Which term relates to the design practice of minimizing materials, energy, and pollution in products and processes?

• A. Cradle to cradle
• B. Embodied energy
• C. Eco-design
• D. Energy distribution

Answer: (C)

Minimizing materials, energy, and pollution in products and processes is achieved through eco-design, a design approach that integrates environmental considerations into product development from concept to end of life. It guides decisions such as selecting low-impact materials, designing for durability and ease of repair, enabling modularity and recyclability, reducing packaging, and optimizing manufacturing and product-use energy. This kind of life-cycle thinking looks at how a product’s effects unfold from raw material extraction through production, use, and end-of-life, with the aim of lowering resource use and emissions at every stage.

Cradle to cradle is a specific closed-loop framework within eco-design that emphasizes keeping materials in continuous use in a safe, benign form. Embodied energy is a metric that measures how much energy is required to make a product, useful for evaluating options but not the design practice itself. Energy distribution deals with how energy flows through a system and is not a design approach.