The Hannover Principles

The Hannover Principles are a set of design guidelines developed by William McDonough together with chemist Michael Braungart for Expo 2000 in Hannover, Germany, first published in 1992. They address the ecological consequences of design decisions, the sustainability of development, and the wider social effects of what gets built and made. The nine principles call for recognizing the interdependence between people and nature, holding designers accountable for the long-term consequences of their work, eliminating the concept of waste, relying on natural energy flows, and treating design as a process of continual improvement rather than a fixed solution. Rather than aiming only at doing less environmental harm, the principles push design toward a regenerative relationship with natural and social systems. Credits: McDonough, W. (2000). The Hannover Principles. The World's Fair, 60. http://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107415324.004