1. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
carlo vezzoli
politecnico di milano . DESIGN dept. . DIS . School of Design . Italy
Learning Network on Sustainability (EU asia-link)
Learning Network on Sustainabile energy systems (EU edulink)
course System Design for Sustainability (SDS)
learning resource 5.1
System design for sustainable energy for all

2. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
. sustainable development is not possible without a
sustainable energy for all
. Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE): key
leverage for a sustainable development
. Sustainable Product-Service System (S.PSS): a
promising model for Distributed Renewable Energy
(DRE)
. System Design for Sustainable energy for all: a
new design role (to be defined)
CONTENTS

3. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
1. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IS NOT POSSIBLE
WITHOUT SUSTAINABLE ENERGY FOR ALL

4. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
source: http://www.un.org/en/events/sustainableenergyforall/index.shtml

5. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
energy is the world’s largest industrial sector
whose output is an essential input to almost every
good and service
energy services have a profound effect on
productivity, health, education, food and water
security, and communication services
access to energy can contribute to reduce inequality
and poverty

6. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
“SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IS NOT POSSIBLE
WITHOUT SUSTAINABLE ENERGY”
UNITED NATIONS:
“2012 INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF SUSTAINABLE
ENERGY FOR ALL”
UNITED NATIONS:
“Rio+20”, 2012 SUMMIT ON SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT

7. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
THE EXISTING ENERGY SYSTEM IN DEFINITELY
UNSUSTAINABLE!
SUSTAINABLE ENERGY REQUIRE A PARADIGM SHIFT
IN ENERGY SECTOR

8. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
2. DISTRIBUTED RENEWABLE ENERGY: KEY
LEVERAGE FOR A SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

9. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
… a paradigm shift alternative to traditional non-
renewable and centralised (e.g. fossil fuels) system of
energy generation and distribution
non-renewable RESOURCES renewable
centralized decentralised distributed
DISTRIBUTED RENEWABLE ENERGY:
a promising model aiming at sustainable energy for all

10. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
DISTRIBUTED RENEWABLE ENERGY GENERATION:
CHARACTERISTICS
. renewable resources:
sun, wind, water, biomass,
geothermal energy
. small-scale generation plants
. generation at/near the point of use
. users is the producer: individuals, small businesses
and/or communities
. if connected with each other > Renewable Local
Energy Network (connected with similar Network)

11. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
“a small-scale generation plants sourced by
renewable energy resources (such as sun, wind,
water, biomass and geothermal energy), at or near
the point of use, where the users is the producer,
whether an individuals, a small businesses and/or a
local community and if nearby generation plants
connected with each other (to synergically share the
energy surplus), they become Renewable Local
Energy Network; eventually connected with nearby
similar Networks.”
[Vezzoli, Delfino, 2013]
DISTRIBUTED RENEWABLE ENERGY: DEFINITION

12. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
FOSSIL FUELS (OIL, COKE, …) + CENTRALISED
environmental un-sustainability: most of CO2
emissions > global warming + extraction pollution
socio-ethic un-sustainability: extraction, production,
distribution infrastructure, complex and CENTRALISED >
reduction of diffused direct access to resources >
low power to individual over their own destiny >
widening of rich AND poor gap (inequality)

13. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
RENEWABLE RESOURCES (SUN, WIND, …) +
DISTRIBUTED
environmental sustainability: non-exhaustable + low
greenhouse gases + lower environmental impact for
extraction, transformation, distribution
socio-ethic sustainability: “distrib. renew. energy gen.”
sun, wind, … acquisition: local + with simple processes >
micro-plants installable/manageable by small economic
entity > user-producer > energetic micro network
building > global network of micro network> access, self-
sufficiency, power (and interdependency) to individuals
and local communities > resources democratisation >
inequality reduction

14. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
THE SHIFT FROM
CENTRALISED AND NON-RENEWABLE RESOURCES
(I.E. FOSSIL FUELS)
TO DISTRIBUTED AND RENEWABLE ONES’ (I.E.
SUN, WIND, ETC.) …
… IT IS A FUNDAMERNTAL PILLAR TO MATCH
ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIO-ETHICAL AND
ECONOMIC SUTAINABILITY

15. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
UNITED NATIONS
SUSTAINABLE ENERGY FOR ALL (SE4ALL)
aims at :
. ensuring universal access to modern energy
services
. doubling the rate of improvement in energy
efficiency
. DOUBLING THE SHARE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY IN
THE GLOBAL ENERGY MIX BY 2030

16. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
“the creation of a renewable energy
regime, loaded by buildings, partially
stored in the form of hydrogen,
distributed via an energy internet—a
smart intergrid—and connected to
plug in zero emission transport,
opens the door to a Third Industrial
Revolution.”
[Rifkin, 2011]
THE THIRD INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

17. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
1. shifting to renewable energy (solar, wind, hydro,
geothermal, ocean waves and biomass)
2. buildings as power plants
3. deploying hydrogen and other storage
technologies in every building and throughout the
infrastructure to store intermittent energies
4. using internet technology to transform the power
grid of every continent into an energy sharing
intergrid that acts just like the internet
5. transitioning the transport fleet to electric, plug
in and fuel cell vehicles that can buy and sell
electricity on a smart continental interactive
power grid
PILLARS OF THE THIRD INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
[Rifkin, 2011]

18. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
3. SUSTAINABLE PRODUCT-SERVICE SYSTEM
(S.PSS): A PROMISING MODEL FOR
DISTRIBUTED RENEWABLE ENERGY (DRE)

19. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
… a paradigm shift from traditional individual
consumption/ownership systems
PRODUCT-SERVICE SYSTEMS (PSS):
an offer/business models capable of creating (new)
value decoupling it from the materials and energy
consumption and reducing the environmental impact
product SELLING “unit of satisfaction”
individual ownership CUSTOMER VALUE access

20. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
S.PSS FOR DRE IN LOW-INCOME CONTEXTS:
AN EXAMPLE

21. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
SOLAR HOME KITS
electricity + lamps > light
it is environmentally sustainable because
it uses the solar energy + it is
socioethically sustainable because give to
poor people access to useful services + it
is economically sustainable because is a
business for TSSFA company.
TSSFA company offers to Brasilian rural
people a solar home kits that include the
hardware to generate solar energy + the
installation service + products that use
the electricity, e.g. lighting and electrical
outlets. Customers sign a three-year
service contract (all of the tangible inputs
are owned by the provider).

22. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
A RESEARCH WORKING HYPOTHESIS
S.PSS APPLIED TO DRE:
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES IN LOW/MIDDLE
INCOME (ALL) CONTEXTS:
“A S.PSS approach may act as a business opportunity
to facilitate the diffusion of DRE-based value
production system (satisfaction system) in low and
middle-income (all) contexts, reducing the (initial)
cost of access to energy, resulting in a key leverage
for a sustainable development process aiming at
democratizing access to resources, goods and
services.”
[LeNSes proposal, EU edulink project, 2013-2016]

23. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
. Product-Service System (PSS) design for Sustainability:
an emerging role, the LeNS approaches
. Sustainable Product-Service System (S.PSS): a promising
model for Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE)
4. SYSTEM DESIGN FOR SUSTAINABLE
ENERGY (FOR ALL): A NEW DESIGN ROLE
(TO BE DEFINED)

24. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
LeNSes DESIGN WORKING HYPOTHESIS
there is the need to DEVELOP AND DIFFUSE NEW
COMPETENCES IN:
System design for sustainable energy (for all):
the design of the system of products and services for
an on-site Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE)
generation able to “power” the fulfillment of customer
demand/s (“unit of satisfaction” powered by that
energy) with accessible cost; an offer model based on
an innovative interactions of the stakeholders (of the
“satisfaction” production system) where the economic
and competitive interest of the providers continuously
seeks after both environmentally and socio-ethically
beneficial new solutions; eventually including the offer
of a local energy network.

25. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
FINAL REMARKS
AN EMERGING SYSTEM DESIGN ROLE FOR
SUSTAINABILITY
form
“APPROPRAITE TECHNOLOGIES” DESIGN
to
“APPROPRIATE STAKEHOLER CONFIGURATION”
DESIGN, ADDRESSED TO S.PSS AND DRE

26. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
Product-Service
System design for
Sustainability
LeNS approach,
method, tools
SYSTEM DESIGN FOR SUSTAINABLE
ENERGY (FOR ALL)
(knowledge-base and know-how)
Distributed
Renewable
Energy (DRE)
design and
engineering
Social
entrepreneurship
for sustainable
development
DISSEMINATION IN HEIS: LEARNING-BY-
SHARING WITH OPEN AND COPY LEFT ETHOS

27. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
MULO is an open system project aiming at promoting
sustainable mobility Product-Service System in low and
middle income contexts based on the use of vehicles
powered by solar, electric and human power
Cape Town
Rio de
Janeiro
Basanti -
IndiaBurkina Faso
Zambia
MULO SYSTEM
OPEN PROJECT
Politecnico di
Milanosocio-technical experiment
incubation
S.PSS detailed design
Brunell
University
(by fabrizio ceschin)

28. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
SYSTEM AND PILOT
PROJECT DESIGN AND
IMPLEMENTATION OF A
SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY
SYSTEM FOR THE
TRANSPORTATION OF
DISABLED PEOPLE IN
CAPE TOWN SUBURBS,
SOUTH AFRICA
BASED ON MULO SUSTAINABLE
MOBILITY OPEN PROJECT
detailed design
of service and
stakaholder
inetractions
design of transition
path and of socio-
technical experiment
pilot project
implementationdetailed product design
http://muloafrica.wordpress.com
Politecnico di
Milano
Cape Peninsula
University of
Technology
Shonaquip
Benbikes
Philiza Abafazi
Bethu
PARTNERS
first pilot launch, Cape Town:
12 October 2011