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Now that the chief construction adviser鈥檚 wittily named Innovation and Growth Team has published 50 Ways to Change Construction for a Low Carbon World, what can designers do to help its author? Paul Morrell鈥檚 report is welcome for its long view, but it is essentially a 鈥渂ig stick鈥� - it鈥檚 good for you, or else.

There鈥檚 common sense about the wise use of building modelling tools, and lots about regulation. But there鈥檚 little on behaviour change (because we鈥檒l legislate), and very little on design. Why? Well, government ministers like control, whereas the very thing that makes intelligent design challenging is its unpredictability. So while the private conversations among Morrell鈥檚 group surely hit much harder, his published recommendations exemplify political pragmatism.

Government ministers like control, whereas the very thing that makes intelligent design challenging is its unpredictability

A sample Department for Business, Innovation and Skills txt to Morrell: 鈥淚 sA m8, jst leaV doze pesky Dziners outa yr cRbon rprt, A?鈥�

What is design鈥檚 response? In its finer moments, at least, design reads its environment to invent something entirely new. A generation ago, Jacob Bronowski proposed - flying in the face of Darwinism - that, uniquely among animals, humans don鈥檛 adapt themselves to fit their environment but adapt the environment to fit themselves, through design.

So when I recently received a designerly award, the Milne Medal, I used the platform to softly launch 鈥淓nough is Enough鈥�. Everything in moderation, challenge wilfulness, but let鈥檚 stop adapting ourselves to fit a wonky context, and instead design a better one. Enough is Enough wants essentially the same as Morrell鈥檚 report: use fewer resources, make better lives for more people. But don鈥檛 just choke off resources, redesign the problem.

Begin by showing how 鈥渃arbon鈥� and 鈥渆nergy鈥� are real, powerful things. For example, I once had to dig a deep hole for a sarcophagus, by hand. Hauling up baskets of sand became harder and harder. In 40潞C Egyptian heat, every 50kg basket was an epic. Perhaps Mr Morrell would have asked the pharaoh if his sarcophagus really needed such a deep hole 鈥� yes, yes, your wonderfulness, just a bit shallower. On the contrary, as a designer, I would have sold him cremation as this year鈥檚 fashionable choice, freeing the slaves鈥� energy for something else.

So, in Enough is Enough, we will try to leave the glory projects and go for the middle ground - traditional steel and concrete buildings. To do that, we have to redesign their 鈥渆nvironment鈥�. It鈥檚 simple stuff but long overdue: allow competent people to reduce safety margins originally imposed to stop charlatans; work with manufacturers to make beams and floors with lighter, adaptable profiles; reward good materials and workmanship with reduced workmanship safety margins; take a hard look at performance and design buildings to do only what we need. 

With a few simple changes like these, in a month we redesigned out nearly 20 billion car miles of energy every year. Just in the UK. Not millions, but billions of miles. With more work we might save 50 billion miles a year.

To achieve those savings designers need to show what can be done, and then to push through the changes to make it possible.

As a designer, I would have sold the Pharaoh cremation as this year鈥檚 fashionable choice, freeing the slaves鈥� energy for something else

The approach to the structural Enough is Enough agenda has led to a 鈥渂rains鈥� trust starting this month, bringing together designers, researchers and thinkers from many disciplines. If structural engineers save 50 billion car miles a year, how much more can we get from environmental engineers (say, Patrick Bellew et al); architecture (Peter Clegg, Mike Davies et al); aviation (perhaps Geoff Kirk, ex Rolls-Royce); ceramics (Robin Levien); web design (Simon Waterfall and Malcolm Garrett) and better design education (Jeremy Myerson at RCA) 鈥� on into products, hotels (Joe Ferry), fashion, film and TV, food, medicine, schools: all the staples of life. We are also talking with behavioural thinkers at the Royal Society of Arts to engender real social change.

So here鈥檚 the Big Idea, a challenge to 20 design sectors: please each save 50 billion car miles of energy - altogether saving the energy to drive a trillion miles. Mindful of the terminology, the architect Mike Davies suggested that a trillion car-miles should henceforth be known as a 鈥淐larkson鈥�. He went on to suggest that, of course, a hundred Clarksons would be a 鈥淭rump鈥�, the ultimate measure of profligacy in the universe. If we can save a Trump, anything鈥檚 possible.

Chris Wise is director of Expedition Engineering