STUDY MATERIAL

Sustainable
Interior Design
PART 1: INTRODUCTION

www.designopolis.co.in

A course by Ar. Amrutha Kishore

Contents
1) Introduction to Sustainability

2) Why do we need Sustainability?

3) Impact of Interior Design Choices

4) Understanding Climate Data

Analysis
Case Study: Maldives
Case Study: Switzerland
Climatic Zones in India

5) Sustainable Interior Design

What is
Sustainability?
Sustainability focuses on meeting the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

The Three Pillars of Sustainability

Sustainable development is often said to encompass three important pillars:
People, Planet, & Profit.

According to this concept, any development must take into account that:
It positively impacts the lives of the employees, stakeholders, and
communities it touches.

It positively impacts the environment, ecology, and the planet as a whole.

It is economically sound and increases prosperity

Why do we need
Sustainability?
As you may know, the world's climate is rapidly changing. The air quality,
temperature, water-levels etc. are changing at an alarming rate.

35 billion
Tons
30 billion
Tons
25 billion
Tons
20 billion
Tons
15 billion
Tons
10 billion
Tons
5 billion
Tons

0
1751 AD 2017 AD

Other
6%
Building Operations
28%
Transportation CO2 emissions have
23%
been increasing at an
alarming rate. The
building construction
and operations
industry is the largest
contributor to this
Industry Building Materials & Construction
32% 11% problem.
To help tackle the problem, the UN has declared the Sustainable
Development Goals or Global Goals. They are a collection of 17 interlinked
global goals designed to be a "blueprint to achieve a better and more
sustainable future for all". The SDGs were set in 2015 by the United Nations
General Assembly and are intended to be achieved by the year 2030.

The Sustainable Goal 11 focuses on Sustainable Cities & Communities

To know more about UN Sustainable Development Goals:

https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2015/12/sustainable-
development-goals-kick-off-with-start-of-new-year/
Interior design &
Sustainability
During the design and execution of any interior project, the designer takes
countless decisions that effect the overall sustainability of the project. Here
are a few examples:

Materials: Are the materials that you're going to select sustainable?

Can they be harmful in any way to the three pillars: People, Planet,
and Profit?

Lighting: Is the lighting of the space conducive to human activity.

Can energy be saved while lighting up the space?

Thermal Comfort: Is the space comfortable for the occupants. Is

making it comfortable by using ACs detrimental to the
environment?

Water Conservation: Are we making sure that excessive water is

not wasted during construction and occupancy?

Waste Mangement: How is the waste generated during

construction and occupancy taken care of so that it does not harm
the three pillars of sustainability?

Appliances: Are we specifying the right appliances to be used in

the space? Are the appliances energy efficient? How can we reduce
the negative effects it may have on the environment?
Sustainable
Interior Design
Sustainable design seeks to reduce negative impacts on the environment, and
the health and comfort of building occupants, thereby improving building
performance. The basic objectives of sustainability are to reduce
consumption of non-renewable resources, minimize waste, and create
healthy, productive environments.

Materials

Waste Lighting
Management

Sustainable
Interior Design

Energy Thermal
Management Comfort

Water
Management
Understanding
the Context
Every place has a different climate. To start designing the interiors in a
sustainable fashion, we need to understand the constraints imposed by the
climate of the site.

We'll look at 5 parameters to understand the climate of a place:

Temperature: What are the average temperatures in the place?

Would you describe the place as hot (Delhi) or cold (Shimla)?

Daylight: Does the place receive sufficient sunlight during the day?
Do we need to have thick curtains to block the sunlight?

Precipitation: How much rainfall does the place receive on

average?

Humidity: Does the place has high humidity? How does that effect
the materials, thermal comfort, and energy management of the
place?

Wind: Does the place receive cooling winds (example: a beachfront

house) that we could use to increase thermal comfort?
Climate data for most places can be obtained from www.weatherspark.com

Maldives
1. Temperature

Average highest Average lowest

daily temperature daily temperature

We can notice that Maldives maintains a consistent range of hot temperature

throughout the year. The winter months are slightly cooler than the summer
months.
2. Rainfall

Average daily
rainfall

We can notice that it rains consistently throughout the year in Maldives with
the Months of January to April receiving the least amount of rain. Hence,
rainfall will be a major consideration while designing in such a place.

3. Daylight

We can see that Maldives receives consistent and sufficient daylight of about
12 hours throughout the year.
4. Humidity

We can notice that the humidity is consistently at the "Miserable" or

"Opressive" level throughout the year as described by weatherspark.com

5. Wind
 We can notice that the wind generally flows from the East or West Direction.
The direction may also vary as per the placement of the building whose
interiors are to be done.

Conclusion

The climate analysis of Maldives gives us a good idea of the various solutions
that we can propose as interior designers which will in turn affect the
occupants, and the environment of the place.

Shading
Devices
outside to
Blinds to provide rain
control & sun
amount of protection
daylight
Sea facing
opening to
Using materials take
suited for hot advantage
and humid of winds
climates

A hotel room in the Maldives.

Climatic Zones of India

Introduction to
DESIGNOPOLIS SUSTAINABLE INTERIOR DESIGN
www.designopolis.co.in
A course by Ar. Amrutha Kishore