Sustainable Interior Design (Essay Sample)

Name Professor Course Date Sustainable Interior Design For A Friendlier Environment Sustainable interior design has enormous impacts on the environment and should be practiced to minimize wastes, promote a healthier environment, and reduce unwarranted consumption of non-renewable resources. The intertwined concepts of environmental sustainability and interior design have since 2002 become the focus of architectural scholars (Gibbs 12). As Robinson opines, this is because the lack of efficient interior design strategies has severally been named one of the leading causes of environmental issues (10). Further, a study carried out by Lee found out that approximately 10% of global economy operations involve building and construction, and the use of operation equipments that ultimately cause extensive harm to the environment (158). This means that the pursuit for better environments can be realized by focusing on research so that future designs accrue sustainability by means of making the environment friendlier. More importantly, a research activity carried out by Kim to determine the impact of poor indoor air quality discovered that interior designs often incorporate the use of formaldehyde and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) (116). These elements have caused alarm among most interior designers because such indoor environments often cause house dwellers to develop serious respiratory allergies diseases such as asthma. Research shows that the use of designing practices that take in to consideration the need to promote a healthier environment must take in to consideration the irreplaceable need to choose materials carefully (Obeidat and Salwa 26). Moreover, Kim opines that wastes produced by most industries have serious effects on the environment and human beings as well and should be minimized so that the entire process of pursuing environmentally sustainable designs can be tamed to such effects from the beginning (117). In an attempt to explain how sustainable interior designs culminate in to a friendlier environment, Joplin expounded that interior design should be seen as an organized process of thought that should be able to cause designers to amalgamate academic knowhow with personal imagination (9). On the same note, studies indicate that environmentally sustainable designs are a great future possibility that sustains the environment and at the same time provides a platform upon which aesthetic ambitions can be realized (Gibbs 19). Other than this, such interior designs are essential in helping come up with future environmental solutions (Lee 158). Sustainable interior designs should draw their motivation from the need for a healthier and friendlier environment. Nevertheless, for the dream of Sustainable Interior design for a friendlier environment to become possible reality designers must come up with strategies that promote minimized wastes and reduce unwarranted consumption of non-renewable resources (Robinson 30). Discussion Reducing the consumption of non-renewable resources Although interior designers have consistently defied the advice of multi-disciplinary scholars that environmentally sustainable designs should take in to consideration the need to minimize the usage of non-renewable resources, evidence produced via various research activities proves that without paying proper regards to the need for a new approach to non-renewable resources the interior design pursuit for sustainability is unachievable (Gibbs 22). Further, Joplin states that interior designers should make use of non-renewable resources in a better manner by coming up with designs that optimize their consumption (10). One of the means via which designers can apprehend the need for environmentally friendlier practices is by coming up with pre-design strategies that take in to consideration the adoption of multi-disciplinary approaches. Such strategies will help the designers to compare the opinions of diverse scholars on the effectiveness of various project designs in terms of minimal use of non-renewable resources (Gibbs 24). In an attempt to enlighten concerning the resources in question, Robinson was quick to point to the supply chain demands of most interior design plants that use excessive fuels (32). Other than this, such plants also use excesses of water and especially water that can be used for human consumption. Consequently, Kim opines that environmentally friendly designs should seek to improve on the usage of such renewable resources by carefully planning early in advance (119). This will help the designers or team of designers to develop a proper comprehension of both the opportunities and limitations involved and thus use such knowledge to plan at the macro-level. As suggested by Lee such a strategy towards sustainability will ultimately result in an ability to determine prior to activity the extent to which the consumption of non-renewable resources can be minimized (160). Further studies also indicate that the minimized use of non-renewable resources can be achieved in the building industry by ensuring efficient maximization technology in recycling existing stock (Obeidat and Salwa 29). This means that interior design firms will then be able to evaluate available opportunities and consequently realize avenues through which projects can utilize existing infrastructure in a way that minimizes consumption of non-renewable resources (Lee, April and Bokyung 3). Moreover, studies indicate that interior design related firms should come up with alternative methods of producing raw materials without necessarily having to rely on minerals and ores for raw materials. As further studies have established, the consistent and competitive use of these non-renewable sources for raw materials only serves to threaten the vision for a friendlier environment (Lee, April and Bokyung 5). More importantly, scholars currently believe that the use of water as a non-renewable resource by interior designers is heading towards alarming levels whereas future generations are already facing the threat of lack of consumable water. Reducing the negative impacts of interior designs Surprisingly, research indicates that one of the negative impacts of sustainable interior design is that it tends to cause laziness in approximately 42% of working adults culminating in financial issues. This results from the fact that interior designs apart from providing an avenue for a friendlier environment also trigger a sense of irresponsibility because most modern designs are not only unattractive but also offer enormous extents of comfort. This as scholars indicate is a negative impact of sustainable interior design that may lead to the development of a society that depicts social chaos. In an attempt to explain the idea of social chaos and its relation to a friendlier environment, Robinson (17) asserts that chaos in this case connotes a situation where productive individuals no longer contribute to the well-being of the society. On the contrary, the same negative impact can serve as a stepping stone when viewed from the right perspective. Interior designers can therefore reduce this particular impact by coming up with separate designs for homes and offices so that in the offices the designs used will serve to enhance productivity. Thus, this negative impact can be turned around by identifying the various aesthetic values that can be amalgamated with comfort based on whether the designs address a work or home environment (Obeidat and Salwa 31). Conversely, it is important to note that even sustainable office designs have a negative impact on the productivity of a work milieu. As research points out, more than 37% of modern office designs do not serve to create an atmosphere that fosters job satisfaction nor productivity (Lee, April and Bokyung 7). Such a discovery then poses the need for interior designers to come up with strategies geared towards sustainable designs that meet the requirements of a working environment. This means that a lee way is available for interior designers to reduce this negative impact by coming up with office designs that encourage workflow, teamwork, and worker satisfaction (Gibbs 24). For instance, interior designers can improve on the open-plan office design preferred by most firms for its ability to promote teamwork. Another negative side of sustainable designs is the fact that most designs seeking to promote sustainability do not take in to account the amount and type of lighting need for particular environments. As Lee opines, although most modern designs have accomplished much in terms of aesthetic value, designers are still to convince the world that they can produce when it comes to light and lighting systems (161). This is why scholars have opined that interior designs can be used to create healthier, friendlier, and more productive environments by choosing the correct lighting angles (Lee, April and Bokyung 8). This will help reduce the negative impact. Apart from this impact, studies also indicate that modern interior designs have focused more on aesthetic value giving rise to another negative impact of interior design-, insufficient indoor space (Gibbs 27). In defense, interior designers have argued that they offer their clients a number of alternatives based on the amount of space available. Howe...