Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
1. Beyond Interior Design 2. Indoor Air Quality 3. Materials & Products 4. Selling Green 5. Reference Guide
SPONSORED BY
Other papers in the series Indoor Air Quality Selling Green Materials and Products Reference Guide
Research/Writing Team Kirsten Childs, ASID, LEED AP Cris Argeles, 7 group Holley Henderson, H2 Ecodesign, LLC Scot Horst, 7 group Nadav Malin, BuildingGreen, Inc. Editors Tristan Roberts and Allyson Wendt, BuildingGreen, Inc. Design and Layout Julia Jandrisits, BuildingGreen, Inc. Graciously sponsored by Lightolier Steelcase TOTO Tricycle VISTA Wilsonart Laminate
2006 American Society of Interior Designers 608 Massachusetts Ave., NE Washington, DC 20002-6006 www.asid.org All rights reserved. This publication, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without written permission of the American Society of Interior Designers. Printed in the United States of America.
Table of Contents
1 INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW OF KEY CONCEPTS .......... 3 2 THE BASICS OF INTEGRATED DESIGN .................................. 4 Traditional Design .................................................................. 4 Integrated Design ....................................................................5 Integrated Design and Sustainability .....................................7 3 INTEGRATED DESIGN AND THE INTERIOR DESIGNER ......... 9 The Role of the Commercial Interior Designer ..................... 9 The Role of the Residential Interior Designer ...................... 9 The Designers Role Beyond Design and Construction ............................................................ 11 4 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AND SUSTAINABLE DESIGN STRATEGIES ..................................... 11 Natural Resource Depletion .................................................. 11 Energy Use ............................................................................ 15 Pollution ............................................................................... 17 5 INTEGRATED DESIGN AND GREEN BUILDING RATING SYSTEMS .................................................................. 20 ENDNOTES .................................................................................... 21 APPENDIX: QUESTIONNAIRE .................................................... 22
Sustainable Design
The practice of designing buildings (and other things) so that they exist in harmony with natural systems. Ideally, the resulting buildings contribute to human and ecosystem health while minimizing harm from their construction and operation.
Integrated design is a collaborative design process that has two sides: one, the recognition of the interconnectedness of dierent building systems, and two, extending that same recognition by seeing how professionals who are responsible for dierent building systems have important information to oer each other. The key to integrated design in a residential or commercial project is communication. Participation early in the project by all team memberspreferably before the schematic design phase startsallows each professional within the team to draw on the expertise of the others in the development of a rened and cohesive design. This early coordination avoids duplication of eort and common errors that result from lack of seeing the big picture. If a knowledgeable team communicates eectively about the sustainability goals, their project is likely to demonstrate excellent environmental characteristics while providing a highquality interior environment. For both the interior space and the building as a whole to perform optimally, interior design cannot be seen as a separate, isolated discipline, but needs to be an integral part of the overall design approach. The interior designer on a residential or a commercial project should be engaged as a key participant from the beginning of the design process, and can contribute to decisions related to site selection, orientation, massing, and mechanical and electrical system design with an understanding of how those choices will aect spaces inside the building. While some aspects of this paper will have direct implications for interior design, the overall goal is to familiarize the interior designer both with broader environmental considerations, as well as with a tool, integrated design, that provides an avenue for full recognition of these considerations in the building process.
Traditional Design
Traditional design is a linear process in which no team member is fully cognizant of the methodologies and goals of other members. When one member of the project team completes his or her portion of the project, the drawings are handed o to the next member of the team to complete the next portion, and so on down the line.
For example, once the architect has completed the schematic design, the structural engineer engineers the building in accordance with the preliminary drawings, then the mechanical engineer designs the building systems within the constraints that resulted from these schematics. Finally, after these key decisions have been made, the interior designer receives the drawings, too late to provide feedback about most aspects of the buildings design. At this stage, it would be both time consuming and expensive to make changes to the baseline documents, so many opportunities to tailor the interior design are lost. The traditional design process is good at producing buildings that achieve conventional performance levels. But if a projects goals include high-energy performance and exceptional human comfort and health, this process, even when each individual has good intentions, fails to capitalize on opportunities to bridge dierent areas of expertise. For example, the architect may design a building with large expanses of south-facing windows, which he or she perceives as beneting the buildings lighting and heating. By the time the MEP engineer sees the design, however, it is too late to add exterior light shelves, which would limit glare and heat gain during the hottest times of day. He or she is forced to engineer a larger system to compensate for the likelihood of enormous heat gain associated with the large southern exposure. Finally, the interior designer may have wanted to specify raised access oors with underoor air distribution as a strategy for a exible oce layout, but the engineer has already specied a detailed ventilation system using the ceiling plenum for distribution. Nor did the designer have the opportunity to suggest to the architect a dierent module size for the buildings structural system that might work more eciently with the clients existing systems furniture, and which might have allowed for greater daylighting potential and less wasted interior space. In this traditional approach, in either a commercial or residential project, the architect, engineer, interior designer and the client may never sit down together to discuss and understand the goals of the project. As a result, individual team members typically end up inadvertently working at cross purposes.
In a traditional design process, a series of plans are handed from one member of the design team to the next, oering few opportunities for collaboration.
Integrated Design
Integrated design is a collaborative design process that recognizes the relations among building systems and among the team members that design and install those systems. Integrated design therefore requires participation of all members of a project team in order to optimize the performance of the building and the way in which it is built. The integrated design process, including participation by the interior designer, is already widely recognized in commercial building and renovation projects, and a body of knowledge has grown about its application. These concepts are, with little modication, equally applicable to new homes and residential renovations. An integrated design process often begins with a charrette, a group brainstorming session often taking place over a number of days, which can eectively kick o the project design by providing a forum for articulating goals and sharing ideas. The charrette is an excellent time to bring in the early and active participation of the full design and construction team. Many of these participants are not traditionally included in the early phases of design, but the process is exponentially enhanced with their involvement.
On a commercial project, typical members of an integrated design team include Architect Civil engineer Commissioning authority Contractor Cost estimator Facility manager and/or maintenance staff Interior designer Landscape architect Lighting consultant MEP engineer Owner Specifications writer Structural engineer Tenant or occupants (typically a representative) In an integrated design process, all the members of the project team meet together to collaborate from the start of the project. Other consultants with special expertise, such as energy modeling, daylight modeling, industrial hygiene or botany experts The contractor or builder is ideally part of the team from the beginning. Generally this is not possible when a competitive bid process is contemplated. However, in a negotiated contract, the contractor is usually selected early and so may be able to participate in the charrette, and the construction manager often is chosen early and can participate. Depending of the scope of a residential project, members of an integrated design team could include Architect Contractor or construction manager Engineers Homeowner Interior designer Landscape architect Subcontractors
While the MEP engineer can usually undertake the basic commissioning process for a home, energy modeling may be an important consideration for larger houses, and a specialist may be added to the team. When the team is selected and brought together for the rst time, perhaps the most important objectives are to understand the basic project goals and to establish a consistent, collaborative process that will support those goals throughout the duration of the project. Working in tandem from the outset enables each team member to question assumptions and to develop coordinated solutions that result in better building designs, wise budgeting and well-documented construction documents. Through the early communication and meetings, everybodys input and expertise is used to inform the design, rather than allowing one perspective to impose design solutions on the rest of the team. Team members learn from each other and set priorities and goals that allow them to see the whole picture in development, as well as to intervene in a timely manner when the design or objectives seem to be at risk as the design progresses.
Energy Modeling
A tool used by the design team to determine a buildings potential energy use and to spot opportunities for conservation.
In an eective integrated design process, the team works as a collective to understand and develop all aspects of the design. The design can then emerge organically, with the full benet of each experts inputa structural engineer can contribute to the elegance and eciency of the structure, a mechanical engineer can inform choices that enhance energy eciency and comfort, a landscape architect and civil engineer can optimize the siting and orientation, an interior designer can improve the indoor spaces, a contractor can enhance the constructability of the resulting design, and a cost estimator can manage the budget. Depending on the size and complexity of the project, the owner, prospective occupants, facility managers, and a wide range of specialty consultants may be involved as well. While each expert plays an essential role in eective integrated design exercises, the best ideas often emerge when participants cross the usual boundaries, because their views are not as limited by familiarity with the way things are usually done.6
Beyond creating collaboration on certain strategies, an integrated design approach benets environmental goals by facilitating a free exchange of ideas in an open, cross-disciplinary format while respecting the authority of individual experts on a team. Examples include Reducing global pollution associated with every phase of building/renovation Minimizing the development footprint of new buildings and infrastructure Protecting and enhancing the entire building site Fostering local community goodwill and interaction Using energy more efficiently Using materials more efficiently Using local and resource-efficient materials Designing durable and flexible buildings for future adaptability Using water efficiently in buildings and landscape design Designing interior environments to support well-being and productivity Minimizing construction and demolition waste By engaging the expertise and inherent wisdom of the entire team at the beginning and throughout the process, sustainable design goals, including energy eciency and a healthy interior environment, can be optimized more readily.
10
The following example illustrates how a residential interior designer can use these concepts in an integrated design process to create a more sustainable project: A residential interior designer who had an excellent working relationship with a homeowner introduced the homeowner to concepts of indoor environmental quality and environmentally sustainable design. The homeowner wanted to build an addition to an existing home, and to make a series of upgrades to the kitchen, bathrooms and several other spaces in the existing home. The homeowner worked with the designer to formulate environmental goals and a budget for the project. The main layout was to be determined by an architect friend of the owners, but all other decisions were left to the designer. The contractor had already been chosen by the homeowner and was prepared to coordinate his schedule with the design team and obtain the necessary permits. The interior designer initiated a meeting with the architect, contractor and homeowner to review the homeowners environmental goals. These goals included several practices and materials that the contractor had never used before, including a polished concrete oor (instead of tile or stone), FSC-certied woods, rapidly renewable materials, such as bamboo, and some local, sustainably harvested materials. The designer already knew where the contractor could nd these materials and subcontractors (such as concrete polishers) that t the goals of the project, therefore eliminating the potential obstacle of requiring that the contractor research new materials and methods and nd new suppliers. The designer gave the contractor ideas about how they might save money on waste by recycling on the jobsite wherever possible, including a program involving coordination with a local waste management company. The designer also pointed out how using certain adhesives, sealants and paints that were all available locally would make a big dierence in the indoor environmental quality of the home. Based on the meetings with the project team and the homeowner, the contractor did not oppose using any of these products. Discussions between the designer and the architect focused on layout issues in the bathrooms, kitchen and addition, and served, among other things, to coordinate dimensions shown on the drawings with the standard sizes of the sheet materials to be specied (i.e., 4 x 8 and 5 x 10) in order to minimize waste. The designer, who was most familiar with the homeowners needs, also provided ideas for minor modications to the architects initial plans based on a more comfortable ow of movement in the space. Without this simple integrated process, the architect would not have known how the interior designers layout would aect the space requirements. Likewise, the contractor would not have understood how the sustainable goals of the project were actually achievable with little, if any, cost and scheduling impact, and did not represent a challenge to day-to-day business.
INTEGRATED DESIGN AND THE INTERIOR DESIGNER ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AND SUSTAINABLE DESIGN STRATEGIES
11
12
The reuse of existing building stock and building elements not only saves large quantities of raw materials, it also preserves architectural and design links to the past. Although in many cases deteriorated buildings need to be demolished, much can be saved when an old building is renovated instead. The shell of the building can be saved, and interior architectural elements, such as walls, oors and ceilings, can be salvaged or refurbished. Decorative elements, such as terra cotta details, rainwater gargoyles, cast iron railings and hand-hewn beams, may be valuable items that can be used creatively to provide a renovation with a sense of the buildings history. Other used building materials that can be salvaged are appliances and lighting and plumbing xtures in good working order. Before using such xtures, the designer must evaluate these products to ensure that they meet new energy and water consumption eciency standards. Doors, cabinets and millwork are also readily salvageable. A growing industry of mostly local companies caters to salvaging, refurbishing and reselling many of these elements. Many communities have thriving markets for such items and both nonprot and for-prot used building materials stores exist throughout the country, in addition to the many exchange venues on the Internet. Items can also be donated to organizations, such as Habitat for Humanity International, Goodwill Industries International and other nonprots. On many renovation projects, furniture and furnishings are replaced well before their useful life is up. Rather than automatically assuming that it is necessary to purchase all new items, the designer can evaluate existing furniture for condition, quality and style. In many cases, the designer may determine that it is feasible to reuse furniture as is or to refurbish it, while using other elements, such as layout and nishes, to create the new look sought by the client. Reusing furniture and furnishings reduces waste, conserves raw materials and often saves money for the client. Salvaging used materials that would otherwise be landlled, as well as separating out recyclable building materials during demolition and construction, not only has an environmental benet but can also save the client from having to pay landll tipping fees. In 2004 these fees averaged $34.29 per ton nationally, but reached as high as $70.53 per ton in certain regions.7 The use of materials with recycled content such as steel, wallboard, ceiling tile, ooring, carpet, countertops, and tile, reduces the use of raw materials and the underlying energy costs associated with the extraction, transportation and primary processing of virgin materials. Typically, recycling used materials into new products requires signicantly less energy than processing raw or virgin materials. The purchase of materials that are harvested or manufactured in close proximity to the project reduces the embodied energy of the materials represented by transportation and energy costs, and also reduces the associated pollution. Although imports have become increasingly prevalent, a small investment of time and eort can often yield the names of designers and manufacturing facilities based regionally and nationally. Products that are made with rapidly renewable materials, such as bamboo, cork or linoleum ooring, cotton and hemp furnishings, wheatstraw cabinetry, and wool carpet and upholstery, are often environmentally preferable to products made from nonrenewable resources. Rapidly renewable materials are those that
Specifying materials with recycled content, such as the recycled glass countertop shown above, can reduce the use of new materials and lower the environmental impact of a project.
Photo: Ice Stone, Inc.
Embodied Energy
The energy expended in the process of creating a product, often including the fuel value of its constituent parts.
An Internet search easily yields many used materials exchanges, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency provides a listing of some on its Web site: www.epa. gov/jtr/comm/exchange.htm
13
are replaced in less than 10 years through natural processes, such as annual agriculture cycles or short-term forestry cycles. As noted in the example in the previous section, the designer can use strategies, such as dimensional planning, to get the most out of the materials that are used. By designing room dimensions that respond to standard or modular building products, the designer can signicantly reduce waste.
14
vegetated green roofs, using maximum amounts of open-grid paving and/or light-colored, reective pavement, along with the planting of shade trees and vegetation, lessens the impact of heat islands and improves the quality of the local environment. As these examples illustrate, an interior designer who integrates environmental values into his or her work need not be bound by the traditional scope of the profession. Issues like the wise use of resources and the preservation of open land are universal, and the integrated team approach to building design and construction empowers any professional to air an opinion or initiate a discussion.
Green roofs, such as this one in Mashantucket, Conn., can help oset the urban heat island eect and can also help control stormwater runo.
Photo: Green Roofs for Healthy Cities
15
The following provide some basic guidance: Unlike conventional toilets, dual-flush toilets have two flush options: a full flush (the standard 1.6 gpf or less) for solid wastes and a short/half flush (only uses 0.8 to 1.1 gpf) for liquid wastes. Waterless urinals look similar to normal urinals and function similarly, but are designed to work without the use of any water for sewage conveyance. These urinals have been widely used for years, particularly in commercial buildings, and have demonstrated no increased odora great concern among potential first-time specifiers or usersand are easy and inexpensive for an informed maintenance staff to maintain. Ultra low-flow showerheads with flow rates of 1.5 gpm are available as both wall-mounted and handheld units. These devices use aerators to enhance the quality of the water flow and maintain wetting efficiency, and compare satisfactorily with conventional high water flow showers. Individual low-flow faucet aerators can be attached to existing lavatory and kitchen faucets. By retrofitting 1.0 gpm aerators to lavatory faucets and 1.5 gpm aerators to kitchen faucets, water waste from such fixtures can be substantially reduced without affecting performance. Stormwater drainage is another important environmental consideration in sustainable building. Buildings present impervious surfaces, and in dense urban and suburban settings, rainwater cannot return naturally to replenish groundwater sources. Instead it is shunted to stormwater drainage systems, which cause erosion problems, ooding and ushing of hazardous materials into local waterways. By harvesting and storing rainwater, typically in cisterns on the building roof or in the basement, designers can supply much of a buildings nonpotable water needs, such as water for toilet ushing and for landscape irrigation, while mitigating harmful eects of stormwater runo and reducing potable water consumption. With any non-standard system, the interior designer can play an important role in developing or coordinating signage to guide users. Even in areas where water shortage is not currently an issue, protection of this vital natural resource is a critically important, sustainable objective that often carries associated energy and infrastructure cost savings. Low-ow faucets often use aerators to improve their performance while saving water.
Photo: Kohler, Inc.
Energy Use
The enormous amount of energy consumed by buildings causes environmental harm due to extraction, renement and transportation of fossil fuels, and air pollution from burning fuels. For example, most coal in the United States is extracted through surface, or strip, mining. This process entails removing large quantities of earth to reveal a coal vein, with mountaintops frequently leveled and valleys lled in. Although federal law requires mining sites to be restored,9 the damage to the original ecosystem is often irreversible. Designing both commercial and residential buildings for high energy eciency helps reduce these environmental impacts. Computerized energy modeling can be used to guide and optimize the eciency of the design of the mechanical system and envelope of a building. By creating a virtual energy model early in the process and reviewing multiple optimization
16
options, designers can reliably achieve a high level of energy eciency. Similarly, a lighting model allows for the testing of dierent scenarios to achieve a high quality, energy-ecient lighting scheme. This work is highly specialized, and the designers role is to supply data to the modeling engineer, and provide him or her with a variety of system and materials options to consider. This modeling process produces a set of results that include a number of the designers options paired with their cost and environmental impacts. The designer and the client then have a basis for making a decision in terms of desired look, building eciency, environmental impacts and budget, and can select a best scenario that meets project goals. Strategies, such as orienting the building to maximize passive solar heat and light gain, allow for the natural assets of the site to be used to maximum eect. In tandem with a passive solar strategy, the design team can choose glazing options to maximize natural daylighting, while using architectural devices, such as smart glazing and interior light shelves, to control heat gain. Designing a thermally ecient building envelope with high R-value wall and roof insulation and low U-value windows is one of the best strategies for reducing energy use in both hot and cool climates. Heating and cooling systems should then be matched appropriately with building needs to prevent over- or under-sizing systems. An integrated design approach to lighting can reduce energy consumption from lights by up to 50 percent, as well as cutting cooling costs by reducing heat from light xtures. Placing maximum levels of light where it is required for tasks while providing lower levels of ambient light in the rest of the space makes for a exible, energy-ecient lighting plan. Occupancy sensors and dimming controls can be designed and installed for further conservation. A smart combination of task and ambient lighting can also eliminate discomfort associated with glare and over-lit spaces, enhance the readability of computer and television screens, and provide a safely lit environment. Energy Star labeled windows meet certain U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency energy performance criteria, and can be used as an alternative to, or replacements for, typical single- and double-glazed residential windows. Additionally, since 1993, new windows have energy efciency labels from the National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC). The NFRC labels include an objective performance rating for U-factor and Solar Heat Gain Coecient (SHGC) for the particular window, which allows consumers to compare similar window products. High-performance windows, with smart glazing and thermal breaks, generate substantial savings through reduced heating and cooling needs for homes. An Energy Star rating for oce equipment, such as computers, computer monitors, televisions, copiers, and appliances, such as dishwashers, refrigerators and washers, denotes products that are more energy ecient than average. Also, EnergyGuide labels, required by the Federal Trade Commission to be displayed on certain appliances, can be used to compare the energy use of a particular appliance to similar products. In both cases, reduced energy use has direct benets, as well as indirect benets, such as reduced cooling needs and reduced pollution. Renewable, site-generated energy oers an excellent option for reducing fossil fuel use and adding more sustainable options to the nations energy infrastructure. Rooftop photovoltaic (PV) arrays and building integrated PV (BIPV)
R-Value
Measure of resistance to heat ow. The higher the R-value, the lower the heat loss. The inverse of U-factor.
17
systems, which generate electricity from the suns energy, are becoming more aordable in many states. In remote areas where there is no power grid, they can be the sole source of power. In places where the power grid is available, a lowercost system can be installed by tying it into the grid and selling power back to the local utility in what is called a grid intertie system. Private and public grants are available to oset the rst cost of such systems and can usually be found by contacting a local utility. Solar thermal energy is also used throughout the United States to heat domestic hot water and pool water. These are practical, ecient and successful applications for solar energy and should be used wherever conditions permit.
Pollution
Contamination of the environment from building-related processes is a massive problem and a complex one because earth, water and air all interact with each other, potentially compounding pollution or causing it to appear far from its source. For example, air pollution from smokestacks can be washed into the soil after a rainstorm and subsequently introduced into groundwater sources. Therefore, everyone involved in building design and construction should take a holistic approach to all decisions, remaining aware of both the local and the global impacts of all decisions in terms of their eect on soil, water and air pollution.
Soil Pollution
Landlls remain the primary means for the disposal of waste. Although landll sites must conform to federal regulations, it is not uncommon for contaminated materials and liquids to escape the barriers of a landll and leach into surrounding soils.10 This soil pollution in turn spreads to groundwater, aecting streams, lakes and wells as the contaminant is distributed through the constant movement of underground water. Incinerating solid waste, another common option, does not avoid these problems. In addition to the air pollution produced, ash, usually containing the same toxic wastes contained in the solid waste, but often in a more leachable form, still remains to be disposed of, usually in landlls. Careful management of demolition and construction waste can minimize the burden on landll sites and ensure that hazardous materials including mercury, asbestos, polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) containing materials, and lead paint, are sent to appropriate facilities. The interior designer can help minimize soil pollution by reusing materials and specifying nontoxic materials.
Water Pollution
The National Water Quality Inventory 2000 Report to Congress reports that of the water bodies assessed, 40 percent of streams, 45 percent of lakes and 50 percent of estuaries were unclean for human activities, such as swimming and shing.11 Contaminants introduced into water bodies by precipitation and runo from urban and agricultural lands represent the leading cause of water pollution. Commonly referred to as nonpoint source (NPS) pollution, it is distinguished from pollution that originates from concentrated sources, such as sewage treat-
18
ment plants or industrial complexes. Although sediment, fertilizers and pesticides from agricultural lands are the most common NPS pollutants, stormwater runo resulting from urban development and hydrocarbon use (e.g., dripping oil or spilled gasoline from vehicles, or unburnt fuel from two-cycle engines, such as lawnmowers and snowblowers) has become an increasingly large source of water pollution. Limiting the total area of impervious surfaces, such as asphalt and concrete, on a project site, and maximizing vegetated areas reduces the amount of stormwater runo and associated pollutants. These approaches also slow the rate of runo, allowing natural bioremediation to occur. Strategies that reduce impervious surfaces include designing smaller parking areas, driveways and sidewalks, or using widely available permeable materials as a substitute. Vegetated swales or planted buer zones instead of concrete curbs help mediate stormwater, as do pipes directing such water to stormwater drainage systems. As discussed in the previous section on potable water use, collecting and using stormwater for uses such as irrigation also reduces the environmental burden of runo. Since the most signicant sources of point source water pollution are factories and power plants, most residential and commercial design projects are not sources of this type of pollution. However, most buildings use electricity generated at these plants and are therefore implicated. Mercury is a heavy metal and a persistent organic pollutant (POP) originating from the smoke stacks and ues of coal-red power generation facilities, mining runo and other sources. It is also still used in manufacturing processes involved in the production of building and interior materials, specically as an essential ingredient in uorescent lamp manufacturing and as a stabilizer in some plastics. In 2000, mercury was identied as a major pollutant in lakes and estuaries in parts of the United States.12 While cleaning up the sources of mercury pollution and improving manufacturing requirements are of vital importance, buildings can reduce their responsibility for this type of pollution by designing for energy eciency and decreasing materials demands. For example, the manufacture of one square yard of carpet typically requires the use of approximately 8.9 gallons of water13, primarily for dyeing the yarn and washing to eliminate excess dye. Most of that water ends up as treated discharge wastewater, or euent. While the carpet industry tries to ensure such water meets state and federal regulations for pollutant levels before it is returned to any receiving body, interior designers can mitigate this water use and potential pollution issue by specifying solution-dyed carpet products, which use minimal, if any, water in their manufacturing process.
19
Europe and both South and North America. As noted above, these facilities also generate mercury emissions and carbon dioxide (CO2), a major greenhouse gas. By using resource-ecient building practices, including those discussed in this paper, designers and builders can help minimize the demand for new manufactured products from factories that contribute to air pollution. Designing energy-ecient buildings and interiors helps alleviate dependence on industrially produced power. Although the impact of any one building is small in relation to overall energy use, when these practices become commonplace, the impact of thousands of sustainably designed, energy-ecient buildings will result in signicant energy savings and greatly reduced air pollution. Siting commercial buildings and residential communities in close proximity to mass transit terminals, encouraging carpools and vanpools, and promoting bicycle use encourages sustainable transportation options. Sidewalks and paths for pedestrian movement, well equipped with amenities, such as benches, shade trees and waste receptacles, further encourages a reduction in vehicular use, especially at the local level, where maintaining high-quality air is essential for the well-being of the community. Building design and construction also has an impact on other major sources of air pollution, including gas combustion engines in cars, trucks, boats and lawnmowers. Burning fossil fuels to power these vehicles releases greenhouse gases, particulates, nitrogen oxides, and VOCs, which contribute to the formation of ground-level ozone (O3) or smog, resulting in increased respiratory illness, such as asthma. Planting native or wildower meadows instead of monoculture grass lawns reduces the need to use lawnmowers and trimmers, at the same time eliminating the need for fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides, which spread across millions of acres of American lawns, are major consumers of petroleum, and are serious contributors to water pollution and resultant disruption of aquatic ecosystems. Indigenous species are also well acclimatized to the seasonal rhythms of the region and, used in well-designed landscaping, do not need to be excessively watered. The chart above shows the ows of energy, in watts per square meter (W/m2), between space, the atmosphere and the earths surface. Human activities have increased the concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, thus contributing to global warming.
Illustration: Global Warming Art
20
A number of regional utilities oer ways to purchase renewable energy, and other programs, such as green tags, renewable energy certicates (REC) and tradable renewable certicates (TRC) are available on a national basis.15 Because landlls produce almost one-third of the national emissions of methane,16 minimizing landll usage by diverting waste through salvage, reuse and recycling programs ultimately reduces methane emissions. Methane is a major greenhouse gas that has 21 times greater potential than carbon dioxide to trap heat in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles running on gasoline currently accounts for nearly one-third of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.17 Strategies described previously to reduce single-occupancy vehicle commuting present an important opportunity to slow global warming. The interior designer can support this eort by designing useful facilities for bicycle storage and showering.
Light Pollution
Night-time illumination for outdoor areas provides safety for pedestrians and motorists. However, poorly designed exterior or landscaping lighting schemes cause glare and may result in light spill into neighboring homes and properties, reducing night-sky views, wasting energy and disrupting local nocturnal habitats. By eliminating any type of lighting directed upward, specifying shielded outdoor xtures and avoiding excessively bright luminaries, the impact of light pollution can be mitigated.18 Interior designers can help ensure that any indoor lamps are designed to minimize the amount of light that escapes into the night sky through windows or skylights.
North America is outlined with dots of light when seen from space at night. Poorly designed exterior lighting can contribute to light pollution, which can disrupt nocturnal habitats and reduce night-sky views.
Photo: Craig Mayhew and Robert Simmon, NASA GSFC.
21
In some situations, the use of a rating system can also have the unfortunate eect of encouraging the design team to focus narrowly on individual points or measures that appear easiest to achieve rather than on the measures that will result in the best overall building. To minimize this tendency, conversations within the design team from the projects inception should use the rating system primarily as a springboard from which to explore the owners values and the best environmental solutions for expressing those values. Only once the basic values have been claried and the design direction established should the team concentrate on the requirements for achieving specic points. As discussed throughout this paper, an integrated design approach is an excellent way to coordinate and develop the sustainable qualities of a project. The process can contribute to reduced environmental impacts at the global, regional and local levels, while promoting high building performance and an enhanced quality of life for all occupants and users.
Endnotes
1. Buildings Energy Data Book: 1.1 Building Sector Energy Consumption, U.S. Department of Energy, http://buildingsdatabook.eere.energy.gov/docs/ 1.1.3.pdf, August 2005. 2. Buildings Energy Data Book: 1.1 Building Sector Energy Consumption, U.S. Department of Energy, http://buildingsdatabook.eere.energy.gov/docs/ 1.1.6.pdf, August 2005. 3. Emissions of Greenhouse Gases in the United States 2004, Energy Information Administration, U.S. Department of Energy, DOE/EIA-0573 2004. 4. National Resources Inventory 2001 Annual NRI: Urbanization and Development of Rural Land, Natural Resources Conservation Service, July 2003; Hutson et al., Estimated Use of Water in the United States in 2000, USGS Circular 1268, United States Geological Survey, February 2005. 5. Hutson et al., Estimated Use of Water in the United States in 2000, USGS Circular 1268, United States Geological Survey, February 2005. 6. Integrated Design, Environmental Building News, Vol. 13, No. 11, November 2004. 7. Edward W. Repa, NSWMAs 2005 Tip Fee Survey, NSWMA Research Bulletin 05-3, March 2005. 8. Ground-Water Depletion Across the Nation, U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 103-03, USGS, November 2003. 9. Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, 30 U.S.C. 25 10. 40 CFR Part 258 (Subtitle D of RCRA). 11. National Water Quality Inventory: 2000 Report, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Oce of Water, EPA-841-R-02-001, August 2002. 12. National Water Quality Inventory: 2000 Report, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Oce of Water, EPA-841-R-02-001, August 2002. 13. The Carpet Industrys Sustainability Report 2003, The Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI), 2004. 14. Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2000, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA 430-R-02-003, April 2002. 15. http://www.eere.energy.gov/greenpower/markets/certicates. shtml?page=0. 16. Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2000, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA 430-R-02-003, April 2002. 17. Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2003, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA 430-R-05-003, April 15, 2005. 18. IESNA Recommended Practice Manual: Lighting for Exterior Environments (IESNA RP-33-99), Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, 1999.
22
Appendix: Questionnaire
The following questions are oered for the benet of the reader to evaluate whether the learning objectives of the paper have been achieved:
1. What are some dierences between traditional design processes and integrated design processes?
2. What are the fundamental goals of any sustainable design process? How are these achieved?
3. Explain how both a commercial and a residential interior designer can be involved in the integrated design process. Discuss this new expanded role for the interior designer and what it means.
4. What could be considered the primary strategy in reducing natural materials depletion during construction and t-out?
6. Explain how reducing construction waste destined for landlls aects global warming. What strategies can be employed?
7. Provide ve examples of energy ecient strategies that can be implemented throughout a building.
9. How can the selection of a building sitewhether commercial or residentialaect the environment? Name four sustainable approaches to selecting a site.
10. Explain how greenhouse gases can contribute to global warming, and list some examples of these gases.