The concept of shearing layers has, as noted above, big implications for architects in both their design and material choices. But it has even greater implications for building system, component and product designwhich can make the job of the green architect, builder or recycler much easier. The shearing layers concept also has implications for demolition and recycling at the end of the building service lifewhich I will examine in the next sectionbut the most fundamental solutions can only be implemented up front in the product- and system-design phase. In this phase, some writers have distinguished between design-for-disassembly, which mainly refers to building elements or assemblies, and design-for-recycling, which involves separate materials (te Dorsthorst, Kowalczyk, Hendriks, & Kristinsson, 2000). Although Brands Six Ss is a convenient conceptualization, buildings, assemblies, and