Sustainable Finishes and Furnishings.

When integrating sustainable into a design finishes and furnishings can have a significant impact. One way to conserve resources when designing an interior is to specify materials is to reuse as many materials as possible. This entails thoroughly looking at the finishes in a room, like the flooring, and determine if they can be reused, like sanding down and refinishing the floors.  If reusing what is already there is not an option the next best option is to use as less of the material as possible. Thus a room should be designed to best match the standardized sizing of products. For example when designing a room in which carpet squares will be used the designer should match the floor plan in correspondence to the size of the carpet squares so none have to be cut down and thrown away. Other strategies to integrate sustainability into a design can include recycled products, chemical free products, and products that take into account the LCA.

Wall Coverings

            For sustainability purposes when choosing wall coverings for interiors one should consider durability, insulating properties, and sound absorbency. It is important to consider durability, like colorfastness or washability, to make sure the product can last as long as possible so it does not end up in a land fill.  All wall coverings should be installed with zero or low-VOC adhesives or tacked to surfaces. Some sustainable wall covering materials include mulberry fibers, linen, cork, honeysuckle vines, cane, raffia, jute, bamboo, and sisal.

Flooring

            There are mainly two options when it comes to flooring: hard or soft. Hard floors can include wood and concrete, while soft floor include carpet. Hard floors can improve a room’s indoor air quality as hard floors do not harbor dust, dirt, or allergens like soft flooring can do. Some sustainable wood flooring includes the use of bamboo, sustainably harvested wood, and reclaimed or remilled wood. Bamboo is peeled away so the material is rapidly renewable, has low embodied energy qualities and also looks aesthetically pleasing.  Reclaimed or remilled wood is recycled material that can add a lot of character to a room. You can either use reclaimed wood in its original state or remilled wood is reprocessed to give a newer look. Concrete floor are another hard flooring option. This flooring can eliminate additional materials used for wood flooring during the installation process. To also reduce the energy impact of concrete flooring one should use fly ash concrete instead of Portland cement. Cork is another sustainable flooring material that is retrieved from the bark of a cork tree. Cork can be used as finished flooring or as an alternative to an underlay for wood flooring.

            Since comfort is an important quality in an interior environment, hard flooring may not always be the go to choice. Soft flooring, like carpet, can provide comfort as well as an aesthetic quality to a room. When choosing carpet it is important to consider an area rug or a whole carpeted room as an area rug will use fewer materials and hold less allergens. However is a whole carpeted room is desired one should consider qualities like durability and color. One should choose carpet made from durable materials and finishes like a high pile and high dimensional stability as well as choose a color that is timeless rather than trendy to ensure a long life of the carpet. When selecting carpet chose carpet that has been refurbished or recycled. A designer should also use natural fibers rather than synthetic fibers as they typically are produced more sustainable and can be repurposed or recycled.

Below are some tun and interesting companies that incorporate sustainability into their product design and manufacturing. I am thinking of using some for an upcoming project! It is always important when choosing sustainable products to research the company and their claims to make sure they are truly doing what they can to help the environment and not just claiming so. 

http://www.themohawkgroup.com

http://kojicollection.com

http://submaterial.com

http://shop.graypants.com

https://www.themomgroup.com

http://uhurudesign.com

*Information received from:,Sustainable design for interior environments . (2nd ed.). Fairchild Books

Water Conservation Methods:

There are many factors that drive us as humans to consume water including our habits and the fact that our appliances use more water than we think. As it is very hard to change habits of human beings it is important to include more water efficient appliances in ones home to conserve water. One new system to conserve water is low flow technologies. This reduces water consumption but also maintains strong pressure by adding air into the water stream. Low flow technologies can be seen on showerheads, toilets, and kitchen sinks.

            There are also alternative ways to heat water and to gain water. One method is a gray water heat recovery system. This system uses and recaptures the heat from gray water. Gray water is water from bathtubs, showers, bathroom sinks, and laundry water. Another alternative is a solar water heating system. This system uses glazed plates with water tubes absorb heat from the sun and then the heat is transferred in the tubes and the heated water is transferred to a buildings water heater. Rainwater harvesting is anther alternative to help reuse water. This is a system where rainwater is collected and redistributed to various activities including landscaping irrigation and other non-potable purposes.

*Information received from:,Sustainable design for interior environments . (2nd ed.). Fairchild Books

Sustainable Strategies: Building Components.

Building Envelope

            To achieve optimal performance, like zero emissions, of any building integrated elements need to work together.  There are many different energy efficient strategies to apply to the building envelope. One method is passive solar heating and cooling. This method provides heat to a building using the energy generated by the sunlight. There are some factors that may affect effective solar heating as near by topography, trees, and/or other buildings can get in the way of sunlight. So it is most effective to place the solar panels that trap the sunlight in areas of optimal sunlight like on south facing walls. Insulation is another strategy that can be used to reduce thermal exchanges and in return reduce the amount of energy consumed. Some sustainable materials that should be considered for insulation include straw bales, cotton or denim insulation or organic choices that are synthetic or natural.

Mechanical Systems

            The HVAC system is a crucial element to consider when a building is trying to achieve sustainability.  HVAC systems should focus on optimizing energy use and maintain healthy air quality. Heating systems fall under this category as they produce warmth by heating air water or steam or directly by radiation into the indoor environment of a building. Energy Star rated heating systems should be used. One sustainable heating system is a geothermal well heating system. This is a system that uses the air or ground to heat and cool a building. To warm a building heat is derived from the outside air or the ground where the geothermal well is embedded. To cool a building the heat pumps reverse the operation, as shown below.

Ventilation Systems

            It is also important to pay attention to ventilation systems to help improve the indoor air quality of a building and address the amount of energy consumed from cooling a building. I think it is important to emphasize on natural air flow and provide as much fresh air as possible and as much sunlight as possible into a building. This entails utilizing cross ventilation. Cross ventilation is an approach where you place windows across from each other so air can naturally flow through a building. Tall towers can also be used to help push air vertically and create even more airflow. This picture below expands the cross ventilation view also shows how air can be pushed to higher levels of a building.

Building Materials

            Building materials are important to consider when achieving sustainability into a home. Though the architects have the most control towards what materials the building with contain on the envelope, interior designers have a say in some of the carpentry. It is important to use as many recycled materials as possible including materials like reclaimed wood and wood composite materials. Alternatives to wood are plastics. Though plastics take a long time to degrade they can be sustainably harvested and therefor can be considered as a material to use. Some of these plastics include thermoset, thermoplastic and bio based plastics.

*Information received from:,Sustainable design for interior environments . (2nd ed.). Fairchild Books.www.greengaragedetroit.com http://thompsonyoung.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Cross-Ventilation-and-Stack-Effect.jpg

The World’s Resources and the Populations That Consume Them.

As the world increases in population so does the need for more buildings. A larger population and more buildings can result in a majority of factors; one main factor though is an increase in energy consumption. To give a better understanding of what and how much energy is being consumed through buildings think about walking into your office or university in the morning. The lights are beaming down, the computers are glowing, the heat provides a comfortable temperature to do your work, and you may even take the elevator up a floor. All of these performances listed use energy and an increase in energy consumption is directly correlated to many of the world’s sustainability problems and since buildings play a large impact towards energy consumption it is important to be aware and apply the many green building certifications that are available. Another factor to take into account is the fact that the majority of these buildings are built in developed countries that can afford to do so. One main problem arising from this though is the fact that these building do not only affect the surrounding environment but they affect environments around the world. So it should be our responsibility to provide assistance to the less advantaged when building a structure. An interior designer, for example, may purchase sustainable sourced lamps in Mexico or purchase bamboo flooring from Asia that will help benefit other countries local economy and encourage sustainable sourcing around the world.

As described above the large growth in population is directly correlated to an increase in energy consumption. Air is one main element that is affected by an increase in energy consumption and more specifically the pollutants that are let off when energy is consumed. These pollutants can lead to acid rain, holes in the ozone, and global warming. Air does not only affect what human’s breath in but it also affects all parts of the eco system including water and soil. There are two types of pollutants: point or nonpoint source pollutants. Point pollutants result from one main source like a factory chimney. Nonpoint source pollutants result from multiple sources like a combination of pesticide runoff from a farm and toxins from a landfill that all combine in a local pond. There are many types of air pollutants but some main ones include modes of transportation, burning coal for oil, and industrial processes. This is why LEED addresses site selection as a category to score points as transportation and burning coal for oil are main contributors to air pollution.

Water is another important element for interior designers to address, as it is a resource that affects people, ecosystems, and habitats. Water is a vital element that is required for all organisms on this earth to survive. So if water become polluted or contaminated from either chemical or physical changes it can be detrimental. Some primary sources of water pollution include airborne particles and contaminants derived from agricultural production, industry, and sewage outlets. As these main sources for water pollution can be related back to buildings it is important for the interior designer to address these concerns when working with a client. For example the designer may recommend a chair that has been processed in a large factory that produces waste and the cotton used to upholster that chair may have let off chemicals into our water systems. These adverse effects should always be on a designers mind when selecting furniture or any other type of elements for a client. LEED also addresses water pollution, waste, and management. As you can incorporate for example, low water usage toilets.

As the population and the demand for more buildings in increasing so is the amount of land that is built on. Thus sustainable soil practices are essential to meet the needs of current and future generations. Reducing land usage and conserving soil is emphasized in LEED as well due to its high importance. If soil and land are not conserved many problems can occur including loss of grown of trees and plants and natural disasters including land slides and fires. As these are problems create both short and long-term problems that we must endure and future generations. Some strategies to prevent these problems from occurring include building in urban or brownfield sites, reducing the amount of space used on the land, keeping natural landscape on a site to be built on, and building green roofs. Check out some creative green roofs and read more on their practicality and innovative styles here, http://www.archdaily.com/193552/green-roofs/. One important way an interior designer can help reduce the amount of space used to build a house includes different spatial strategies. This entails the designer to make spatial decisions that are based on the immediate needs of a client and forecasted long-term changes.

*Information received from: Sustainable design for interior environments . (2nd ed.). Fairchild Books and http://www.archdaily.com/193552/green-roofs/.