biolite – DesignApplause

cooper-hewitt 2021 national design award winners.

Sep 1, 2021

above> the chicago riverwalk / courtesy ross barney architects

DesignApplause always looks forward to meeting the winners of this prestigious award. this happening never disappoints. let’s take the opportunity for a special nod to fellow-chicagoan carol ross barney and ross barney architects

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[ design visionary ]

cheryl d. miller is a graphic designer, author, and theologian who is best known for her advocacy on racial, cultural, and gender equity, diversity, and inclusion. an accomplished, award-winning designer and businesswoman, miller established one of the first black women-owned design firms in new york city in 1984. cheryl d. miller design, inc. serviced corporate communications to a fortune 500 clientele, including bet, chase, philip morris usa, time inc., and sports illustrated, as well as nonprofit african american organizations that grew out of the civil rights movement. miller’s seminal 1987 article for print magazine, “black designers missing in action,” laid the groundwork for her advocacy, followed by “embracing cultural diversity in design” in 1990, “black designers: still missing in action?” in 2016, and “black designers forward in action” in 2020. miller lectures widely. her work and archives were acquired by stanford university libraries in 2018. miller is the aiga medalist 2021, “expanding access.”

above> black designers missing in action / courtesy cheryl d. miller

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[ climate action ]

designed by doris sung, the invert™ self-shading window uses smart thermobimetal pieces inside the cavity of a standard double-glazed window to shade a building in a magical way—with a kaleidoscope of fluttering butterfly-like pieces. by responding to the sun, it dynamically blocks solar radiation from heating the building and thereby reduces air-conditioning usage by 25 percent, using zero energy and no controls. given that 40 percent of all energy used is in buildings, far more than transportation or other industries, and 12 percent of that energy is spent on cooling interiors, any amount of reduction has a tremendous impact on mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. through her work, sung seeks ways to make building skins sensitive and responsive to the changing environments. she is the founder of los angeles-based dosu studio architecture, the director of undergraduate programs at usc, and the recipient of fellowships including from google’s r+d for the built environment, united states artists and the rockefeller foundation at bellagio.

above> the invert™ self-shading window / courtesy of doris sung

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[ emerging designer ]

founded in 2017, colloqate design is a multidisciplinary nonprofit design justice practice based in new orleans with a focus on expanding community access to, and building power through, the design of social, civic, and cultural spaces. its mission is to intentionally organize, advocate, and design spaces of racial, social, and cultural justice throughout the built environment. through programming, planning, and design projects, colloqate seeks to dismantle the privilege and power structures that use the design professions to maintain systems of injustice. colloqate organizes to build knowledge, power, and access in the communities it serves through ongoing community gatherings and workshops to share and build collective knowledge around the process of city-building. its work speaks to the potential for equitable spaces and attempts to visually and physically represent its collective aspirations for the future.

storia: defrag/ courtesy of colloquate design

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[ architecture and interior design ]

founded in chicago in 1981, ross barney architects’ mission is to create well-designed spaces for everyone. the studio is dedicated to the design of “noble” projects, without the most generous budgets or the most sought-after commissions, but those that are important to daily life and require innovative interventions. ross barney architects’ best work is often for unexpected, compelling projects that go beyond architecture, and exist on the edges or in the margins where design thought and consideration might not conventionally come into play. notable projects include the chicago riverwalk, mcdonalds’ flagship restaurants, cta cermak-mccormick place and morgan street stations, and the oklahoma city federal building. the studio has adopted a holistic approach, engaging the client, user, and community to allow a project to grow out of its place, history, and function.

above> the chicago riverwalk / courtesy ross barney architects

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[ communication design ]

founded in 1996 in los angeles, imaginary forces is an award-winning studio specializing in design-based visual storytelling. led by peter frankfurt, chip houghton, karin fong, tosh kodama, alan williams, ronnie koff, anthony gibbs, and grant lau, imaginary forces takes its name from the prologue of shakespeare’s henry v, where the narrator summons us to imagine the humble stage as a grand battlefield. for 25 years, the studio has created work that dares audiences to conjure up entirely new worlds. known for designing iconic title sequences including for marvel, mad men, boardwalk empire, and stranger things, imaginary forces has brought motion design into the worlds of advertising, architecture, gaming, and documentary film production. the studio is proud to have launched the careers of countless colleagues in the motion design industry. imaginary forces’ work has won numerous emmys and appeared in moma, walker center, wexner, sxsw, and the venice architecture biennale.

above> mad men / courtesy imaginary forces

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[ digital design ]

based in los angeles, behnaz farahi is an award-winning designer whose work is situated at the intersection of digital design, architecture, fashion, and interactive design, ranging from the scale of wearables to architectural installations. farahi explores how materials in the environment can be imbued with artificial intelligence and life-like behaviors, incorporating techniques such as eeg brain imaging, facial and gaze tracking, 3d printing, as well as novel actuator systems, such as smart materials and pneumatics systems. she engages with the latest developments in neuroscience, cognitive philosophy, computational design, artificial intelligence, and feminism, in order to spark imagination and foster conversations about the future of design. she is assistant professor of design at csulb and co-editor of 3d-printed body architecture (2017) and interactive futures (forthcoming). her work is in the permanent collection of the museum of science and industry, chicago, and clients include adidas, autodesk, fuksas studio, and 3dsystems / will-i-am.

above> iridescence / courtesy behnaz farahi

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[ fashion design ]

becca mccharen-tran is a fashion designer, cultural worker, and the founder of future-forward bodywear line chromat. in her design practice, mccharen-tran interrogates the cultural hegemony around representation and inclusion. a forbes 30 under 30 pick for “people who are reinventing the world,” mccharen-tran is creating a world that empowers women, femmes, and nonbinary people in fashion and beyond. mccharen-tran delivered a ted talk on the urgency of racial, gender, and disability justice in fashion and has lectured at sxsw, parsons, mit, cfda, pratt, fit, and mica. she also staged the “queer joy” exhibition at moma ps1, a series of performances and installations celebrating the lgbtq community. chromat has been profiled in major publications such as vogue, the new york times, and the wall street journal, and has collaborated with intel, disney, reebok, mac cosmetics, mit design lab, and equinox.

aw 14 bionic bodies / courtesy of becca mccharen-tran

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[ landscape architecture ]

studio-mla integrates landscape architecture, urban design, and planning to create places that inspire human connection, unite communities, and restore environmental balance. “advocacy by design” is a foundation of the practice. for more than 25 years, founder and president mia lehrer, fasla, has sparked the team’s inventive thinking to address complex relationships within urban and natural environments. from the master planning of rivers to the design of intimate plazas and gardens, the studio is recognized for creativity, pragmatism, and responsibility across a range of scales and geographies. with offices in los angeles and san francisco, its 45-person team includes landscape architects, planners, botanists, and ecologists from around the world. diversity and multiple perspectives add meaning to collaborations and value to outcomes. together, the firm believes in the transformative power of design to recalibrate its shared surroundings for a resilient future.

above> amplifying storytelling / courtesy studio-mla

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[ product design ]

biolite is on a mission to empower people and protect the planet through access to renewable energy. a social enterprise that develops, manufactures, and markets advanced energy products for off-grid communities around the world, the company creates novel cooking, charging, and lighting solutions that serve both outdoor enthusiasts and rural communities without access to the grid. headquartered in brooklyn, new york and nairobi, kenya, the company was founded in 2009 by jonathan cedar and alec drummond. biolite is proudly a carbon neutral company and a founding member of climate neutral, an independent nonprofit dedicated to helping companies measure, reduce, and offset their carbon footprint. to date, biolite has impacted over 1.7 million people across africa and asia and avoided over 400,000 tonnes of co2e through its clean energy solutions—equivalent to taking 100,000 cars off the road for a year. the company is the recipient of numerous recognitions, including the red dot design award, fast company’s innovation by design award, core77 design award, and businessweek’s most promising social enterprise.

above> grid in the sky / courtesy biolite

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[ jury ]
kofi boone
billy fleming
joe gebbia
kristine johnson
grace jun
patricia saldaña natke

[ what are the national design awards? ]
the national design awards program was launched in 2000 as an official project of the white house millennium council, with the goal of increasing awareness and understanding of how design improves everyday life. presented each year by cooper hewitt, smithsonian design museum, the awards recognize innovation and impact in design. nominations are made by the general public, and winners are selected by a diverse jury of design leaders and educators.

companies seeking an unfair advantage by going climate neutral certified.

Oct 28, 2019

we’ve become familiar with the labels ‘carbon neutral, zero carbon, and climate change. here’s another and yes, the timing will give those certified an unfair advantage.

by kevin j. ryan / inc.

it’s easy to tell if products are organic, fair trade certified, or made in america–they often bear a certification stamp to prove it. why isn’t there an equivalent for companies to disclose their impact on climate change?

that was the thinking that prompted peter dering and jonathan cedar to create climate neutral, a nonprofit that certifies companies as having a net carbon footprint of zero. launched on september 23, the company looks at everything from the raw materials businesses use to their supply chains to their office energy consumption. forty-four companies have worked with climate neutral to become certified as carbon-neutral in 2020, including drinkware maker klean kanteen and sneaker company allbirds.

dering and cedar are both founders who continue to run their own for-profit businesses. dering founded san francisco-based backpack and camera equipment maker peak design in 2011, while cedar founded the outdoor equipment company biolite in 2012. the brooklyn-based startup makes products that sustainably produce light, heat, and energy, and has been offsetting all of its emissions dating back to its founding, at a cost of less than $20,000 annually.

a former engineer, dering has always been fascinated with energy and sustainability, but only recently decided to get involved with what he calls “the carbon cycle.” during a visit to peak’s manufacturing plant in vietnam last year, he was shocked by how much foam, packaging, aluminum, and other materials went into creating and shipping the company’s products. he hired a consultancy to tally the company’s carbon footprint and found that peak, which generated $30 million in revenue in 2017, could offset that year’s entire carbon footprint for just $60,000. most of that would be done by purchasing offsets–essentially a way of paying for the prevention of an equivalent amount of carbon from entering the atmosphere, through projects like the development of wind farms, forest restoration, or methane gas capture.

in the coming months, climate neutral will roll out an online emissions calculator. companies will input information such as how much they spend on each of their raw materials, the energy costs at their facilities, the amount of travel employees do, and how and where their products are shipped. the companies will identify where they can become greener, make reductions where possible, and purchase offsets for the rest. even for companies that manufacture physical goods, the co-founders say, the annual cost will be 0.4 percent of the company’s revenue or less, which can be rolled into the products’ prices.

above > courtesy climate neutral

once a company is certified as carbon-neutral, it can stick the climate neutral logo on its packaging, website, or hang tags, thus signaling its green status to consumers. “you hope that consumers start to understand it well enough,” dering says, “so that it becomes, ‘hey, wait a second–this company doesn’t pay for their carbon. what the hell? i’m not buying that toothpaste.’ that’s the dream.”

it might not be far off. as reports from the u.n. highlight the increasing urgency to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, public awareness of the issue seems to be growing. a 2018 nielsen survey found that 73 percent of consumers would alter their consumption habits to reduce their impact on the environment.

avocado green mattress went through the certification process earlier this year, calculating the emissions of its headquarters in new jersey, raw material farms in india, and shipments to customers all across the united states. “it was rigorous,” admits co-founder mark abrials, adding that, in the end, it was worthwhile. “this provides a straightforward way for companies to be part of the climate solution.”

carbon offsets, it’s worth noting, aren’t a perfect solution. from an environmental standpoint, the ideal scenario is to not put carbon into the atmosphere in the first place. to that end, before certifying a company, climate neutral requires that it undertake two new reduction efforts before paying for offsets. in avocado’s case, for example, the company is changing its distribution strategy to reduce shipping needs and diverting returned mattresses from landfills by donating them instead.

climate neutral isn’t generating revenue yet, instead relying on funding from peak design and biolite. in the future, dering says, climate neutral could earn revenue by buying offsets in bulk at a discount and reselling them at a slightly higher price.

the co-founders hope to have 200 companies certified by the end of next year and 700 by the end of 2021. some brands, dering points out, have already declared themselves as carbon-neutral or vowed to get there soon. he hopes they can be persuaded to get climate neutral-certified in the process.

“it’s on us,” dering says, “to convince those companies that joining up with us is going to add solidity to their claim. we’re all going to speak much, much louder collectively.”

[ carbon neutral on kickstarter ] [ kickstarter joins 50+ companies going ‘climate neutral‘