Design Principles for Sustainable and Reconfigurable Systems: A Pedagogical Toolbox for Ecodesigned Digital Electronics (en Inglés) - Carlos Cruz de la Torre

This book aims to support the ongoing transformation taking place in engineering education. It raises awareness of the material, energy, and waste implications of digital electronics. The book provides the foundation for teaching life cycle assessment (LCA) as an operational method for decision-making in electronics and investigates how to translate sustainability principles into actionable best practices for eco-design, reuse, upgradeability, modularity, and reconfigurability. Educators, students, and professionals will find practical tools and examples to design digital systems, consume fewer resources, and remain adaptable over time.

The book supports a new teaching paradigm and a set of “green skills” for digital electronics grounded in planetary boundaries. A core principle is to transmit established digital electronics knowledge while embedding ecological constraints from the beginning of the design process, supported by multidisciplinary expertise and training educators to develop new standards for teaching digital electronics “beyond growth.”

Structured in eight chapters, the book follows the logic of a sustainable engineering project, from context and methods to design practice, end-of-life (EoL) strategies, and educational implementation. It links analytical tools (LCA, the 6R framework, circularity, and durability metrics) with design principles (repair, disassembly, modularity, and reconfigurable architectures) and shows how to embed these ideas at course, program, and institutional levels. It aims to be a timely, practical resource that supports curriculum redesign and helps learners develop the competencies to engineer digital electronics that are resilient, circular, and sustainability aligned.