November 23, 24 2012, at the V2 Sweatshop event in Rotterdam/The Netherlands

Designing for the loop is a two-day workshop that focuses on eco-conscious eTextile design, developed by artists Mika Satomi and Hannah Perner-Wilson in collaboration with sustainability expert Andreas Köhler. Participants debate issues of sustainability in eTextile design on the basis of several hands-on experiments, such as designing a recyclable eTextile and conducting life-cycle analysis.

Designing for the loop, searching for better, more sustainable solutions is not as simple as we would like it to be. One of the reasons is that “better” design depends largely on contexts, numbers, materials, their life-cycles and so on. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a tool which helps us grasp these complex interconnected parameters in order to evaluate our design decisions. It is used in many areas of design, such as electronics, product, fashion and textile design. In this workshop we will engage ourselves in a hands-on design challenge with the help of the E-textile Life Cycle Assessment tool (LCA2go). We will explore what it takes to determine and evaluate sustainable design principals for eTextile projects and products. Participants will be introduced to a range of materials and processes commonly used in eTextiles practices today, with basic information about their various environmental impacts. We will then reveal the design brief from which participants will develop prototypes in groups. Each group will be given different product conditions, such as usage-scenario and production quantity in order to simulate the complexity of a sustainable design. The challenge is to create sustainable design solutions with these given conditions. At the end of the workshop, each group will present their prototypes and together we will evaluate the different solutions and discuss what approach we, as makers and designers, can take toward a more sustainable eTextile future.

Presentations

Mika Satomi, Hannah Perner-Wilson (KOBAKANT)

>> http://www.kobakant.at/DIY/

Andreas Koehler (TU Delft, LCA to go)

>> http://www.lca2go.eu/

Futureshape (SensFloor)

>> http://www.future-shape.de/

Presentation by Textile Recycling Expert: Sander Jongerius from KICI

E-Waste Recycling Expert (TU Delft)

Beam

Beam presents the design process of a waste conscious scarf made in collaboration with Marina Toeters.
>> https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/259963
>> http://www.contrechoc.com/
>> http://www.by-wire.net/

Kristi Kuusk

How technology can help make textiles more sustainable, not only in an ecological sense but in a social, cultural and personal way.
>> http://www.kristikuusk.com/

Participants at work

more pictures on flickr

Playing the LCA Card Game

The LCA card game was designed by Alena.

Group Projects

Group 1: Non-Activity Reminder

Cards (decided in retrospect): material: oil drilling & copper mining (polyester & PCB), manufacturing: spinning, transport: 5000km by train, usage: 5 years, disposal: recyling & downcycling (re-use)
Sustainable design approach: Keep electronics and textiles separate so that they can be easily distinguished.
ebook documentation by Beam >> https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/259969



Cards:

Group 2: Multifunctional Knitwear

>> http://www.kristikuusk.com/?p=545
Cards: material extraction: wool shearing, manufacturing means: knitting, transport: train, usage: 5 years, disposal: recyclable
Sustainable design approach: Make everything using the same manufacturing processes (knitting), so that it can easily be taken apart using a single process.



Cards:

Group 3: Vitamin D

Cards: material extraction: shearing (wool), manufacturing means: spinning, transport: 100km by camel, usage: 5 years, disposal: recycling
Sustainable design approach: Use techniques that are easy to undo and take apart. Avoid the use of batteries as power supply.



Cards:

Design Challenge

Popular interest in the Quantified Self, a movement rising from an increased personal interest in monitoring and logging data related to our lives, is motivating a new range of products. These products range from software that keeps track of our Internet usage, apps that help us record the time we spend commuting, and devices that monitor our sleep. Individuals are increasing using digital means to monitor and record their personal data, and what better medium than wearable technology to aid us in tracking everything that has to do with our bodies. Motivated by this increased interest in personal data, as well as by new developments in electronic-textiles, CompanyX is presenting you with a design brief for a “Wearable Activity Monitor”. But, rather than translating activity into quantified numbers, CompanyX would like to explore the possibilities of ambient display to both unobtrusively monitor and display levels of activity on the body. In addition to designing a product that is highly useable and produceable, CompanyX also requests that your design be as sustainable as possible. While there is currently not much information available on the sustainability of electronic textiles, and different e-textile processes, you must do your best you can with the information you have access to. Your task is to present the company with a working prototype as well as a detailed description of the manufacturing processes involved in it’s making, pointing out where you have made choices or compromises towards or away from a more sustainable design.

Activity Monitor datasheet

Useful Links:

Hannah’s Flickr photo set >> http://www.flickr.com/photos/plusea/sets/72157632105670936/
Sweatshop Workshop >> http://www.v2.nl/events/etextile-sweatshop
How To Get What You Want >> http://www.kobakant.at/DIY/
Fashioning Tech blog >> http://www.fashioningtech.com/
Talk to My Shirt blog >> http://www.talk2myshirt.com/blog/
Woven battery >> http://www.talk2myshirt.com/blog/archives/5495
Paper battery >> http://news.stanford.edu/news/2009/december7/nanotubes-ink-paper-120709.html
Energy harvester >> https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9946
Solderless headers >> https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10527

Schedule:

Friday 23.November 2012, 10:00 -17:00

10:00 Opening, introduction to the workshop theme
10:15 Recycling and disposal aspects of e-textiles
10:40 Introduction in Life cycle analysis and Eco-design                     
11:00Example of a LCA based Eco-design project of a Smart Textile product (Future-Shape)
12:00 lunch
13:00 Introduction in the design challenge
13:10 Participants introduce themselves and form 3 project teams
Life-Cycle simulation game                                         
14:00 Group work:
Conceptual design stage
Detailing  of the design concept
LCA mentoring
16:30 Quick presentations from each group
     

Saturday 24.November 2012 (9-17:00)

10:00 Welcome and recap of the workshop objectives
10:10 Recycling Expert’s talks
Group work: Prototyping                             
12:30 Lunch
13:00 Group work: Prototyping
16:00 Teams present their prototypes, process and ideas
17:00 Review and discussion
18:00 End of the workshop

Materials and Parts:

Electronic Components:

ATtiny SMD >> http://nl.rs-online.com/web/p/microcontrollers/6962639/
shift register >> http://nl.rs-online.com/web/p/counters-shift-registers/2175695/
LED SMD (red) >> http://nl.rs-online.com/web/p/visible-leds/0415207/
LED SMD (white) >> nl.rs-online.com/web/p/visible-leds/6545464/
LED through-hole (red) >> http://nl.rs-online.com/web/p/visible-leds/7269278/
LED through-hole (white) >> http://nl.rs-online.com/web/p/visible-led/7134002/
SMD 39 ohm resistor >> http://nl.rs-online.com/web/p/surface-mount-fixed-resistors/2230247/
– TIP122 transistors >> http://no.rs-online.com/web/p/darlington-transistors/3136900/
– Female JST socket for battery >> http://no.rs-online.com/web/p/headers-pcb-receptacles/6881353P/
– lipo battery >> http://www.tinkersoup.de/product_info.php?products_id=692
– lipo charger >> http://www.tinkersoup.de/product_info.php?products_id=535

Conductive Materials:

– metal snaps >> http://www.plugandwear.com/default.asp?mod=product&cat_id=95,100&product_id=166
– velostat >> http://www.plugandwear.com/default.asp?mod=product&cat_id=89,104&product_id=136
– magnets >> http://www.magnet-magnete.eu/
– solderable conductive thread >> http://www.karl-grimm.com/navi.swf
– sewable conductive thread (thick or thin)
– conductive fabrics (selection) >> http://lessemf.com/fabric.html
– resistive fabrics from Eeonyx >> http://eeonyx.com/
– resistive yarn >> http://www.plugandwear.com/default.asp?mod=product&cat_id=105&product_id=228
– metal beads
– foam
– regular fabric and thread
– regular knitting yarn
– neoprene >> http://sedochemicals.de/
– fusible interfacing >> http://www.amazon.co.uk/Heatn-Ultra-Iron-On-Adhesive-17-Yards/dp/B004BPGKK4/ref=pd_sim_sbs_kh_1

Material info sheets:

Download complete PDF >> eTextiles_material_info.pdf