DESIGNERS around the world should increase their focus on energy-saving, environmentally friendly designs, Canadian Jim Kor, creator of the world’s first 3-D-printed model car, called Urbee, said over the weekend during the first China (Shenzhen) International Industrial Design Fair.
 

The fair opened Saturday and ends Tuesday.
 

The 3-D-printed model car Kor’s company is exhibiting at the fair has attracted many young designers, most of whom are interested to know about the car’s energy efficiency.
 

Kor said 3-D technology has opened up huge opportunities for designers and is benefiting almost all industries with its powerful ability to produce objects with complicated structures, such as the human bone.
 

A veteran designer with more than 30 years of experience in the industry, Kor uses three words to describe the profession: thinking, designing and building. With the 3-D printer, he said, designers should think about almost every possibility and explore unconventional ways to improve their work.
 

“I don’t worry about how to make an object, because machines can do it. I have to think about how to design machinery that’s good to the environment, because one has to be extremely cautious when designing something that maybe replicated in large volume,” Kor said.
 

He said the best design imitates nature, which builds things by using materials that can decompose after they’re no longer used.
 

He said most materials people currently use — plastics, for example — can be environmental nightmares.
 

“Humanity is creating a huge negative impact on Earth. If technology is the problem, design is the key,” Kor said. “It’s designers’ responsibility not to bring negative impacts to nature.”

Kor said 3-D printers have great potential for energy efficiency because they help people create what they need where they need it.
 

“A car for China should be built in China,” Kor said. “Moving around material can cause damage to the environment.”
 

Kor said designers can be environmental leaders.
 

“Designers often have to make compromises because of various limitations, but also have to find out where a compromise should be made. We have to design for the public good, for everybody, not only the rich,” he said. “Designers should lead the way to a sustainable life and demonstrate to the public that energy and environment are the primary concerns.”