A Designers Guide to Green Design Webinar
1 hour
3807 Riley St.
Houston, Texas 77005
Tel. 713 464-0055
Cell 713 269-6909
Email:
Website: www.InteriorDesign-ED.com
www.vosko.com and click on InteriorDesign-ED
Beverly Vosko’s
InteriorDesign-ED
A Designers Guide to Green Design Handouts
Welcome to our 1 hour Webinar!
In the 20th Century we discovered that we are not taking good care of the earth… We are creating Global Warming by depleting the ozone layer, rapidly depleting some of our most valuable resources – such as water and lumber, and creating huge waste areas from dumping our trash and chemicals that either just lie fallow or worse pollute the air and the environment! If we don’t stop this process – we may not have an earth as we know it, to pass on to our future generations!
We have a responsibility to sustain if not enhance our earth’s natural environment and our nation’s economy for future generations.
This is called Sustainability. So what does Sustainability mean?
Sustainability means meeting the needs of the present … without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs by
• Limiting Resource Depletion
• Avoiding Environmental Degradation
• Preventing Habitat Loss and Extinction
• Working to Control Sources of Waste
• Utilizing Materials that are Recycled or that can be Reclaimed
We can accomplish this by becoming Green!
Designers can help the world become Green by helping our clients “build Green”
Green building is using products, materials, construction methods and design considerations and that make a home healthier, lower maintenance and more energy efficient
Designers should be helping make the world “Greener” but our building industry is one of the worst culprits in not being ‘Green”.
Buildings (their construction and their use) are responsible for 39%-40% of the total U.S. Energy Consumption, more than other fields that are touted to be so energy inefficient…. such as
• Transportation which represents only 32% of our Total Energy Consumption
• or Industry which represents only 29% of our Total Energy Consumption
And buildings (their construction and their use) are responsible for a tremendous amount of resource depletion as well
• 71% of total U.S. electricity consumption
• 39% of CO2 emissions
• 30% of raw materials use
• 30% of waste output
• 12% of potable water consumption
• And 70% of our landfill waste
We need to do something about this!
We need to build green!
What is building green?
Building Green doesn’t have to be totally weird and out of the mainstream
Most Green homes look just like any other homes; they are just more efficient!
Most of the time you wouldn’t even know that the home was Green unless someone told you that it was
We are just learning how to be Green, so Building Green is a process …
And there are various shades of Green – meaning that there are various degrees of what is considered Building Green and they all work…
Whatever degree you choose to “Build Green”, it is better that doing nothing
Building Green is using products that have a small carbon footprint. A carbon footprint is the amount of energy expended to create a product and deliver it to its ultimate destination. If an item has to be shipped from far away, (wasting energy to get it from one place to another) or requires a lot of energy to be created – then it has a large carbon footprint and it is not Green. Conversely something that is built locally and is created by hand without expending a great deal of energy has a small carbon footprint and is Green. So what is Green to one person in one location may not Green to another person in a different location!
1. Building Green is building smaller homes. Your homes’ environmental footprint is directly proportional to its size…the larger it is… the more waste it produces. Also, the larger the home, the more expensive and the more complicated it is to Build Green
2. Building Green is installing a water filter and not using plastic bottles that end up in a land fill
3. Building Green is caulking everywhere to make sure you don’t have air leaks that dissipate air into the atmosphere
4. Building Green is purchasing energy star appliances such as energy star fridges, dishwashers, washers and dryers that look just like conventional appliances but are better because they do the same work but just do it more efficiently
5. Building Green is purchasing “Water Sense” plumbing fixtures that use just the correct amount of water that we need – and don’t waste water
Some Water Sense products are:
Low flow faucets and low flow showers that have restrictors on them to deliver less than 2.5 gpm (gallons of water per minute)
Low flow toilets that use less than 1.3 gallons per flush
Dual flush toilets with 2 flush buttons which allow you to decide how much water is used for each flush. The Dual Flush system gives you the best of both worlds: The Low Flush uses less than 8/10’s of a gallon of water while the Normal Flush uses 1.58 gallons – still within conservation limits.
6. Building Green is using low V. O. C. or V.O.C. free paints and carpets that don’t pollute the atmosphere, ruin our indoor air quality and make us sick
7. Building Green is using sustainable products that grow quickly – and that we can easily replenish and replace - without using up the world’s natural resources
One such product is Bamboo – which makes a great substitute for wood flooring
Bamboo can be regrown in 6 years or less, while a wood tree can take a lifetime. Cork wool, cotton and strawboard are other examples of sustainable products.
8. Building Green is using recycled products such as recycled tile that look just like conventional tile but have been used twice
9. Building Green is using reclaimed materials: old doors, old brick, old stone, old wood, old windows, old hardware, old architectural details, and using Antiques and Antique accessories that otherwise will end up in our landfills. Using these products gives them new life and creates interest in your design schemes.
10. Building Green is using regional, local and onsite materials rather than ones that are extracted and manufactured far away and transported 1000’s of miles to reach you
11. Building Green is buying the best quality you can afford
12. Building Green is using Day lighting strategies such as using a solar tube or a skylight to bring natural light from the outside into your home and thereby reduce your electric lighting needs. Solar tubes create ambient light and do not use any electricity.
13. Building Green is purchasing energy efficient CFL and LED light bulbs which have many more lumens per watt than normal incandescent light bulbs, last 5-6 times longer than normal incandescent light bulbs, and do not generate heat
14. Building Green is using tank-less water heaters and having hot water when you need it but not wasting energy heating it when you don’t
15. Building Green is installing Low E windows and doors that keep out ultraviolet rays and radiant heat thus keeping your home cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter, thereby lowering your heating and air conditioning bills. They also help prevent your furniture and fabrics from fading. If you don’t want to spend the money replacing all of your windows and doors, simply install window film and solar shades and they will do nearly the same job, for less money.
16. Building Green is Harvesting Rainwater for use when you need it
17. Building Green is using a “Grey Water System” which means re-circulating and re-using “Grey Water” or water from washing your hands – and not wasting it!
18. Building Green is insulating your attic
This can be done in 4 ways:
-Spray painting your attic with Radiant e-Barrier spray Paint
-Or installing Radiant Barrier Foil
-Or installing Radiant Barrier Decking
Or installing Spray Foam on your attic walls
All of these insulation methods will keep your home warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer and save you money on your heating and air-conditioning costs
Building Green doesn’t have to be more expensive than conventional building:
When you take into consideration the lifecycle cost, which are the long term savings you will get back on your utility bills (which keep getting more and more expensive), Building Green can actually SAVE you money as well as help the environment!
And Building Green doesn’t have to be done all at one time
You can make your existing home Green-er bit by bit, and step by step
You should consider Building Green like an investment in your home’s future
You pay some money and do a bit of extra leg work now …to reap the rewards of a more efficiently run and a less expensively run home in the future
Additionally, you reap the rewards of a healthier, better world in the future
So why not Just Always Build Green
Bibliography
1. Everblue course which I look in July of 2009 to prepare for L.E.E.D Green Associate exam which I look in August of 2009. I became a L.E.E.D Green Associate on October 12th 2009
2. Delta Faucet Company Continuing Education .1 CEU course entitled “Water Delivery Solutions For Green Building” which I took on February 16th 2011
3. USGBC Continuing Education .1 CEU webinar entitled “ Overview and Key Aspects of LEED for Homes” which I took on March 21st 2011
4. Toto AIA and GBCI Continuing Education .1 CEU entitled “ Water Efficient Plumbing” which I took on March 22nd 2011
5. NAHB Certification Program Course entitled “Green Building for Building Professionals” which was offered by the Greater Houston Building Association – which I passed and received the Certification Certified Green Professional” in May 2011
6. John F.Pile, Interior Design Third Edition, Pearson/Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River NJ 2003
7. Brent Nyquist, Atticus Architecture, Inc. “Green Houses” Rice University Glasscock School of Continuing Studies,
8. Michael Strong GMB, CAPS GreenHaus Builders, Inc , Certified Green Professional Class, Certified Green Professional Course taught by Michael Strong
9. Michael Strong GMB, CAPS GreenHaus Builders, Inc “Green Design part three” – Continuing Education Course taught by Michael Strong
10. Joe Adams, Adams Architects, The actual L.E.E.D.Platinum home shown to me by Joe Adams of Adams Architects – the architect of this home who gave me permission to take and use these pictures and teach this course
11. Vosko, Beverly. Go Green 4 CEU, that is IDCEC approved
Biography
Beverly Vosko, Allied Member ASID, RID, CAPS, L.E.E.D Green Associate, CGP (Certified Green Professional) is a full service, Registered Interior Designer in Texas #6333. She is President and founder of both Beverly Vosko Interiors and InteriorDesign-ED; both DBA’s for C. V. Design Inc. For over 25 years, she has been designing homes across the United States and Europe, specializing in creating custom residential and commercial environments, be they traditional, transitional, contemporary or eclectic, that match her design clients’ every need, through her design firm, Beverly Vosko Interiors. For nearly 20 years, she has taught Interior Design: first at Rice University, then at the University of Houston, and for the last 10 years nationally, with her Continuing Education company, InteriorDesign-ED. Specifically, she has taught Interior Design, Aging in Place, Green/Sustainable Design, Lighting and Antiques. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude from the University of Pennsylvania, studied Art History at Harvard University, received her MBA in Marketing from NYU Stern Graduate Business School, and completed Design and Antiquestraining from Sotheby’s, the world-renowned Inchbald School of Design and Houston Community College. Please view her websites,www.vosko.com and www.InteriorDesign-ED.com.