Provide us with your email address that your account is associated with and we will send you your password via email.
NOTE: Are you a certified member looking to access your Certification account? Head over to www.eco.ca/certification to access your certification account.
Sustainable interior design creates interior spaces using design principles such as functionality, accessibility, and aesthetics and expands the focus to include environmental considerations. For example, sustainable design projects are influenced by such factors as planning efficient use of space, choosing materials with low environmental impacts, and reducing energy consumption, pollution, and waste. Sustainable interior designers are committed to finding ways to balance aesthetics and functionality with choices that reduce the environmental impact of their designs.
Imagine you are standing in the middle of a busy emergency room in a brand-new, state-of-the-art hospital. But you are not injured; youre here to evaluate the hospitals interior. You are a sustainable interior designer and part of the team that created this space. You and your team spent countless hours working with architects, engineers, and suppliers to create a design for the hospitals interior that balanced the functionality necessary to operate a busy hospital with environmental considerations. As a sustainable interior designer, you didnt have an easy go of it, designing the interior of an environmentally friendly hospital. For example, all materials and products had to meet environmental standards as well as the durability needs of a 24-hour health care facility. You chose to use linoleum rather than vinyl flooring because linoleum is made substantially from jute, a naturally occurring fibre, and possesses natural bacteria-resistant properties that make it a perfect choice for a hospital. You also chose to use scrubbable cotton wall coverings because vinyl is known to be highly toxic. Even the choice of carpeting in the hospitals offices was based on the samples high percentage of recycled content, and the adhesive used to glue down the flooring was chosen because it has a low toxic emission rate. Wherever possible, you chose to use local materials to reduce the need for long-distance transportation. The finished product also incorporates strategies for reducing energy consumption and highlights opportunities for reducing, reusing, and recycling waste, including numerous recycling bins on every ward. Every design element in the new hospital is a choice to reduce environmental impact while still being durable enough to prove functional in this busy hospital.