"Green" Design
WHAT IS "GREEN" DESIGN?
Green design, also referred to as "sustainable" design, involves using products and
methods that ensure that present needs are met without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their needs. Sustainable design is design that makes as
small an impact as possible on the natural environment. Green design principles
provide useful guidelines for creating healthy homes that use energy and natural
resources as effectively as possible.
When interior designers apply green design principles, they consider ways to get the
most function from the available space. Sometimes people think that they need to add
space to their homes or offices, when in fact, a careful reallocation of space would
meet all current needs. A green home is a home that is both energy efficient and
comfortable in any climate. Green designers choose materials that will be durable
and long-lasting. Materials that have recycled content and that can be recycled at the
end of their useful life are often chosen as the best use of resources, as are products
that come from local and regional sources, minimizing the costs of shipping and
supporting local economies. An important aspect of green design involves reducing
environmental pollution of all kinds, by eliminating toxic chemicals from the home
and by limiting the off-gassing from volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) contained in
products like paint, adhesives, and engineered wood products.
Consumers face a nearly overwhelming array of choices as they build and furnish
their homes, and as green products become more prevalent in the marketplace,
some claims are simply extravagant. What does it mean to buy and sell green?
Quite simply, it means considering both lifecycle and social justice issues:
where and how a product is produced; how its production impacts the environment,
the worker who produced it, and the end users; and what will happen to that product
when it is no longer useful. So what makes a particular product "green"?
There is no one standard or agency for determining whether a product or building
process is green, but a green product usually has one or more of the following characteristics:
- Uses post-consumer and/or recycled content
- Prevents problems with indoor air quality, by reducing off-gassing & moisture issues
- Promotes energy and resource conservation
- Uses raw materials that have been produced using sustainable methods
- Manufactured in a sustainable, socially just fashion
- Manufactured as near to end use as possible, thus minimizing the energy impact of transporting goods
- Ensures durability and long-term effective function, eliminating need for replacement
Many of the products in the Casa Verde Design showroom contain recycled, reused,
or reclaimed content or sustainably harvested raw materials. Many of our products
have been manufactured using sustainable practices. Some products do not contain
and recycled or reclaimed material, but they help to ensure good indoor air quality
or long product life. Some products have been approved by numerous independent
organizations like the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the Greenguard Environmental Institute,
the Fair Trade Federation, or Energy Star. This eco-labeling can be confusing and
even misleading. At Casa Verde Designs we will help you to better understand the
different aspects of green building and design and to select the best products for your needs.
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