Six designers tackle sustainability from food, waste and even death

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For decades, architects and designers have generally approached sustainability goals by focusing on operational energy—energy consumed for heating, cooling, and lighting. But while building performance has become more efficient over the years, embodied carbon—the carbon footprint of a material, which considers the greenhouse gases released to produce it—has grown exponentially. “We need to think about designing products with their end in mind,” says Franco Rossi, president of Aquafil USA, which produces completely regenerated nylon carpet yarn from waste, called ECONYL® nylon. “Many times, that end is the landfill. So, what do you do with this information?” According to Rossi, tackling the problem of material waste is a long-term effort, but a necessary one. Each year, four billion pounds of carpet—one of the primary uses for nylon—are discarded in landfills.