that can make a real change. A deeper approach to energy-conscious products is to use the technology as an enabler.
We should not be asking: how can we make this object look environmentally friendly?
We should be asking: what do alternative fuel/energy sources allow this product to be?
Doing this ensures that the product is a genuine progression, not purely in terms of it’s energy use.
[...] not long since we discussed energy conscious products here. Concluding that progressive energy conscious products are those that are [...]