The Now of Sustainable Workspaces
The late 1980s marked the beginning of the dream of sustainability. With time, the idea of sustainability lent itself to every domain. When it comes to office settings, sustainability made a late entry. It was only in the 1970s that workspaces were modified to the existing requirements. But creating sustainable spaces is not an easy feat and often involves a multi-pronged approach.
A macro-level understanding of sustainability has multiple dimensions — social, economic, technological, cultural and of course environmental. Each dimension deserves a thorough understanding of the successful application of sustainability in real life. Amongst the numerous micro-elements, architecture and interior design are the two major ingredients when it comes to sustainable workspaces. Both architecture and interior design complement each other as they enhance the overall work environment of an individual. It becomes imperative to gain a basic, if not thorough, knowledge of these facets to understand the know-how of creating a sustainable workspace.
- Architecture:
Sustainable architecture is a movement against the crass unsustainable architecture that has invaded most of the world. In a nutshell, sustainable architecture seeks to minimize carbon prints by using environmentally-friendly materials and designing mechanics to conserve energy without compromising efficiency and style.
Most people use green building and sustainable building synonymously. But it is important to establish the difference between the two. A green building would reduce the carbon footprint through its construction and usage. Its goal would be to minimize the use of energy and introduce renewable sources of energy while optimizing the building’s performance during its life only but not beyond that. However, a sustainable building encompasses the entire lifecycle of the building, including its demolition. It complies with social and economic factors too. To be more precise, being green doesn’t necessarily make something sustainable. Sustainability is more data-driven and has higher standards than green buildings. Green buildings would only concentrate on using solar panels on the rooftop to harvest energy for a house but might not consider the materials used to make the building and whether it leaves a zero-carbon trail even during its demolition.
Sustainable architecture includes everything from using sustainable building materials, sustainable energy use to building placement, waste management, sustainable building consulting, etc. Most architects use Building Information Modeling (BIM) to help them enable sustainable design by allowing them to integrate and analyze building performance. Since sustainable architecture has innumerable factors playing part in the whole scheme of things, innovation is necessary; more so with the rapidly changing times.
2. Interior design
Sustainable architecture must be complemented by sustainable interior design. Failing to do so can undermine the whole concept of sustainability. The purpose of sustainable interior design is to minimize the negative impacts and maximize the positive impacts on the environment as well as the occupants. According to M. Kang and D. Guerin, there are three dimensions to sustainable interior design: global sustainable interior design, indoor environmental quality, and interior materials.
Indoor environmental quality is the most important of all three and it includes improved air quality, improved thermal comfort, and quality of interior lighting. And the most important elements of sustainable interior design are materials, furnishing, and lighting. These elements improve an occupant’s lifestyle to a great extent thus increasing productivity too. Any sustainable interior design element must be composed of natural resources, including their process of fabrication, manufacturing, installation, use, reuse, recycle and disposal.
Ideally, inclination towards a more sustainable living must be first met by bringing changes to the immediate interior environment. Following this, one can move on to the more sizeable changes. Sustainability is a choice that we must make now for better and balanced lives. If sustainability is the key, then sustainability is the means. There is no shortcut to a sustainable future.
