My Favorite Color is Green

A couple of weeks ago I published a post on my thoughts of the book Cradle-to-Cradle and how successfully it deals with sustainability. However, I truly learned a lot about sustainability from a project that I did in my Materials class after I read the book. Each student in the class was assigned to research the sustainability and compatibility to C2C design of a material (i.e. quartz countertops, 3-form, stained concrete flooring, bamboo, etc.) Instead of being assigned one material, however, I had the all encompassing topic of sustainable furniture. At first I did not know where to begin because of how broad the assignment was. After much research, however, I believe that I learned much more about successful sustainability and its challenges than most of the girls in my class.

To begin, I discussed the three main criteria of sustainable furniture: materials, design and manufacture, and buying and selling. A piece of furniture is sustainable if it is created using as few of our planet's resources as possible while also being durable, low-toxic, and easy to disassemble. An easy tip to remember is that durable design=timeless design. If a product is made using cheap materials, the quality and look of the product is in jeopardy. Also, an important aspect to consider when buying furniture is to look locally first because not only does it ensure lower carbon levels, but you can support small businesses and local economies while saving money on shipping rates. I bought a retro, orange velvet armchair from my best friend's older sister to put in my dorm this year. Not only was it comfortable and brightened up my cinder-block room, but it always became a topic of discussion amongst guests. I really think I will keep that chair forever!

However, a piece of furniture is not considered "sustainable" in the consumer world unless it is registered under the myriad certification agencies. This is a flaw because all of these certifications are turning design into an inefficient bureaucracy. For a piece of wooden furniture to be considered sustainable, for example, it must be created from wood from a sustainably harvested forest registered by the Forest Stewardship Council. The FSC evaluates both forest management activities and chain of custody. COC is an entirely different topic that stems from certification agencies and it allows products to be segregated and identified as having come from a particular source, i.e. an FSC certified forest. Scientific Certification Systems issues COC's and also offers validation and verification services for forestry carbon offset projects. Basically, SCS helps regulate air quality. But, we're not done! The piece of furniture would then be evaluated by the Sustainable Furniture Council, which is a non-profit, balanced coalition of industry players created to promote sustainable practices among manufacturers, retailers, and consumers. SFC wants to maintain a healthy balance between environmental conservation, social equity, and economic development under the Life-Cycle Assessment. LCA's or actual environmental data are required for sustainable product certification on a product platform basis. LCA identifies 12 benefits/impacts of products for all stages of life. The USGBC is a non-profit community of leaders working to make green buildings available to everyone within a generation. Their certification is probably the most common known: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). Right now, the only benefit to having a certified green building besides claiming to be environmentally aware and protecting the earth is saving money on energy bills. However, many of these certifications are very expensive and you do not even get a tax write-off yet. I know this paragraph was a bit overwhelming, but I just wanted to accentuate how the certification process needs to change before green design becomes more prominent.

Besides certifications, sustainable furniture is made from sustainable methods and materials that do not require removing anything from the earth that cannot be replenished. Therefore, these pieces of furniture are most likely going to be made of certified or reclaimed wood, bamboo, or recycled metals and plastics. For instance, the beautiful table above was created from 1,000 year-old wood retrieved from the bottom of a deep swamp in South America. You can see how wide the tree was because the tabletop is made from one entire slab of wood!

This brings me to correct a common misnomer about reclaimed versus recycled wood. Reclaimed wood is procured from the deconstruction of existing structures while recycled wood is obtained from salvage boards or trees and is re-purposed to produce flooring and particleboard. Now, be watchful and mindful to buy furniture that has not been made from pressure-treated lumber or particleboard because it produces very poor air quality and can cause harm to people when they breathe in the air. I also want to show you an innovative chair that I found on the internet. This Reee chair is made entirely from recycled Playstation 2's! You can visit the company's website http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/05/15/the-reee-recycled-playstation-chair/ and order your own chair. Don't just play your new and improved game console without sitting in what once kept you from being insanely bored on a Friday night.

I know that this post is extensive, however, my project was surprisingly extensive and I did much more research than I initially believed I would have to do. But, I am glad I did because I was introduced to an amazing company called Herman Miller, Inc. that specializes in sustainable office furniture. To keep my project relatively simple, I focused on one Herman Miller storage unit and its sustainability because it is a multi-purpose product with many parts. The Teneo Storage unit consists of 66% steel, 18% wood, 11% aluminum, 3% laminate, and 2% plastic. All of the steel and aluminum components of this unit are 100% recyclable and the entire product is 78% recyclable. My over-all cradle-to-cradle rating of this product was 9 out of 10, in which I took off 1/2 point for VOC emissions from laminate and veneers and another 1/2 point for energy expenses from manufacturing and transportation. However, the energy emissions are inevitable with any product, no matter the degree of sustainability.

After researching this product, I realized how amazing and innovative the Herman Miller corporation truly is. It was created in 1905 in Zeeland, Michigan and, interestingly, the company's mission was to provide environmentally-friendly furniture. The company has had over 100 years to perfect its goal and finds the urge insatiable. One of the most interesting findings the company made was that lay people no longer have the time nor desire to get something fixed if it is broken. Just think of how the career of fixing broken clocks and watches is becoming obsolete. People would much rather replace the entire product than get it repaired. Herman Miller discovered that products made these days are usually not made from homogenous materials. At least two materials (i.e. plastic and steel) are blended together so the broken piece is not easily replaceable. To attempt to promote repairing items instead of buying a brand-new one, Herman Miller decided to see how much time it would lapse before one of their most popular Aeron chairs was taken apart. After 3 hours, the innovators decided that they needed to create a chair that could be disassembled in a matter of minutes.
However, the newer Mirra chair seen above can be taken apart in a matter of minutes. All of the parts are replaceable so it is easy to repair the chair without buying a brand-new one. I believe that this innovation by Herman Miller will solve many problems about the obsolescence of products when new ones are displayed on the shelves. One of our first projects in our materials class was to create a new product made out of items that already exist. We were supposed to focus on how easily the new product can be manipulated and how it would affect the environment if it was actually manufactured on a large-scale. My group made a DVD case made out of old VHS tapes (yes, we found the irony of it funny too). Our focus was to create a project from an out-dated piece of technology and we found the VHS tapes a good choice because their size is relatively consistent. These days, people have become so focused on the aesthetics of their technological accessories (me included, I do have a handy-dandy iphone,) and the manufacturing companies are having to create new products at an alarmingly fast rate in order to stay one-step ahead of the consumers' desires. Therefore, the designs are very different and it is usually cheaper to replace a phone or other piece of technology than repair one. If I had a nickel, well lets adjust for inflation and say $100, for every new cell phone introduced this year I would be able to pay for my study abroad trip to Italy next summer.

To conclude, I will leave you with some great pictures of sustainable furniture pieces that I found throughout my project. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

The Concept of Sustainability in Design

Sustainability--a word that all of us have become well-acquainted with these past few years--was a major topic of discussion and review in my materials class this past semester. Entering into the class, I knew very little about the terms related with sustainability and even recycling practices in general. My only past recycling endeavor was when I helped my best friend's dad collect and crush cans when I was a little girl. Sustainability is just not something you hear much about in southern societies for some reason.

Now, I think that the concept of sustainability is great in terms of the amount of energy it saves, and even families can benefit when they switch over to sustainable ways of life. For instance, an article in USA today from February 2008 http://www.usatoday.com/weather/environment/2008-02-14-green-house_N.htm highlights 5 ways to make your house more energy efficient and money-saving. Whatever your stance on the impact of global warming on the world may be, simple things such as changing all of your light bulbs from incandescent to fluorescent saves you money in the long run because of the increasing amount of durability.

One of our assignments for our Materials class was to read the newly popular book in the world of sustainability called Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. The most interesting aspect of the book is that it is not, in fact, created from paper or plastic. It is printed on a synthetic paper-like material that is made from plastic resins and inorganic fillers. Despite the heaviness of the book when equated with other "paperbacks," the book itself is very durable and even waterproof. Architect William McDonough and German chemist Michael Braungart wrote this book to encourage environmentally intelligent design by presenting the concept of "upcycling," which is essentially taking something that is disposable and turning it into something of greater use.

While I think that ultimately their "cradle to cradle" concept does much to encourage a new thought process in terms of creating products to have an infinite lifetime--a very lofty, yet beneficial goal--the book is filled mainly with metaphors (i.e. how a cherry tree is indeed "wasteful" by producing more blossoms than it needs to survive in the world, yet it nourishes the environment with the "waste") but that is all I got out of the read; I was hoping for more examples of practical and successful cradle to cradle applications. Nevertheless, take a look at the impressive Ford River Rouge Factory in Dearborn, Michigan http://www.hfmgv.org/rouge/reinventing.aspx which is a project by McDonough and Braungart. By taking a factory built by Henry Ford himself, the designers have reinvented it to hold a higher environmental, social, and economical value by installing a "living" roof planted with sedum--a hardy, edible, and attractive plant. This type of roof lowers energy costs by protecting the interior from thermal shock of UV-rays, provides for a cleaner and healthier work environment, and can even help to improve water quality. Honestly, it is just plain cool.

What I found to be one of the most intriguing aspects of the book was the authors' take on the Industrial Revolution. The book opens to reveal the flaws created by the Industrial Revolution (i.e. pollution, depletion of valuable materials, productions of waste) and justifies the criticism by saying, "of course the industrialists, engineers, inventors, and other minds behind the Industrial Revolution never intended such consequences." But, we would all do different things in retrospect, now wouldn't we? I commend all of the industrialists, engineers, inventors, and MASTERminds behind the Industrial Revolution by taking advantage of an opportunity to economically and technologically stimulate the entire world. Yes, the Industrial Revolution created unhealthy environments and a mentality for cheap efficiency (McDonough goes to great lengths to point out the disadvantages of efficiency), but where would we be without it? We would not have found out the benefits of sanitary environments or what it takes to create equitable living environments as quickly. We wouldn't be able to have the Next Industrial Revolution the authors are proposing without having had the first one.

You can't make the fluorescent light bulb before you see the mistakes of the incandescent light bulb design.

On a final note, I completely agree with the authors when they discuss how regulations are the product of design flaw. However, I do not believe that we will ever live in a world without regulations because, being human, we possess free wills with an infinite amount of differing belief systems. We are created to constantly question and very rarely conclude the same answer. I am anxious to see if the cradle to cradle concept remains just that--a concept--or if it truly becomes our way of life.

Design Statement

I only find it appropriate to show you my design statement I was required to submit upon my acceptance into the Interior Design major. I wonder how much of this will still reign true and how much I will alter as I continue my education at UGA...

To design is to tell a story, to create new things from old. History is a major element that I strive to bring into my designs, emphasizing the circuitous evolution that occurs within the universe and therefore in design--how simplicity stems from complexity and vice versa. Through my creations I want to emphasize detail, focus, and passion in hopes that, no matter how diverse they are, the essence of timelessness encompasses all of my designs.

By molding an environment that was at first divinely flawless to fit the needs of man, a certain degree of perfection is essential. Just as nature was originally, and continues to be, crafted in precise detail, my mission as a designer is to struggle to have every aspect of a design contain a direct purpose. Being a detail oriented person allows me to create a space to have a balance of functionality and aesthetics by having organized thoughts match the goal of my client within the design.

As an artist I strive to have every one of my designs focused around either a very subtle or completely obvious central point. Also, when I focus on my attention to detail I am able to better understand the environment I am working with and to be decisive. My continuous focus on detail causes much complexity in my designs, so simplicity is an element that I am progressively attempting to understand and accomplish. I want to be able to balance these two elements and to understand the essentiality of both.

I was once told that a good artist creates while a great artist steals. While that might hold true in some cases, I believe that the best designs come from a collaboration of minds from different backgrounds. Therefore, versatility and flexibility is vital in order to fulfill the needs of the designer and the client. Individuals tend to focus on the same values and aspects in life when not introduced to something new. Despite the flexibility in my own design style, all of my designs revolve around the passion of my work. I continue to be fascinated as I learn more and more about philosophies of designers other than myself and have come to realize that all of their styles originate from the passion that embodies them. My objective as a designer is to have my designs tell about my personal journeys--ones of passion, thrills, and adventures--and that each new work uncovers a new story of my walk as a designer.

My First Post

Hello to everyone interested in my journey as an interior design student at the University of Georgia. I have decided to create this blog mostly in an attempt to recount the beneficial, controversial, and detrimental ideals that my professors have presented and encouraged during my time as a student. I truly hope that keeping this blog will allow me to grow into a promising designer by learning from comments posted by you!

So, I feel that it is time to introduce myself.

My name is Emily Fincher and, as previously stated, I am a second-year Art-Interior Design student at the University of Georgia in Athens, GA. I was born in Atlanta and grew up in a small, yet promising, suburb in the south metro area called McDonough. I graduated in 2007 from a relatively small high school in my district called Eagle's Landing and began attending UGA that fall. Ever since I can remember I have wanted to be an interior designer of some sort and grew into this aspiration after watching the ever-so popular design show from the earlier this decade: Trading Spaces. Perhaps cliche, but this show inspired me to begin experimenting with decorating as a teenager and I fell in love! Also, the fact that Ty Pennington and Vern Yip had affiliations in Atlanta only encouraged my obsession.

Though I would consider myself not to be very artistic in a painting and drawing sense, I have a strong creative side and can learn quickly. Having not taken any art classes in high school, only drafting, I felt that I was in a weak position as I took classes in the Lamar Dodd School of Art my first two semesters at UGA. Somehow, though I am not sure how, I was accepted into the Art School and finally accepted into the Interior Design Major in December 2008. I attribute my acceptance to my determination, my family's encouragement, and the fact that I picked a major that would require the least amount of math and science classes. So, I am beginning this blog after only two semesters of interior design classes and after only one semester as a full-fledged interior design student. I believe it is the perfect time to start this blog! I just presented my final project, and first project as an undergrad, last week and now summer is just around the corner. Soon, I hope to have in-detail updates of my critique and would love to hear feedback. Now I will leave you anxiously awaiting my next post. Hopefully you will not have to wait too long...