Examples of sustainable design

A wind turbineGreen buildings conserve energy, water and resources with limited polluting of either indoor or outdoor environments. Similarly, autonomous buildings use available resources such as rainwater, solar power or wind turbines, in order to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels and other resources. Often they can be constructed of recycled materials as well, reducing their total energy requirements for construction.

Most official agricultural services claim that existing pesticide protocols and methods of soil conservation adequately protect topsoil and wildlife. Some authorities say that these are not sustainable, and that agrarian reforms would permit efficient agriculture with fewer pesticides with reduced damage to the ecosystem. Although there are strenuous discussions about exact methods, no authority seems to believe that sustainable agriculture is impossible.

Urban and rural planning can benefit from including sustainability as a central criterion when laying out roads, streets, buildings and other components of the built environment. Many times, the natural lay of the land has been ignored or discounted during the planning stages, resulting in ecological disasters such as the stagnation of streams, mudslides, massive soil erosion, flooding and pollution. Applying methods such as scientific modelling to planned building projects can illuminate problems before construction begins, helping to minimise damage to the natural environment.

Automobiles and appliances can be designed for repair and disassembly (for recycling), and constructed from recyclable materials such as steel, aluminum and glass, and renewable materials, such as wood and plastics from natural feedstocks. Careful selection of materials and manufacturing processes can often create products indistinguishable in price and performance from non-sustainable products. Even mild design efforts can greatly increase the sustainable content of manufactured items.

Detergents, newspapers and other disposable items can be designed to self-destruct, usually simply rot, in the presence of air, water and common soil organisms. The current challenge in this area is to design such items in attractive colors, at costs as low as competing items. Since most such items end up in landfills, protected from air and water, the utility of such self-destruction is debated.

High quality wind turbines can be constructed from recycled aluminum, steel and small amounts of electronics. They produce renewable energy. Properly sited, wind could power our entire industrial society at prices that are now comparable to coal.[citation needed]

The world's oceans contain sufficient uranium to power existing industries, via breeder reactors. Japanese scientists claim to have discovered methods of extracting the Uranium from seawater.[citation needed]

Sustainable technologies
These are technologies which use less energy, fewer limited resources, do not deplete natural resources, do not directly or indirectly pollute the environment, and can be reused or recycled at the end of their useful life.

There is a significant overlap with appropriate technology, which emphasises the suitability of technology to the context, in particular considering the needs of people in developing countries. However, the most appropriate technology may not be the most sustainable one; and a sustainable technology may have high cost or maintenance requirements that make it unsuitable as an "appropriate technology," as that term is commonly used.

Encouraging use
The use of sustainable technologies may be encouraged through means such as reducing the capacity of the electrical cable supplying a home (e.g. Crystal Waters Village in Australia).

In some cases the electricity supplier charges a higher rate for the energy used when the capacity of the supply is increased (for example, in Indonesia