Prioritization on different “X” in the design phase will lead to different products. Commonly lightweight design and design to cost have led to lighter and cheaper products. When the sustainability debate started, design tools have been developed to assess also the impact of design on the environment. Focusing on lifecycle costs, a supplementary target of design occurs: “Design for durability”. Using durable materials, investment costs are usually higher, but maintenance costs will decrease. One type of heavy duty materials is advanced ceramics, which have been emerged within the last two decades. This paper will focus on the design with advanced ceramics under high temperature, high wear and mechanical stresses. As a reasonable design example a Stirling motor has been chosen. This motor – designed with conventional materials ? lacks in operating time due to high friction and wear.