SHOULD I CARE ABOUT SUSTAINABILITY?
TLDR: You should absolutely care.
When we think of sustainability, words that usually come to mind are reduce, reuse, and recycle. We think of steel straws, reusable water bottles, and thrifting. In interior design and architecture, sustainability opens itself up to ideas of energy efficiency, responsible materials, and occupant health. The average American spends 90% or more of their time indoors; it is top priority to make sure these environments not only benefit our everyday lives, but also work in tandem with the place we call home.
Energy Use
Buildings in the United States account for more than 40% of the country’s primary energy use. It is estimated that 30-50% of this energy is wasted. As the current energy grid runs primarily on fossil fuels (which are a major contributor to air and water polution), wasting energy is more costly than just a higher energy bill. It takes an immense amount of fossil fuels and infrastructure to deliver wasted energy. Instead, these resources can be redirected, or even better, not used to lessen our environmental impact while we shift towards better infrastructure - such as solar, wind, and marine energy. Voluntary building standards such as Passive House and LEED should be implemented in new constructions to introduce sustainability at the beginning of a building’s lifespan. These standards can also be achieved during retrofits to give older buildings new life.
Materials
In order for materials to gain a green reputation, we need to have an understanding of its entire life cycle: what resources are required to produce it, how it’s manufactured, how it will be used, and how it will be discarded. While the perfect sustainable material does not currently exist (one that would have no adverse impact and would even work to restore the planetary ecosystem), materials can be categorized in “shades of green”, or levels of environmental impact. Manufacturing metals, glass, and cement is energy intensive, but if applied in a compatible environment, will have a long life cycle. Add the fact that certain metals and glass can be infinitely recycled without compromising its strength, they may be the most sustainable option for a given project. Other building materials such as bamboo, hempcrete, and ferrock can also be used for cladding and detailing interior spaces. The choice to use better building materials doesn’t need to break the budget. On average, choosing sustainable materials adds less than 1% to the overall hard costs of a building. This price is easily offset by the improved quality of space.
Health
Poor indoor air quality is found in about 30% of new and remodeled buildings. Inadequate ventilation of indoor areas, along with many other factors such as high dust levels, poor lighting, high humidity, and excessive noise leads to Sick Building Syndrome (SBS). With poor indoor quality, everyday activities such as cooking and cleaning become high risk, especially if they include smoke or airborne chemicals from products. Using gentle cleaners that exclude harmful chemicals is an easy way to prioritize health and well-being while structural issues of a building are fixed.
Why should YOU care?
In order for change to be effective, you need to know why change is important. At the end of the day, a boiled down definition of sustainability is having a longevity mindset. We make sustainable decisions every day, and consciously organize other aspects of our lives around this concept. Staying up for 48 hours at a time is unsustainable, so we make it a priority to sleep every night. Working 17 hours straight is unsustainable, so we take breaks and spread workload across multiple days and weeks. These examples of sustainability have a direct and immediate feedback loop that incentivizes us to make healthy decisions. Environmental sustainability feels much farther removed than these “personal” decisions, especially since the consequences aren’t as immediate as lack of sleep.
People are complacent by nature and will likely choose the path of least resistance. While large corporations probably do more daily environmental harm than a single person can in their entire lifetime, the attitude and behaviors of individuals have a significant impact on the ultimate success of a sustainable design solution. Environmental sustainability is most effective when approached through a holistic lens. If we demand sustainable practices from corporations, they will have little choice but to follow suit. You don’t need to be an expert, you just need to know why it’s important.
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