Sustainable Design

The following article was taken from a book written by Christine M. Piotrowski ASID, IIDA, Elizabeth A. Rodgers IIDA

A very important issue facing commercial interior designers in the 21^st century is sustainable, environmentally safe design, also called green design.  According to the World Commission on Environment and Development, sustainable design seeks to "meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs"10 It involves finding a balance between users' immediate needs in constructing a building and finishing it's interior while creating as little harm as possible to the environment for future generations.  Being sure that the veneer you choose for a desk or cabinet comes from a certifiably sustainable source is a way of utilizing green design.  Sustainable design means finding methods and processes of design that consume less nonrenewable recourses and are more energy efficient.  The designer chooses to use materials and products for the interior that are also less damaging for the environment in both their manufacture and their use as finished products. 

Constructing buildings and completing their interiors consumes vast quantities of materials- only some of which are renewable. According to the US Department of Energy in 2003, all building in the United States (residential and commercial) consume 40 per cent of raw materials and generate more than one third municipal solid waste.11 Other sources report that construction waste accounts for 40 per cent of what goes into landfills.  In addition, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that indoor air quality is on average 2 - 10 times more polluted than outside air. Volatile organic compounds (VOC's) are toxic fumes emitted from carpeting, paints, the glues used to make composite woods in furniture, and many other common materials and products used in commercial and residential interiors.  Some are carcinogens; all can cause irritation and allergic reactions in many people. The sealed environment of many office buildings and other types of commercial spaces with poor ventilation means that indoor spaces can be very harmful due to the products that are specified.

Too often, architects, interior designers, clients and users of buildings and interiors continue to deplete our natural recourses in every way imaginable.  We continue to add no recyclable waste to landfills whenever we demolish and throw away building materials.  We specify products that off-gas toxic pollutants, over specify the lighting in interiors, and design with materials like exotic woods that are not known to come from certified forests. Why? Because too many persons believe that it is easier and cheaper to continue to use non-green products and construction methods.  Comments such as "it costs more to renovate a building than to tear it down and build a new structure" and "materials from sustainable sources are more generally expensive than those from non-sustainable sources" are used by detractors to downplay sustainable design.

Christine M. Piotrowski ASID, IIDA, Elizabeth A. Rodgers IIDA

10  World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987. p 43

11 USGBC, 2003. p.3

 

 

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