Sustainable Residential Interiors

Annette Stelmack, Kari Foster, Debbie Hindman

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9781118603680
• eBook ISBN: 9781118896938
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Architecture
• Subtopic: Interior Design

The Second Edition of Sustainable Residential Interiors addresses cutting edge processes, strategies, and principles as well as details for in-depth product vetting criteria. Award-winning, leading interior designer Annette Stelmack shares her expertise from the perspective of LEED Building Design & Construction projects, healthy interiors, and chemical sensitivities, addressing principles, strategies, and solutions for design practitioners. A comprehensive update of the current state of the sustainable interior design industry is provided, including present and upcoming industry transformations, thought-leading principles, strategies and practices for project implementation, and fine points and resources for in-depth product vetting to support high-performing, healthy interiors.

Sustainable Residential Interiors takes readers through an integrated design process, demonstrating relevant principles and practices that apply to essentially any interiors project toward creating an environment that is healthy, high-performing, functional, sustainable, and beautiful. In doing so, it:

• Promotes critical thinking about health and environmental issues in the building industry
• Features checklists and current resources, providing a "hands on" practical approach
• Addresses in-depth, applicable third party certifications and details on relevant building rating systems
• Provides in-depth strategies and criteria for fixed interior finishes, fixtures, equipment and furnishings
• Demonstrates successful, relevant, diverse and inspiring case studies
• Delivers comprehensive tools and resources for researching and vetting products' composition and chemical make-up.
• Evaluates all aspects of a building's interior to identify and implement methods that: save energy and water; reduce Co2 emissions and waste; improve indoor air quality free of toxins; and are responsive to environmental impacts
• Encourages forward-thinking by featuring inspirational statements from mentors, peers, and industry leaders
• Urges interior designers to commit to designing safe, healthy environments that are integral to a professional code of ethics, which ensure the delivery of positive outcomes for the client and any building's future occupants

Chapter 1
Why Be Sustainable?

Figure 1.1 Photo courtesy of Allegria Spa. Interior design by Annette Stelmack and Donna Barta-Winfield, Associates III.

There is no greater potential for personal expression than building one’s own shelter. For this reason alone, home construction should be sustainable for generations to come. And to be truly sustainable, it is not enough to minimize damage to the environment; the construction must have a net positive impact on it.

—Dennis Wedlick, AIA

The answer to the question why, as residential designers, our work should be sustainable is simple: There is only one planet Earth, and if we destroy its ability to sustain life, our planet will become uninhabitable. Numerous speeches have been made and publications written by credible sources who, over the past decades, have been leading the market transformation in the building industry. This book will share knowledge and provide motivation from another perspective—that of the residential interior design community.

Through our experiences and the information that we have gathered and organized, we will demonstrate to residential design professionals that it is possible to build a home that is beautiful, pleasing, functional, healthy, safe, affordable, and life-sustaining. The time is now to ‘BE’ the catalyst for change within the residential design community and to integrate sustainable residential design into our work.

Interior designers are resourceful beings; they are information-gathering, solution-seeking, innovative creatures, and these are ideal characteristics for promoting healthy, high-performing, sustainable design. Our profession is a natural for revolutionizing the industry by transforming environments. It is, after all, what we do. By focusing our creative energy and implementing sustainable design, we become instruments of beneficial change. If we are resolute in our belief that each positive action makes a difference, our contribution to a healthy planet is guaranteed.

Before us lies a remarkable opportunity to connect where we are with where we have been to inform where we need to be going. Creating healthy, life-enhancing design is an invigorating prospect. Is it challenging? Absolutely! It’s challenging, doable, exciting—and, of course, the right thing to do.

Let’s begin by asking why everything considered good for us is termed “alternative”—alternative health care, alternative medicine, alternative food. Indeed, sustainable design should no longer be considered an alternative; it is, simply, the responsible way to conduct good business. In fact, states and municipalities have passed legislation mandating high-performing and healthy building standards. It benefits us all to work together toward better solutions that “respect all of the children of all of the species, for all times,” to quote renowned architect William McDonough, principal and founder of William McDonough + Partners and MBDC.

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Designers have much to teach the world. Of all people, we understand that there is never only one right way to design anything. Searching for new solutions, creatively adapting what we know to what we need, and solving problems is what designers do. Perhaps, then, we as designers need to expand our vision to include sustainability and start showing ordinary people how to look at the world from a green design point of view.

—from Daniel Quinn, Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit (Bantam, 1995)

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Sustainability is transforming the building industry, and expertise in sustainable design is now highly regarded and regularly sought after. Clients, architects, and contractors value the knowledge and skills that we bring to the table as part of the professional services team; as designers, we can offer numerous possibilities for creating eco-friendly homes. The finishes in a home can exemplify environmental responsibility, support our clients’ health, and be beautiful as well. By combining materials in a unique and environmentally responsible way, we have a rich opportunity to make a difference.

As interior designers and architects, we have the power—and the responsibility—to create environments that sustain life on the planet. The methods that we employ, often beyond the realm of other professions, compel us to practice sustainable design. By doing so, we are, as defined nearly three decades ago by the Brundtland Commission in 1987, “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

There are countless opportunities for design professionals and those we work with to make a significant difference. Green building practices and strategies, coupled with constantly emerging technologies, are transforming our industry and, subsequently, the buildings that we live and work in. By applying principles, strategies, and practices that sustain our natural resources, we can ensure a healthier life on our planet for future generations.

As we all were taught, for every action there is an equal reaction; similarly, for every choice we make there is a consequence. By practicing sustainable design, we catalyze change in our industry by gathering information, learning new strategies, attending conferences, questioning the status quo, sharing information, and aligning with like-minded individuals, project teams, and clients.

Market transformation begins with individuals who integrate sustainability into the core of their interior design process—one step at a time, one material at a time, one project at a time, and one question at a time. We can and do make a difference. (See the sidebar on Ray Anderson, page 50.)

What Are Green Buildings?

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) describes green building as the practice of creating structures and using processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building’s life cycle, from siting to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and deconstruction.¹ Green buildings, including residences, exhibit a high level of environmental, economic, and engineering performance, including:

• Energy efficiency and conservation
• Indoor environmental quality
• Resource and materials efficiency
• Occupant health, safety, welfare, and productivity
• Transportation efficiency
• Improved environmental quality including air, water, land, limited resources, and ecosystems

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) states that the built environment is expected to double by 2050. Buildings have a major impact on the environment as a whole in that they account for:

• 39 percent of total energy use and percent of electricity consumption
• 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions
• 30 percent of raw materials use
• 30 percent of waste output (136 million tons annually)
• 12 percent of potable water consumption

Figure 1.2

Various other resources note that:

• Nearly 40 percent of total U.S. energy consumption in 2012 was consumed in residential and commercial buildings, or about 40 quadrillion British thermal units (Btus).
• 50 percent of all global energy is used to cool, light, and ventilate buildings.
• More than 50 percent of all resources are used in construction.

The EPA notes that if every American home replaced their five most frequently used light fixtures or the bulbs in them with Energy Star–qualified lighting, we would save close to $8 billion each year in energy costs, and together we’d prevent the greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions from nearly ten million cars.

In addition, statistics show that the United States, though it comprises less than 5 percent of the world’s population, consumes nearly 20 percent of the world’s energy—and as of 2012 generates 16 percent of the ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Contents
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Chapter 1: Why Be Sustainable?
• Chapter 2: Inspiring Stories
• Chapter 3: Inspiring Projects
• Chapter 4: Healthy Interiors
• Chapter 5: Greening Projects
• Chapter 6: Greening Specifications
• Chapter 7: Green Building Rating Systems
• Chapter 8: Certifications and Standards
• Chapter 9: Concrete
• Chapter 10: Masonry
• Chapter 11: Metals
• Chapter 12: Wood and Composites
• Chapter 13: Openings: Doors and Windows
• Chapter 14: Finishes
• Chapter 15: Specialties
• Chapter 16: Equipment: Appliances and Office Equipment
• Chapter 17: Mechanical: Plumbing
• Chapter 18: Electrical: Lighting and Light Fixtures
• Chapter 19: Furnishings
• Chapter 20: Green Business Development
• Chapter 21: Sustaining Life
• Chapter 22: What’s Next?
• Resources
• Glossary
• Index
• End User License Agreement