ARE WE THE TOOL?

Abstract

In sustainable design, the search for ‘the right tool’ is an obvious starting point, something to tell us – and those we serve – how to do it. Yet a tool, we have discovered, is what it is; useless without prior understanding of the system it is supposed to fix or the outcome it aims to achieve. An engagement with sustainability issues, debates and values are essential if tools are to be used and sustainable design to be attempted.