Environmentally sustainable design (also called
environmentally conscious design, eco design etc.) is the philosophy of
designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to
comply with the principles of ecological sustainability.
Note: Social and economic factors are vitally important considerations, but are sub systems in the larger context of the Earth's eco-sphere.
Note: Social and economic factors are vitally important considerations, but are sub systems in the larger context of the Earth's eco-sphere.
Theory
The
intention of sustainable design is to "eliminate negative environmental
impact completely through skillful, sensitive design". Manifestations of sustainable design require renewable resources, impact the environment minimally, and connect people with the natural environment.
“Human beings don't have a pollution problem; they have a design
problem. If humans were to devise products, tools, furniture, homes,
factories, and cities more intelligently from the start, they wouldn't
even need to think in terms of waste, or contamination, or scarcity.
Good design would allow for abundance, endless reuse, and pleasure.” -
The Upcycle by authors Michael Braungart and William McDonough, 2013.
Design-related decisions are happening everywhere on a daily basis, impacting “sustainable development” or provisioning for the needs of future generations of life on earth. Sustainability
and design are intimately linked. Quite simply, our future is designed.
The term “design” is here used to refer to practices applied to the
making of products, services, as well as business and innovation
strategy — all of which inform sustainability. Sustainability can be
thought of as the property of continuance; that is, what is sustainable
can be continued into the future.
Conceptual problems
Diminishing returns
The
principle that all directions of progress run out, ending with
diminishing returns, is evident in the typical 'S' curve of the technology life cycle and in the useful life of any system as discussed in industrial ecology and life cycle assessment.
Diminishing returns are the result of reaching natural limits. Common
business management practice is to read diminishing returns in any
direction of effort as an indication of diminishing opportunity, the
potential for accelerating decline and a signal to seek new
opportunities elsewhere.
Unsustainable investment
A
problem arises when the limits of a resource are hard to see, so
increasing investment in response to diminishing returns may seem
profitable as in the Tragedy of the Commons,
but may lead to a collapse. This problem of increasing investment in
diminishing resources has also been studied in relation to the causes of
civilization collapse by Joseph Tainter among others. This natural error in investment policy contributed to the collapse of both the Roman and Mayan,
among others. Relieving over-stressed resources requires reducing
pressure on them, not continually increasing it whether more efficiently
or not.
Waste prevention
Plans
for Floriade 2012 in Venlo, the Netherlands: "The Greenest Building in
the Netherlands - no external fuel, electricity, water or sewage."
Negative Effects of Waste
About 80 million tonnes of waste in total are generated in the U.K. alone, for example, each year.
And with reference to only household waste, between 1991/92 and
2007/08, each person in England generated an average of 1.35 pounds of
waste per day.
Experience has now shown that there is no completely safe method
of waste disposal. All forms of disposal have negative impacts on the
environment, public health, and local economies. Landfills have
contaminated drinking water. Garbage burned in incinerators has poisoned
air, soil, and water. The majority of water treatment systems change
the local ecology. Attempts to control or manage wastes after they are
produced fail to eliminate environmental impacts.
The toxics components of household products pose serious health
risks and aggravate the trash problem. In the U.S., about eight pounds
in every ton of household garbage contains toxic materials, such as heavy metals like nickel, lead, cadmium, and mercury from batteries, and organic compounds found in pesticides and consumer products, such as air freshener sprays, nail polish, cleaners, and other products. When burned or buried, toxic materials also pose a serious threat to public health and the environment.
The only way to avoid environmental harm from waste is to prevent its generation. Pollution prevention
means changing the way activities are conducted and eliminating the
source of the problem. It does not mean doing without, but doing
differently. For example, preventing waste pollution from litter caused
by disposable beverage containers does not mean doing without beverages;
it just means using refillable bottles.
Waste prevention strategies
In planning for facilities, a comprehensive design strategy is needed for preventing generation of solid waste.
A good garbage prevention strategy would require that everything
brought into a facility be recycled for reuse or recycled back into the
environment through biodegradation. This would mean a greater reliance on natural materials or products that are compatible with the environment.
Any resource-related development is going to have two basic
sources of solid waste — materials purchased and used by the facility
and those brought into the facility by visitors. The following waste
prevention strategies apply to both, although different approaches will
be needed for implementation:
- use products that minimize waste and are nontoxic
- compost or anaerobically digest biodegradable wastes
- reuse materials onsite or collect suitable materials for offsite recycling
- consuming less resources means creating less waste, therefore it reduces the impact on the environment.
Climate change
Perhaps the most obvious and overshadowing driver of environmentally conscious sustainable design can be attributed to global warming
and climate change. The sense of urgency that now prevails for humanity
to take actions against climate change has increased manifold in the
past thirty years. Climate change can be attributed to several faults;
and improper design that doesn't take into consideration the environment
is one of them. While several steps in the field of sustainability have
begun, most products, industries and buildings still consume a lot of
energy and create a lot of pollution.
Loss of Biodiversity
Unsustainable environment design, or simply design, also affects the
biodiversity of a region. Improper design of transport highways force
thousands of animals to move further into forest boundaries. Poorly
designed hydrothermal dams affect the mating cycle and indirectly, the
numbers of local fish.
Sustainable design principles
The California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California, is a sustainable building designed by Renzo Piano. It opened on September 27, 2008
Central_building_Broadway_Sydney-1.jpg)
While the practical application varies among disciplines
, some common principles are as follows:
- Low-impact materials: choose non-toxic, sustainably produced or recycled materials which require little energy to process
- Energy efficiency: use manufacturing processes and produce products which require less energy
- Emotionally durable design: reducing consumption and waste of resources by increasing the durability of relationships between people and products, through design
- Design for reuse and recycling: "Products, processes, and systems should be designed for performance in a commercial 'afterlife'."
- Targeted durability, not immortality, should be a design goal.
- Material diversity in multicomponent products should be minimized to promote disassembly and value retention.
- Design impact measures for total carbon footprint and life-cycle assessment for any resource used are increasingly required and available. Many are complex, but some give quick and accurate whole-earth estimates of impacts. One measure estimates any spending as consuming an average economic share of global energy use of 8,000 BTU (8,400 kJ) per dollar and producing CO2 at the average rate of 0.57 kg of CO2 per dollar (1995 dollars US) from DOE figures.
- Sustainable design standards and project design guides are also increasingly available and are vigorously being developed by a wide array of private organizations and individuals. There is also a large body of new methods emerging from the rapid development of what has become known as 'sustainability science' promoted by a wide variety of educational and governmental institutions.
- Biomimicry: "redesigning industrial systems on biological lines ... enabling the constant reuse of materials in continuous closed cycles..."
- Service substitution: shifting the mode of consumption from personal ownership of products to provision of services which provide similar functions, e.g., from a private automobile to a carsharing service. Such a system promotes minimal resource use per unit of consumption (e.g., per trip driven).
- Renewable resource: materials should come from nearby (local or bioregional), sustainably managed renewable sources that can be composted when their usefulness has been exhausted.
- Robust eco-design: robust design principles are applied to the design of a pollution sources.
Bill of Rights for the Planet
A model of the new design principles necessary for sustainability
is exemplified by the "Bill of Rights for the Planet" or "Hannover
Principles" - developed by William McDonough Architects for EXPO 2000
that was held in Hannover, Germany.
- The Bill of Rights:
- Insist on the right of humanity and nature to co-exist in a healthy, supportive, diverse, and sustainable conditions.
- Recognize Interdependence. The elements of human design interact with and depend on the natural world, with broad and diverse implications at every scale. Expand design considerations to recognizing even distant effects.
- Respect relationships between spirit and matter. Consider all aspects of human settlement including community, dwelling, industry, and trade in terms of existing and evolving connections between spiritual and material consciousness.
- Accept responsibility for the consequences of design decisions upon human well-being, the viability of natural systems, and their right to co-exist.
- Create safe objects of long-term value. Do not burden future generations with requirements for maintenance or vigilant administration of potential danger due to the careless creations of products, processes, or standards.
- Eliminate the concept of waste. Evaluate and optimize the full life-cycle of products and processes, to approach the state of natural systems in which there is no waste.
- Rely on natural energy flows. Human designs should, like the living world, derive their creative forces from perpetual solar income. Incorporating this energy efficiently and safely for responsible use.
- Understand the limitations of design. No human creation lasts forever and design does not solve all problems. Those who create and plan should practice humility in the face of nature. Treat nature as a model and mentor, not an inconvenience to be evaded or controlled.
- Seek constant improvement by the sharing of knowledge. Encourage direct and open communication between colleagues, patrons, manufacturers and users to link long term sustainable considerations with ethical responsibility, and re-establish the integral relationship between natural processes and human activity.
These principles were adopted by the World Congress of the
International Union of Architects (UIA) in June 1993 at the American
Institute of Architects' (AIA) Expo 93 in Chicago.
Further, the AIA and UIA signed a "Declaration of Interdependence for a
Sustainable Future." In summary, the declaration states that today's
society is degrading its environment and that the AIA, UIA, and their
members are committed to:
- Placing environmental and social sustainability at the core of practices and professional responsibilities
- Developing and continually improving practices, procedures, products, services, and standards for sustainable design
- Educating the building industry, clients, and the general public about the importance of sustainable design
- Working to change policies, regulations, and standards in government and business so that sustainable design will become the fully supported standard practice
- Bringing the existing built environment up to sustainable design standards.
In addition, the Interprofessional Council on Environmental Design
(ICED), a coalition of architectural, landscape architectural, and
engineering organizations, developed a vision statement in an attempt to
foster a team approach to sustainable design. ICED states: The ethics,
education and practices of our professions will be directed to shape a
sustainable future. . . . To achieve this vision we will join . . . as a
multidisciplinary partnership."
These activities are an indication that the concept of
sustainable design is being supported on a global and interprofessional
scale and that the ultimate goal is to become more environmentally
responsive. The world needs facilities that are more energy efficient
and that promote conservation and recycling of natural and economic
resources.
Economic and Social Sustainable Design
Environmentally
sustainable design is most beneficial when it works hand in hand with
the other two counterparts of sustainable design – the economic and
socially sustainable designs. These three terms are often coined under
the title ‘triple bottom line.’
It is imperative that we think about value in not solely economic or
financial terms, but also in relation to natural capital (the biosphere
and earth's resources), social capital (the norms and networks that
enable collective action), and human capital (the sum total of
knowledge, experience, intellectual property, and labor available to
society).
The purely economic capital so many people and organizations strive
for, and make decisions by, are often not conducive to these alternative
forms of capital. For sustainable design, there is a need to reset how
we, as inhabitants of the earth, think about value.
In some countries the term sustainable design is known as ecodesign, green design or environmental design. Victor Papanek, embraced social design and social quality and ecological quality, but did not explicitly combine these areas of design concern in one term. Sustainable design and design for sustainability are more common terms, including the triple bottom line (people, planet and profit).
In the EU, the concept of sustainable design is referred to as ecodesign. Little discussions have however taken place over the importance of this concept in the run-up to the circular economy package, that the European Commission will be tabling by the end of 2015. To this effect, an Ecothis.EU campaign was launched to raise awareness about the economic and environmental consequences of not including eco-design as part of the circular economy package.
Aspects of environmentally sustainable design
Emotionally durable design
According to Jonathan Chapman of Carnegie Mellon University, USA, emotionally durable design reduces the consumption and waste of natural resources by increasing the resilience of relationships established between consumers and products." Essentially, product replacement is delayed by strong emotional ties. In his book, Emotionally Durable Design: Objects, Experiences & Empathy,
Chapman describes how "the process of consumption is, and has always
been, motivated by complex emotional drivers, and is about far more than
just the mindless purchasing of newer and shinier things; it is a
journey towards the ideal or desired self, that through cyclical loops
of desire and disappointment, becomes a seemingly endless process of
serial destruction". Therefore, a product requires an attribute, or number of attributes, which extend beyond utilitarianism.
According to Chapman, 'emotional durability' can be achieved through consideration of the following five elements:
- Narrative: How users share a unique personal history with the product.
- Consciousness: How the product is perceived as autonomous and in possession of its own free will.
- Attachment: Can a user be made to feel a strong emotional connection to a product?
- Fiction: The product inspires interactions and connections beyond just the physical relationship.
- Surface: How the product ages and develops character through time and use.
As a strategic approach, "emotionally durable design provides a
useful language to describe the contemporary relevance of designing
responsible, well made, tactile products which the user can get to know
and assign value to in the long-term." According to Hazel Clark and David Brody of Parsons The New School for Design
in New York, “emotionally durable design is a call for professionals
and students alike to prioritise the relationships between design and
its users, as a way of developing more sustainable attitudes to, and in,
design things.”
Beauty and sustainable design
Because
standards of sustainable design appear to emphasize ethics over
aesthetics, some designers and critics have complained that it lacks
inspiration. Pritzker Architecture Prize winner Frank Gehry has called green building "bogus," and National Design Awards winner Peter Eisenman has dismissed it as "having nothing to do with architecture." In 2009, The American Prospect asked whether "well-designed green architecture" is an "oxymoron."
Others claim that such criticism of sustainable design is misguided. A leading advocate for this alternative view is architect Lance Hosey, whose book The Shape of Green: Aesthetics, Ecology, and Design
(2012) was the first dedicated to the relationships between
sustainability and beauty. Hosey argues not just that sustainable design
needs to be aesthetically appealing in order to be successful, but also
that following the principles of sustainability to their logical
conclusion requires reimagining the shape of everything designed,
creating things of even greater beauty. Reviewers have suggested that
the ideas in The Shape of Green could "revolutionize what it means to be sustainable."
Small and large buildings are beginning to successfully incorporate
principles of sustainability into award-winning designs. Examples
include One Central Park and the Science Faculty building, UTS. The popular Living Building Challenge
has incorporated beauty as one of its petals in building design.
Sustainable products and processes are required to be beautiful because
it allows for emotional durability.
Many people also argue that biophilia is innately beautiful. Which is
why building architecture is designed such that people feel close to
nature and is often surrounded by well-kept lawns – a design that is
both ‘beautiful’ and encourages the inculcation of nature in our daily
lives. Or utilizes daylight design into the system – reducing lighting
loads while also fulfilling our need for being close to that which is
outdoors.
Economic Aspects
Discussed
above, economics is another aspect of it environmental design that is
crucial to most design decisions. It is obvious that most people
consider the cost of any design before they consider the environmental
impacts of it. Therefore, there is a growing nuance of pitching ideas
and suggestions for environmentally sustainable design by highlighting
the economical profits that they bring to us.
"As the green design field matures, it becomes ever more clear that
integration is the key to achieving energy and environmental goals
especially if cost is a major driver." Building Green Inc. (1999)
To achieve the more ambitious goals of the green design movement,
architects, engineers and designers need to further embrace and
communicate the profit and economic potential of sustainable design
measures. Focus should be on honing skills in communicating the economic
and profit potential of smart design, with the same rigor that have
been applied to advancing technical building solutions.
Standards of Evaluation
There are several standards and rating systems developed as
sustainability gains popularity. The list is endless, with most rating
systems revolving around buildings and energy, and some covering
products as well. Most rating systems certify on the basis of design as
well as post construction or manufacturing.
- LEED - Leadership in energy and environmental design.
- Living building challenge
- HERS - Home energy rating
- WELS rating - water efficiency labeling standard
- BREEAM - Building Research Establishment's Environmental Assessment Method
- GBI - Green Building Initiative
- EPA WaterSense
- Energy Star
- FSC - Forest Stewardship Council
- CASBEE - Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficiency
- Passive house.
While designing for environmental sustainability, it is imperative
that the appropriate units are paid attention to. Often, different
standards weigh things in different units, and that can make a huge
impact on the outcome of the project.
Another important aspect of using standards and looking at data involves
understanding the baseline. A poor design baseline with huge
improvements often show a higher efficiency percentage, while an
intelligent baseline from the start might only have a little improvement
needed and show lesser change. Therefore, all data should ideally be
compared on similar levels, and also be looked at from multiple unit
values.
LCA and Product Life
Life cycle assessment is the complete assessment of materials from
their extraction, transport, processing, refining, manufacturing,
maintenance, use, disposal, reuse and recycle stages. It helps put into
perspective whether a design is actually environmentally sustainable in
the long run. Products such as aluminum which can be reused multiple
number of times but have a very energy intensive mining and refining
which makes it unfavorable. Information such as this is done using LCA
and then taken into consideration when designing.
Applications
Applications of this philosophy range from the microcosm — small objects for everyday use, through to the macrocosm — buildings, cities, and the Earth's physical surface. It is a philosophy that can be applied in the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, urban planning, engineering, graphic design, industrial design, interior design, fashion design and human-computer interaction.
Sustainable design is mostly a general reaction to global environmental crises, the rapid growth of economic activity and human population, depletion of natural resources, damage to ecosystems, and loss of biodiversity. In 2013, eco architecture writer Bridgette Meinhold
surveyed emergency and long-term sustainable housing projects that were
developed in response to these crises in her book, “Urgent
Architecture: 40 Sustainable Housing Solutions for a Changing World.” Featured projects focus on green building, sustainable design, eco-friendly materials, affordability, material reuse, and humanitarian relief. Construction methods and materials include repurposed shipping containers, straw bale construction, sandbag homes, and floating homes.
The limits of sustainable design are reducing. Whole earth
impacts are beginning to be considered because growth in goods and
services is consistently outpacing gains in efficiency. As a result, the
net effect of sustainable design to date has been to simply improve the
efficiency of rapidly increasing impacts. The present approach, which
focuses on the efficiency of delivering individual goods and services,
does not solve this problem. The basic dilemmas include: the increasing
complexity of efficiency improvements; the difficulty of implementing
new technologies in societies built around old ones; that physical
impacts of delivering goods and services are not localized, but are
distributed throughout the economies; and that the scale of resource use
is growing and not stabilizing.
Sustainable architecture
Sustainable building design
Sustainable architecture is the design of sustainable buildings.
Sustainable architecture attempts to reduce the collective
environmental impacts during the production of building components,
during the construction process, as well as during the lifecycle
of the building (heating, electricity use, carpet cleaning etc.) This
design practice emphasizes efficiency of heating and cooling systems; alternative energy sources such as solar hot water,
appropriate building siting, reused or recycled building materials;
on-site power generation - solar technology, ground source heat pumps,
wind power; rainwater harvesting for gardening, washing and aquifer recharge; and on-site waste management such as green roofs
that filter and control stormwater runoff. This requires close
cooperation of the design team, the architects, the engineers, and the
client at all project stages, from site selection, scheme formation,
material selection and procurement, to project implementation.
This is also called a charrette.
Appropriate building siting and smaller building footprints are vital to
an environmentally sustainable design. Oftentimes, a building may be
very well designed, and energy efficient but its location requires
people to travel far back and forth – increasing pollution that may not
be building produced but is directly as a result of the building anyway.
Sustainable architecture must also cover the building beyond its useful
life. Its disposal or recycling aspects also come under the wing of
sustainability. Often, modular buildings are better to take apart and
less energy intensive to put together too. The waste from the demolition
site must be disposed of correctly and everything that can be harvested
and used again should be designed to be extricated from the structure
with ease, preventing unnecessary wastage when decommissioning the
building.
Another important aspect of sustainable architecture stems from the
question of whether a structure is needed. Sometimes the best that can
be done to make a structure sustainable is retrofitting or upgrading the
building services and supplies instead of tearing it down. Abu Dhabi,
for example has undergone and is undergoing major retrofitting to slash
its energy and water consumption rather than demolishing and rebuilding
new structures.
Sustainable architects design with sustainable living in mind. Sustainable vs green design is the challenge that designs not only reflect healthy processes and uses but are powered by renewable energies and site specific resources. A test for sustainable design is — can the design function for its intended use without fossil fuel — unplugged. This challenge suggests architects and planners design solutions that can function without pollution rather than just reducing pollution. As technology progresses in architecture and design theories and as examples are built and tested, architects will soon be able to create not only passive, null-emission buildings, but rather be able to integrate the entire power system into the building design. In 2004 the 59 home housing community, the Solar Settlement, and a 60,000 sq ft (5,600 m2) integrated retail, commercial and residential building, the Sun Ship, were completed by architect Rolf Disch in Freiburg, Germany. The Solar Settlement is the first housing community worldwide in which every home, all 59, produce a positive energy balance.
An essential element of Sustainable Building Design is indoor
environmental quality including air quality, illumination, thermal
conditions, and acoustics. The integrated design of the indoor
environment is essential and must be part of the integrated design of
the entire structure. ASHRAE Guideline 10-2011 addresses the
interactions among indoor environmental factors and goes beyond
traditional standards.
Concurrently, the recent movements of New Urbanism and New Classical Architecture promote a sustainable approach towards construction, that appreciates and develops smart growth, architectural tradition and classical design. This in contrast to modernist and globally uniform architecture, as well as leaning against solitary housing estates and suburban sprawl. Both trends started in the 1980s. The Driehaus Architecture Prize
is an award that recognizes efforts in New Urbanism and New Classical
Architecture, and is endowed with a prize money twice as high as that of
the modernist Pritzker Prize.
Green Design
Green
design has often been used interchangeably with environmentally
sustainable design. There is a popular debate about this with several
arguing that green design is in effect narrower than sustainable design,
which takes into account a larger system. Green design focuses on the
short term goals and while it is a worthy goal, a larger impact is
possible using sustainable design.
Another factor to be considered is that green design has been
stigmatized by popular personalities such as Pritzker Architecture Prize
winner Frank Gehry, but this branding hasn't reached sustainable
design. A large part of that is because of how environmentally
sustainable design is generally used hand in hand with economically
sustainable design and socially sustainable design. Finally, green
design is although unintentionally, often associated only with
architecture while sustainable design has been considered under a much
larger scope.
Engineering Design
Sustainable engineering
is the process of designing or operating systems such that they use
energy and resources sustainably, in other words, at a rate that does
not compromise the natural environment, or the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs.
Common engineering focuses revolve around water supply, production,
sanitation, cleaning up of pollution and waste sites, restoring natural
habitats etc.
Sustainable Interior Design
Achieving a healthy and aesthetic environment for the occupants of a space is one of the basic rules in the art of Interior design.
When applying focus onto the sustainable aspects of the art, Interior
Design can incorporate the study and involvement of functionality,
accessibility, and aesthetics to environmentally friendly materials.
The integrated design of the indoor environment is essential and must
be part of the integrated design of the entire structure.
Goals of Sustainable Interior Design
Improving the overall building performance through the reduction of negative impacts on the environment is the primary goal.
Reducing consumption of non-renewable resources, minimizing waste and
creating healthy, productive environments are the primary objectives of
sustainability.
Optimizing site potential, minimizing non-renewable energy consumption,
using environmentally preferable products, protecting and conserving
water, enhancing indoor environmental quality, and optimizing
operational and maintenance practices are some of the primary
principles. An essential element of Sustainable Building Design is
indoor environmental quality including air quality, illumination,
thermal conditions, and acoustic. Interior design, when done correctly,
can harness the true power of sustainable architecture.
Incorporating Sustainable Interior Design
Sustainable
Interior Design can be incorporated through various techniques: water
efficiency, energy efficiency, using non-toxic, sustainable or recycled
materials, using manufactured processes and producing products with more
energy efficiency, building longer lasting and better functioning
products, designing reusable and recyclable products, following the
sustainable design standards and guidelines, and more.
For example, a room with large windows to allow for maximum sunlight
should have neutral colored interiors to help bounce the light around
and increase comfort levels while reducing light energy requirement.
Interior Designers must take types of paints, adhesives, and more
into consideration during their designing and manufacturing phase so
they do not contribute to harmful environmental factors. Choosing
whether to use a wood floor to marble tiled floor or carpeted floor can
reduce energy consumption by the level of insulation that they provide.
Utilizing materials that can withhold 24-hour health care facilities,
such as linoleum, scrubbable cotton wall coverings, recycled carpeting,
low toxic adhesive, and more.
Furthermore, incorporating sustainability can begin before the
construction process begins. Purchasing items from sustainable local
businesses, analyzing the longevity of a product, taking part in
recycling by purchasing recycled materials, and more should be taken
into consideration. Supporting local, sustainable businesses is the
first step, as this not only increases the demand for sustainable
products, but also reduces unsustainable methods. Traveling all over to
find specific products or purchasing products from over seas contributes
to carbon emissions in the atmosphere, pulling further away from the
sustainable aspect. Once the products are found, it is important to
check if the selection follows the Cradle-to-cradle design
(C2C) method and they are also able to be reclaimed, recycled, and
reused. Also paying close attention to energy-efficient products during
this entire process contributes to the sustainability factors. The
aesthetic of a space does not have to be sacrificed in order to achieve
sustainable interior design.
Every environment and space can incorporate materials and choices to
reducing environmental impact, while still providing durability and
functionality.
Promotion of Sustainable Interior Design
The
mission to incorporate sustainable interior design into every aspect of
life is slowly becoming a reality. The commercial Interior Design
Association (IIDA) created the sustainability forum to encourage, support, and educate the design community and the public about sustainability.
The Athena Sustainable Materials Institute ensures enabling smaller
footprints by working with sustainability leaders in various ways in
producing and consuming materials.
Building Green considers themselves the most trusted voice for
sustainable and healthy design, as they offer a variety of resources to
dive deep into sustainability. Various acts, such as the Energy Policy Act (EPAct) of 2005 and the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007 have been revised and passed to achieve better efforts towards sustainable design.
Federal efforts, such as the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding
to the commitment of sustainable design and the Executive Order 13693 have also worked to achieve these concepts. Various guideline and standard documents have been published for the sake of sustainable interior design and companies like LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)
are guiding and certifying efforts put into motion to contribute to the
mission. When the thought of incorporating sustainable design into an
interior’s design is kept as a top goal for a designer, creating an
overall healthy and environmentally friendly space can be achieved.
Global Examples of Sustainable Interior Design
- Proximity Hotel in North Carolina, United States of America: The Proximity Hotel was the first hotel to be granted the LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.
- Shanghai Natural History Museum in Shanghai, China: This new museum incorporates evaporative cooling and maintained temperatures through is design and structure.
- Vancouver Convention Centre West in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: The West location of the Vancouver Convention Centre was the first convention center in the world to be granted LEED Platinum.
- Bullitt Center in Seattle, Washington, United States of America: Considered "The Greenest Commercial Building in the World," it is the first to achieve the Living Building Challenge certification.
- Sydney, Australia became the first city in the country to contribute Green roof and Green wall to their architecture following their "Sustainable Sydney 2030" set of goals.
Sustainable urban planning
Sustainable
design of cities is the task of designing and planning the outline of
cities such that they have a low carbon footprint, have better air
quality, rely on more sustainable sources of energy, and have a healthy
relationship with the environment. Sustainable urban planning involves
many disciplines, including architecture, engineering, biology,
environmental science, materials science, law, transportation,
technology, economic development, accounting and finance, and
government, among others. This kind of planning also develops innovative
and practical approaches to land use and its impact on natural
resources.
New sustainable solutions for urban planning problems can include green
buildings and housing, mixed-use developments, walkability, greenways
and open spaces, alternative energy sources such as solar and wind, and
transportation options. Good sustainable land use planning helps improve
the welfare of people and their communities, shaping their urban areas
and neighborhoods into healthier, more efficient spaces. Design and
planning of neighbourhoods are a major challenge when creating a
favourable urban environment. The challenge is based on the principles
of integrated approach to different demands: social, architectural,
artistic, economic, sanitary and hygienic. Social demands are aimed at
constructing network and placing buildings in order to create favourable
conditions for their convenient use. Architectural-artistic solutions
are aimed at single spatial composition of an area with the surrounding
landscape. Economic demands include rational utilization of area
territories. Sanitary and hygienic demands are of more interest in terms
of creating sustainable urban areas.
Sustainable landscape and garden design
Sustainable landscape architecture is a category of sustainable design and energy-efficient landscaping
concerned with the planning and design of outdoor space. Plants and
materials may be bought from local growers to reduce energy used in
transportation.
Design techniques include planting trees to shade buildings from the sun
or protect them from wind, using local materials, and on-site
composting and chipping not only to reduce green waste hauling but to increase organic matter and therefore carbon in the soil.
Some designers and gardeners such as Beth Chatto also use drought-resistant plants in arid areas (xeriscaping) and elsewhere so that water is not taken from local landscapes and habitats for irrigation. Water from building roofs may be collected in rain gardens so that the groundwater is recharged, instead of rainfall becoming surface runoff and increasing the risk of flooding.
Areas of the garden and landscape can also be allowed to grow wild to encourage bio-diversity. Native animals may also be encouraged in many other ways: by plants which provide food such as nectar and pollen for insects, or roosting or nesting habitats such as trees, or habitats such as ponds for amphibians and aquatic insects. Pesticides, especially persistent pesticides, must be avoided to avoid killing wildlife.
Soil fertility can be managed sustainably by the use of many layers of vegetation from trees to ground-cover plants and mulches to increase organic matter and therefore earthworms and mycorrhiza; nitrogen-fixing plants instead of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers; and sustainably harvested seaweed extract to replace micronutrients.
Sustainable landscapes and gardens can be productive as well as
ornamental, growing food, firewood and craft materials from beautiful
places.
Sustainable landscape approaches and labels include organic farming and growing, permaculture, agroforestry, forest gardens, agroecology, vegan organic gardening, ecological gardening and climate-friendly gardening.
Sustainable agriculture
Sustainable agriculture adheres to three main goals:
- Environmental Health,
- Economic Profitability,
- Social and Economic Equity.
A variety of philosophies, policies and practices have contributed to
these goals. People in many different capacities, from farmers to
consumers, have shared this vision and contributed to it. Despite the
diversity of people and perspectives, the following themes commonly
weave through definitions of sustainable agriculture.
There are strenuous discussions — among others by the agricultural sector and authorities — if existing pesticide protocols and methods of soil conservation adequately protect topsoil and wildlife. Doubt has risen if these are sustainable, and if agrarian reforms would permit an efficient agriculture with fewer pesticides, therefore reducing the damage to the ecosystem.
For more information on the subject of sustainable agriculture: "UC Davis: Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program".
Domestic machinery and furniture
Automobiles, home appliances and furnitures
can be designed for repair and disassembly (for recycling), and
constructed from recyclable materials such as steel, aluminum and glass,
and renewable materials, such as Zelfo, wood
and plastics from natural feedstocks. Careful selection of materials
and manufacturing processes can often create products comparable in
price and performance to non-sustainable products. Even mild design efforts can greatly increase the sustainable content of manufactured items.
Improvements to heating, cooling, ventilation and water heating
Energy sector
Sustainable technology in the energy sector is based on utilizing renewable sources of energy such as solar, wind, hydro, bioenergy, geothermal, and hydrogen. Wind energy is the world's fastest growing energy source; it has been in use for centuries in Europe and more recently in the United States and other nations. Wind energy is captured through the use of wind turbines that generate and transfer electricity for utilities, homeowners and remote villages. Solar power can be harnessed through photovoltaics, concentrating solar, or solar hot water and is also a rapidly growing energy source.
Advancements in the technology and modifications to photovoltaics cells
provide a more in depth untouched method for creating and producing
solar power. Researchers have found a potential way to use the
photogalvanic effect to transform sunlight into electric energy.
The availability, potential, and feasibility of primary renewable
energy resources must be analyzed early in the planning process as part
of a comprehensive energy plan. The plan must justify energy demand and
supply and assess the actual costs and benefits to the local, regional,
and global environments. Responsible energy use is fundamental to sustainable development
and a sustainable future. Energy management must balance justifiable
energy demand with appropriate energy supply. The process couples energy
awareness, energy conservation, and energy efficiency with the use of
primary renewable energy resources.
Design for sustainable manufacturing
Sustainable
manufacturing can be defined as the creation of a manufactured product
through a concurrent improvement in the resulting effect on factory and
product sustainability. The concept of sustainable manufacturing demands
a renewed design of production systems in order to condition the related sustainability on product life cycle and Factory operations.
- Designing sustainable production systems imply, on the one hand, the analysis and optimization of intra-factory aspects that are related to manufacturing plants. Such aspects can regard the resource consumption restrain, the process efficiency, the ergonomics for the factory workers, the elimination of hazardous substances, the minimization of factory emissions and waste as well as internal emissions, the integrated management of information in the production facilities, and the technological updating of machines and plants.
- Other inter-factories aspects concern the sustainable design of manufactured products, product chain dematerialisation, management of the background and foreground supply chains, support of circular economy paradigm, and the labelling for sustainability.
Advantageous reasons for why companies might chose to sustainably
manufacture either their products or use a sustainable manufacturing
process are:
- Increase operational efficiency by reducing costs and waste
- Respond to or reach new customers and increase competitive advantage
- Protect and strengthen brand and reputation and build public trust
- Build long-term business viability and success
- Respond to regulatory constraints and opportunitiesThe Business Case for Sustainable Manufacturing
Water sector
A 35,003 litre rainwater harvesting tank in Kerala
Sustainable water technologies have become an important industry
segment with several companies now providing important and scalable
solutions to supply water in a sustainable manner.
Beyond the use of certain technologies, Sustainable Design in
Water Management also consists very importantly in correct
implementation of concepts. Among one of these principal concepts is the
fact normally in developed countries 100% of water destined for
consumption, that is not necessarily for drinking purposes, is of
potable water quality. This concept of differentiating qualities of
water for different purposes has been called "fit-for-purpose".
This more rational use of water achieves several economies, that are
not only related to water itself, but also the consumption of energy, as
to achieve water of drinking quality can be extremely energy intensive
for several reasons.
Sustainable technologies
Sustainable
technologies use less energy, fewer limited resources, do not deplete
natural resources, do not directly or indirectly pollute the
environment, and can be reused or recycled at the end of their useful
life.
They may also be technology that help identify areas of growth by
giving feedback in terms of data or alerts allowed to be analyzed to
improve environmental footprints. There is significant overlap with appropriate technology,
which emphasizes the suitability of technology to the context, in
particular considering the needs of people in developing countries.
However, the most appropriate technology may not be the most sustainable
one; and a sustainable technology may have high cost or maintenance
requirements that make it unsuitable as an "appropriate technology," as
that term is commonly used.
“Technology is deeply entrenched in our society; without it,
society would immediately collapse. Moreover, technological changes can
be perceived as easier to accomplish than lifestyle changes that might
be required to solve the problems that we face.”
The design of sustainable technology relies heavily on the flow of new information. Sustainable technology such as smart metering
systems and intelligent sensors reduce energy consumption and help
conserve water. These systems are ones that have more fundamental
changes, rather than just switching to simple sustainable designs. Such
designing requires constant updates and evolutions, to ensure true
environmental sustainability, because the concept of sustainability is
ever changing – with regards to our relationship with the environment. A
large part of designing sustainable technology involves giving control
to the users for their comfort and operation. For example, dimming
controls help people adjust the light levels to their comfort. Sectioned
lighting and lighting controls let people manipulate their lighting
needs without worrying about affecting others – therefore reducing
lighting loads.
Design and Development
The
precursor step to environmentally sustainable development must be a
sustainable design. By definition, design is defined as purpose,
planning, or intention that exists or is thought to exist behind an
action, fact, or material object. Development utilizes design and
executes it, helping areas, cities, or places to advance. Sustainable
development is that development which adheres to the values of
sustainability and provide for the society without endangering the
ecosystem and its services.
“Without development, design is useless. Without design, development is
unusable.” – Florian Popescu, How to bridge the gap between design and
development.
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