You’ve created a sustainable design. How can you measure its impact?

1 Define your goals

Before you can measure the impact of your sustainable design, you need to define what you want to achieve and how you will measure it. Your goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). For example, you might want to reduce the carbon footprint of your product by 20% in one year, or increase the recycling rate of your packaging by 50% in six months. You should also identify the indicators that will show your progress and the data sources that will provide the evidence.

2 Choose your metrics

Once you have your goals and indicators, you need to choose the metrics that will quantify the impact of your sustainable design. Metrics are the units of measurement that you use to compare your performance with your baseline, your target, or your competitors. There are different types of metrics that you can use, depending on the aspect of sustainability that you want to measure. For example, you can use environmental metrics, such as greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, or waste generation; social metrics, such as customer satisfaction, employee engagement, or community involvement; or economic metrics, such as revenue, cost savings, or return on investment.

5 Communicate your results

After you have measured the impact of your sustainable design, you need to communicate your results to your stakeholders, customers, and society. Your communication should be clear, concise, and credible. You should highlight the key findings, the benefits, and the challenges of your sustainable design. You should also use visual aids, such as graphs, charts, or infographics, to make your results more engaging and understandable. You should also provide the sources, methods, and assumptions behind your data, to ensure transparency and trustworthiness.

6 Improve your design

Finally, you should use the feedback and insights from your measurement and communication to improve your sustainable design. You should evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your design, and identify the opportunities and threats for improvement. You should also set new goals and targets, and monitor and review your performance regularly. You should also seek input and collaboration from your stakeholders, customers, and society, to ensure that your design meets their needs and expectations.