Sustainable Design
The process of developing products, services, and organizations that comply with the principles of economic, social, and ecological sustainability. There are many principles of sustainable design, including a customer-centric approach, dematerialization, transmaterialization, and biomimicry.
I would recommend a very interesting policy-oriented and forward thinking best-practice guide prepared by the highly respected OECD.
Title: “OECD Reference Manual” by Fabio Vancini.
available at http://www.olis.oecd.org/olis/2000doc.nsf/LinkTo/env-epoc-ppc(2000)5-final
One of the design elements left out of most discussions about design is “no design”. That means restraint, don’t add another product, or reduce the number of products in the line and standardize on multi-functional alternatives. “Reduction” is a “best practice” that starts with the design process.