You need to understand the fact that going green doesn’t necessarily mean you need to compromise on aesthetics. Architects and interior designers are always in search of new ways to create functional yet sustainable offices. Today, you’ll find many examples of efficient green interior design and architecture. 

They maintain their unique style as well as functionality while incorporating elements that promote sustainability. So, if you’re looking for some inspiration to make your office environment-friendly, here are some ideas:

1. Use recyclable materials

Some new and creative ways are being used by furniture designers and manufacturers to repurpose old furniture. This is one of the effective ways to utilize recyclable materials. By choosing recycled or repurposed materials in your organization, you’ll certainly create more eco-friendly office spaces.

This protects the environment and saves costs for your business. Besides, it’s a lot better than choosing furniture that can’t be recycled and end up in a landfill.

2. Create an outdoor environment indoors

An innovative way of making your office stylish and environment-friendly is to create a green wall. Such walls are covered with plants and flowers grown with the help of a system called hydroponics. This feature would be perfect for any business that wants to make a visual statement inside their office. 

It also gives certain benefits to all the employees. A beautiful, eco-friendly green wall can transform the look of any office entirely. It also adds a natural colour, style, and texture, which will never go out of fashion.

3. Tips on printing

Pausing for a moment and thinking about the environment before printing can be a revolutionary step. It would help solve a huge environmental problem and the message can be spread across organizations globally. The best part is that it only requires your emails. 

You can have an organized printing room to reduce paper consumption. If it’s absolutely necessary to print a document, you can encourage the employees to print on both sides. Old or unwanted pieces of paper can be stored in a tray. They can then be used as scraps for jotting down notes.

4. Revitalize the cafeteria

Kitchens are spaces in the offices that are used the most. Apparently, they’re also places where a lot of wastes pile up that cannot be recycled. You must curb such accumulation of unwanted materials in the kitchen of your office. One of the effective ways is to ask your co-workers or employees to invest in reusable travel cups. 

You can consider purchasing branded mugs for your employees to use or getting a coffee machine. Today, many of the ready-to-eat meals and snacks come in plastic material. They’re extremely popular among the individuals who are always on-the-go. 

The plastic material that contains such meals and snacks cannot be recycled. Instead of these snacks, you can encourage your employees to eat fruits, nuts, or vegetables instead.

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The oil crisis in 1970 was just the beginning of the many repercussions that the world would face. Years of neglecting the environment were the result of the crisis. This led to the creation of several tools of assessment for built environments. Such tools were believed to be useful for promoting sustainable designs. 

Today, a designer carries greater responsibility. While designing a building or interiors of a home, sustainability must be taken into consideration. Such efforts would ensure that the design minimizes any form of negative impact on the environment.

An interior designer’s role in green design

A green interior design or sustainable interior design improves your quality of life. This is done by utilizing the indoor spaces of your home to support energy efficiency and waste reduction. As a result, the negative impacts on the environment are minimized without disturbing your home’s aesthetic appeal. 

Indoor environmental quality is among the major categories for assessment in the LEED green building rating system. This category focuses on the use of eco-friendly materials, minimizing indoor pollutants, and improving the quality of air. Besides all of this, it also emphasizes lighting and thermal comfort. 

Interior designers of today must influence and educate their clients about the benefits of sustainable living. They are the ones who can promote such practices for a healthier future.

Choice of materials

When choosing materials for a project, there are certain aspects to be considered by an interior designer. Among them are the process of production, functionality, and waste reduction. Materials are usually classified as green based on their chemical content, biodegradability, renewability, and longevity. 

The promotion of materials that can increase energy efficiency and are easily available must be given high priority. Such materials also have the potential of reducing project costs. Among these materials are wood, stone, and bamboo.

Considering the environmental impacts while planning

The decisions that are taken by the interior designer directly or indirectly influences the environment. This includes the indoor environment as well as the environment outdoors. Most of the individuals spend their time indoors, whether they’re at home or in the office. It is, therefore, essential to make sure that a healthy environment is maintained indoors. 

This is as crucial as maintaining an ecological balance outdoors. Ventilation, temperature, acoustics, and air quality are among the factors that must be considered while creating an indoor environment.

Enhancing energy efficiency

The materials used in a built environment can either increase or reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. The amount of energy consumed by the building is not restricted to the construction stage alone. Many different activities are carried out in the building after its construction. Such activities make significant use of electricity, resulting in some harmful emissions. 

An interior designer can reduce the energy consumption in such units. This can be done with the help of energy-efficient lighting and heating. Certain fabrics can be used to retain the heat. The use of light colours and reflective surfaces control the amount of light in an indoor space. In this way, the appliances that consume a lot of energy can be avoided.

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A sustainable interior design, therefore, can also be described as an eco-friendly interior design or eco-design. Sustainable practices used in the process of designing and decorating your home can reduce your carbon footprint. An eco-friendly interior design seeks to minimize waste, reduce the use of non-renewable materials, and create healthy surroundings. 

Creating interior designs that address the current and future environmental problems is the need of the hour. So, a sustainable design is, in a way, a long-term approach to ecological protection. Here are some of the prominent features of a sustainable interior design:

1. Energy-efficiency

One of the major factors that have contributed to the current environmental crisis is energy consumption by humans. Both residential and commercial units are responsible for large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. However, the energy efficiency of single homes and residential and commercial buildings can be improved. This can be made possible with the efforts of architects and interior designers. 

Their designs can decrease the amount of energy required for lighting, air-conditioning, heating, and other purposes. Buildings can be provided with renewable and non-carbon-based energy. Interior designs can have a major influence on heating and lighting requirements. Most of the heat in a building can escape through the windows. 

It is, therefore, necessary that the windows provide good insulation and are of high quality. The sun’s heat and cold air from the outside can be controlled with the help of drapes and curtains. A building’s temperature can be controlled in an energy-efficient manner with the use of window coverings, blinds, or shades. Carpets are effective thermal insulators. They can retain nearly 10% of the heat of a room. 

You can also save energy by choosing the right colours for your home or office. Lighter colours, for instance, can reflect more light. Rooms that have darker walls and furnishings are the ones that need more artificial lighting. The heating and lighting systems of homes and offices can be controlled with the help of home automation systems today.

2. Reduction of waste

Interior designers hold greater power in their hands to reduce waste. This is only possible if they act with a sense of responsibility towards the sustainability of the environment. In the times that we live in, our planet’s natural resources have become even more valuable. Hence, the practice of discarding products simply because they’re out of style must be stopped. 

It’s harmful for our environment to just discard artificial materials that can pollute the air and water. Such materials can also harm the flora and fauna. Thankfully, increasing awareness of the need for sustainability has generated interest in recycling, repurposing, and other such practices. Some creative ways have been devised for using old but functional objects instead of simply discarding them. 

Using synthetic materials made from recycled waste is yet another practise that’s being implemented. With such methods, waste becomes raw material for creating new products. Thus, a new manufacturing and consumption cycle is being formed, which can effectively reduce or eliminate waste.

3. Durability and flexibility in design

It is important for interior designers to consider the lifespan of any material while creating sustainable designs. This can prevent the materials or products from getting discarded. Elements that are subject to a lot of wear and tear must be given much attention. One of the goals of sustainable interior designs must be to create timeless spaces. 

Individuals grow and change over a period of time. In this process, they often want their surroundings to grow and change with them. Interior designers must consider such needs of people and make the spaces flexible and adaptive. They must design flexible spaces and choose quality over quantity to achieve timelessness. 

Innovation can add in several options to flexible design. It can include walls that can be modified and items of furniture that are modular and adjustable. An interior design can suggest investment in elements that are sturdy, easy to clean, and durable. This can save money as such elements usually require a lot less renovation.

4. Minimizing environmental impact

When it comes to sustainability, only the products and materials with the lowest environmental impact must be chosen. Organic materials seem to be an obvious choice in recent times. It must not be forgotten that they are natural resources and must be given responsible treatment. 

This is the reason why renewable materials extracted responsibly are chosen for conscious living. The evaluation of such materials and products must happen at all levels of their life cycle. This includes extraction, processing, production, transportation, all the way to their discarding after use. 

5. Design of health ecosystem

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about certain changes in the lifestyle of humans across the world. People are spending most of their time indoors to maintain social distancing. So, it is important for designers to create healthy interiors in homes. They need to consider several factors in this process, such as heating, quality of air, ventilation, lighting, and acoustics. 

Some of the materials and products used in homes have high levels of toxic emissions. They are the root cause of air pollution indoors. Furniture or equipment, for instance, that are treated with harmful chemicals release dangerous toxins in the air. This is why designers must select materials responsibly. 

Materials that release lower levels of volatile organic compounds and other pollutants in the air must be chosen. This would significantly improve the indoor air quality. Plants facilitate proper circulation of air and keep it fresh. They also act as natural air filters. Carpets also play a similar role to some extent. 

They trap and hold dust particles, allergens, germs and other air pollutants until removed by a vacuum cleaner. Carpets also have the quality of being excellent sound insulators. They help in absorbing sound vibrations, which can be a boon to the occupants of a building.

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