RECOMPUTE

Recompute: Understanding Sustainability and Product Life Cycle

Recompute is a new way of thinking about computers that layers sustainable ideas throughout its life cycle to make an overall sustainable product that can be easily replicated. Its design evolved from several months of research in attempting to define the question “what is sustainability in design?”  Through the research the L.A.P.S.(Lifecycle Amortization for Product Sustainability) method was developed and thus became frame work of  how Recompute was developed.  By using Design Thinking, Recompute address sustainability along three main life stages.

Manufacturing:

Always more parts than it seems

Rather than making a large tower constructed from numerous materials (ABS plastic, aluminum, steel, etc. ) hundreds of manufacturing processes & dozens of individual components, the Recompute case is made of corrugated cardboard(recyclable and renewable).  There are four low impact manufacturing processes to assemble Recompute: Die cutting, gluing (with non-toxic white glue), printing and electronic assembly.  Recompute only used three major electronic components: A motherboard with processor & memory, power supply and a hard drive, thus keeping electronic components to a bare minimum.

Use:

Never seems like there are enough

Recompute is designed to allow the user to take advantage of existing hardware.  For example; use the keyboard from a previous computer or have a portable hard drive that goes between work and home.  For additional flexibility external hardware customization is easy via 8 USB ports.  People use USB ports like electrical outlets in a room, whatever device is needed is simply plugged in. This allows the user to add or subtract hardware as it is needed as well as allowing the use of hardware on other machines.

Disposal:

Think cases are not a problem...think again

Dead electronic components (ewaste) needs to be properly recycled as they contain toxic heavy metals.  However this is often skipped because dismantling of computers is difficult, time consuming and not cost effective.  When electronic components are not dismantled they are often thrown into landfills or shipped off to other countries to be burned where it becomes a pollution issue.  Recompute can be quickly and easily disassembled without tools so the electronics and case can be easily recycled individually.

Oh yes Recompute is a real working computer.

Currently Recompute is going through some design and engineering changes to get ready for production by the holiday season 2009.