With a slew of sustainable initiatives moving forward year round, every day could be considered Earth Day for the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) and its members. Studies show that building construction uses 60% of all U.S. raw materials and ASID knows that interior designers can help reduce this number. As a platform issue since 2002, ASID promotes sustainable design through multi-organization ventures, awards programs, educational courses and other initiatives.
ASID sustainable actions over the past year include:
Organizational Changes: To reduce the environmental impact of running a 36,000 member strong society ASID is:
- Using 100% wind energy to power ASID's national office.
- Switching to reusable dishware for ASID meetings and events.
- Transitioning to providing more electronic documents that can be downloaded and submitted online. This includes a reduction in mailed membership applications, invoices and new member informational CDs.
- Encouraging chapters to recruit chapter sustainability advocates and discuss positive changes on ASID Connex and through Green Your Chapter webinars.
- Facilitating educational and information sharing opportunities through webinars, CEU courses articles in Icon.
REGREEN: The REGREEN Residential Remodeling Program, created by ASID and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), provides educational courses, guidelines and other tools needed to implement green practices in residential remodeling projects. The successful program continues to expand and 300 level courses are being featured at Dwell On Design June 25 -27. www.regreenprogram.org.
National Academy of Environmental Design (NAED): NAED members provide the leadership and expertise required to accomplish complex research projects on issues such as climate change, resource depletion and energy security. ASID is one of more than 20 nonprofit organizations that created the National Academy of Environmental Designers and continues to support their endeavors. www.naedonline.org
Earth-Minded Awards (EMAs): Created by ASID and Hospitality Design, the Earth-Minded Awards recognize exceptional sustainable hospitality design. Categories include hospitality design project, hospitality design product and student hospitality design project. www.hospitalitydesign.com.
Sustainable Suite Design Competition: This competition from ASID, USGBC and the Network of Executive Women in Hospitality (NEWH) praises forward thinking, earth conscious design in the hotel industry. The winning design is built as a model guest room on the show floor of Hospitality Design Expo, May 19 - 21. www.usgbc.org/sustainablesuite.
BLOOM Awards: Created by ASID and Interiors and Sources, the Bloom Awards aims to cut through green washing to honor manufacturers and their inventive sustainable products. The five categories are Flooring, Lighting, Innovative Materials, Textiles and Furniture. www.bloomawards.com.
ASID Awards: The ASID Awards honor the lifetime achievements of individuals and companies in the field of interior design. Sustainability was a common theme among every award winner in 2010. www.asid.org.
High-Performance Building Congressional Caucus Coalition (HPBCCC): As a member of the High-Performance Building Congressional Caucus Coalition (HPBCCC), ASID hosted a congressional briefing in Washington, D.C. in 2009 on the topic of evidenced-based design and its ability to improve quality care and to save money and reduce resources. These high- performance buildings address the environmental, human, economic and societal impact of the building and interior designers play a large role in the process.
