Thesis comes to life in cardboard computer case ENVIRONMENT

This isn't built to last

Houstonian Brenden Macaluso has designed a cardboard PC. It's not for sale or being mass produced, yet. ﻿ Houstonian Brenden Macaluso has designed a cardboard PC. It's not for sale or being mass produced, yet. ﻿ Photo: Mayra Beltran, Chronicle Photo: Mayra Beltran, Chronicle Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Thesis comes to life in cardboard computer case 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Brenden Macaluso doesn't consider himself an environmentalist. He's a designer at heart.

But the Houston resident hopes the cardboard computer casing he created will encourage others to rethink what sustainability means in design.

“I wanted to address three things: How do we manufacture things, how do we use them and how do we ultimately dispose of it?” he said.

The cardboard-housed computer, born of his graduate thesis at the University of Houston, is an extreme example of implementing sustainable design to the entire life cycle of a product, he says.

Aside from using a recyclable material, the case requires less time, labor and parts to produce. And when it's time to trash it, he says, there will be fewer parts to send to landfills.

The cardboard case, which can be assembled without fasteners and screws, eliminates the need for those parts and the manufacturing processes used to create them.

“We don't realize how much effort it takes to do. A computer is something that will be disposed of and we'll dispose of it because of its finite life, so why do we put so much effort into producing it?” he asked.

And the quick disassembly makes it easy to separate items from other components and toss them in the recycling bin, eliminating the need to separate screws, metals, plastics and other materials that can go into a case, he notes.

A cooling fan

Of the 2.25 million tons of TVs, cell phones and computer products tossed each year, 18 percent are recycled and 82 percent are trashed, usually in landfills, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Macaluso's cardboard-housed computer, dubbed “Recompute,” isn't for sale or being mass produced yet, though he's talking to manufacturers and retailers about getting his computer in stores before the holiday season.

He's heard worries about the cardboard overheating, trapping dust or easily succumbing to liquids.

To that Macaluso says the case is designed to take advantage of the corrugation of the cardboard, essentially ventilating the entire thing. The processor has its own cooling fan built in and the power supply and mother board are isolated from each other to keep heat from one affecting the other.

It can also be sprayed with air for quick cleaning, he said, adding that he assumes most people will take care not to spill liquids on their computer.

EunSook Kwon, the director of the industrial design program at the University of Houston who oversaw Macaluso's thesis project, expects arguments about whether the case is really sustainable, given that it seems designed to be easily disposable.

“It is controversial. I think that's the beauty of this project,” she said. “Sustainable design is not supposed to be the perfect solution but it is a new way of thinking and using materials.”

The same thinking can be applied to other products, she noted.

Macaluso figures that if most people really planned to reuse their metal cases, they already would be doing so. Instead, most people find it easier to simply buy a new one.

“We already know that the computer will be thrown out, so I designed an object that does just that,” he said. “If we were already reusing cases and replacing hardware (and software) at a mass scale, we would not have nearly the problems that we have now.”

Build it yourself?

The idea has caught the eye of local tech enthusiasts.

Macaluso is discussing potential business models with the Houston Technology Center, a local business incubator, such as selling build-it-yourself kits for an undetermined price at local retail outlets.

The kits could include the basic case components. Cardboard cases, in fact, are nothing new. But Macaluso thought the design out from beginning to end, from air flow to the recycling, said Marc Nathan, head of entrepreneur development at the Houston Technology Center.

The case will appeal to geeks with lots of old parts lying around who want make their own computer and environmentalists who like the “green” factor, he said.

“He's not just an inventor who came up with something cool, he is a designer who created something through a very specific thought process,” Nathan said. “He has thought this through.”

When and if the cases will hit store shelves is uncertain.

But meanwhile, the public can check out this experiment in sustainable computing at the University of Houston College of Architecture Green Building Components exhibition, which runs through Sept. 18.

purva.patel@chron.com