Zero Waste Design Guidelines for High Density Cities

  • Residential Building Design Strategies. Image courtesy of Clare Miflin.
  • Image courtesy of Clare Miflin.
  • Submerged container in The Hague, Netherlands as a case study of the project.
  • Image courtesy of Clare Miflin.

The Zero Waste Design Guidelines were developed in New York City to address the crucial role the design of built environments plays in achieving circular material loops.

The Zero Waste Design Guidelines were developed in New York City to address the crucial role the design of built environments plays in achieving circular material loops.

They have been disseminated and implemented widely in the US and around the world. Public-facing panel discussions and expert think tanks in Hong Kong, Singapore and Center for Architecture in New York will be conducted to engage the local architectural and development community and policy leaders, with the intent to begin a process of multidisciplinary collaboration, dissemination and implementation of design strategies that will help cities reduce waste.

Milestone

2019.Q2
Project awarded Design Trust Feature Grant

2021
This project will engage the local architectural and development community through panel discussions and expert think tanks in Singapore, Hong Kong, and the US, including the Center for Architecture in New York

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2019
Grantee: Clare Miflin

Clare Miflin has over 25 years of experience as a practicing architect, primarily with Kiss + Cathcart Architects, where she led award winning projects including an AIA Committee on the Environment (COTE) Top Ten Award and a Holcim Gold award for sustainability. In 2017 she led the development of the ground-breaking Zero Waste Design Guidelines which included the exhibition Designing Waste at the Center for Architecture in New York City. These provide design strategies and case studies to help cities reduce waste through design of the built environment.

Clare is active in the New York City’s sustainable community as Chair of AIANY COTE, and sustainability coordinator for her local food cooperative. She is a certified LEED and Passive House professional. Fascinated by natural systems, she also holds a MS and Professional Certification in Biomimicry. She set up the Center for Zero Waste Design in 2019 for the further education and implementation of Zero Waste Design in cities worldwide.

Organisation: Center for Zero Waste Design

Waste is a design flaw: Ecosystems recycle materials indefinitely in circular loops, but humans have designed a system which trashes over 90% of the materials extracted from the earth within six months. The Center for Zero Waste Design (CfZWD) promotes the role of design of the urban realm in helping cities achieve circular material loops and zero waste. Clare Miflin leads the Center, which adapts the design strategies from the Zero Waste Design Guidelines to the context of other cities, expands the database of case studies, and develops research and policy tools. The impact of applying the design strategies goes beyond reducing waste to the reduction of truck traffic and greenhouse gas emissions, improvement of public space, and overall more sustainable and resilient cities.