In an interview with the British inventor James Dyson, Ben Schiller discusses the future of engineering and design in America and the fallacies behind much "green" design.
James Dyson has a few ideas about the relationship between engineering and efficiency, and rightly so – over the past twenty years, his company has garnered international attention for a small collection of products built on highly innovative designs.
For one, he sees serious problems with academic trends in the West, claiming that American universities produce nine times as many lawyers as engineers. "Other nations have lower manufacturing costs, and generally lower expectations of profit," he explains. "They can make me-too products much more cheaply than we can. So, we've got to produce products with better design and technology."
Moreover, Dyson calls out superficial attitudes about green design as "lazy engineering": "People install a small motor and say, 'This is green, it's good for the environment.'... But that's just a cheap marketing trick. It's not answering the real problem..."
As Schiller suggests, we don't "need a design revolution if we want to cut energy use and conserve scarce materials. We just need to go back to making durable products, and get people interested in engineering again. The rest should take care of itself."
FULL STORY: James Dyson on the Lazy Engineering behind Fake Energy Efficiency

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

San Francisco's School District Spent $105M To Build Affordable Housing for Teachers — And That's Just the Beginning
SFUSD joins a growing list of school districts using their land holdings to address housing affordability challenges faced by their own employees.

The Tiny, Adorable $7,000 Car Turning Japan Onto EVs
The single seat Mibot charges from a regular plug as quickly as an iPad, and is about half the price of an average EV.

Seattle's Plan for Adopting Driverless Cars
Equity, safety, accessibility and affordability are front of mind as the city prepares for robotaxis and other autonomous vehicles.

As Trump Phases Out FEMA, Is It Time to Flee the Floodplains?
With less federal funding available for disaster relief efforts, the need to relocate at-risk communities is more urgent than ever.

With Protected Lanes, 460% More People Commute by Bike
For those needing more ammo, more data proving what we already knew is here.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Smith Gee Studio
City of Charlotte
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
US High Speed Rail Association
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)