Washable Organic Cotton Textiles

As we specify healthy cleaner environments, a very important part of it is having healthy clean textiles surround us. If we use washable organic cotton textiles on our furniture and treat each piece of furniture to a slip cover design, we can keep our surroundings cleaner. Washing slipcovers monthly at least gives the user control over dust mites, mold, spills that can breed bacteria and allergens that can collect on textiles during use. The recommendation of using washable organic textiles is typically less expensive than the silks, wools, and combination fabrics around. Where the cost is driven upwards is the approach of slipcovering a piece of furniture as well as having a covering on the piece itself. This will do the most in keeping the environment clean and is money well spent. More organic cotton textiles are being developed everyday. I applaud Robert Allen, Kravet, and Designers Guild in thier research and developement!

Design Must get Healthier

As our built world becomes more and more unhealthy, it is up to the educated and experienced design professional to lead the way in changing the norm and expectations. There is an extreme push in the construction phase of any project where costs are weighed and the low bid typically wins out. With that low bid may come products that are manufactured either in the US or in Asia to lowest standards allowable. Typically lower standards for lower pricing bring toxins into the mix. We all heard about the FEMA trailers full of "Chinese Drywall" that offgassed formaldehyde into the interiors of displaced Katrina families. With that came asthma, and other respiratory problems. The US standards of what we will accept in the way of Volatile Organic Compounds and Formaldehyde is disturbing enough. If test results were provided with this low bid application of drywall, then those standards were met. Since this happened, it was revealed in subsequent studies that many drywall products made right here in the US have the same standards as the drywall that offgassed in the FeMA trailers and created a public outcry. The US has the lowest standards in the world. We will accept a very high standard of parts per million of all of these toxins that make us all sick. Europe allows half of what we do. Japan allows almost half again of Europe. When people are Auto Immune compromised they have a hyper sensitivity that allows even less to be acceptable in their environments. The problem is that exposure over time can build up in our bodies and express itself in many ways. Many experts have talked about the foods that we eat, the interior products that surround us, and the air quality that we breathe in our homes and in commercial environments and how it has effected our standard of living and our breathing. If it is true, as experts predict and the cases of autism, asthma, and related brain and breathing problems is growing at alarming rates because of these two factors, designers have a huge responsibility in the years to come. Cases of cancers reported in Erin Brokavitch situations of toxic waste spills, were proven to have poisoned whole towns. There is little difference between the Volatile Organic Compounds that surround us, leach into our air, and our water and their future effect on how we will live or die in our lifetimes. This is not a scare tactic. This is a call to action for designers to be aware of problems that exist in the products that we specify everyday. The solution can be as simple as asking for test results for the products that we as designers are specifying. The lab test results will show how much offgassing the products do. Then we can decide with the client what we can accept for the population. If you have a client that has immune system problems, the requirements are more stringent. The more compromised they are, the more dilligent we must be in taking care of them. It comes down to why the postion of interior designer has health and life safety as part of it's responsibility. I challenge interior designers on this planet to be aware, be dilligent and most of all ask the questions about what we are surrounding our clients with. Without the knowledge of the offgassing possibilities of the specifications that we produce, we are blind and leading a death march. I do not choose to do that.

Healthy Interior Design

The result of living within toxins accepted by US levels is not always acceptable to the client.

Interior Design that serves those that are immune system compromised has to address all levels of VOC's, and all toxins in water, and air in the interior project. We all face the reality of more exposure and more reactions to this as we live and breathe in badly polluted environments. As you are exposed to more and more interior toxins, you can develope a hyper sensitivity to light, temperature and sound. As you do this, your environment supports you less and less. The result is not a normal life style.

Most products that are assumed to be done offgassing and creating negative reactions in humans do not ever really stop offgassing. The biggest example of this can be insulation, stone surfaces, drywall, paint, and various bonded materials that are everywhere. Every solid surface that is used for countertops is a series of chunks of something bonded together with something. These bonding agents oftentimes create many problems for humans to live with. When you see the word epoxy, or resin, or bonding agent, dig deeper.

My role as an interior designer keeps expanding and growing. All markets have niche areas that are not being addressed. Most designers run from heavy research and exposure to giving advice with risks. Those of us that are highly educated and have created a measure of fearlessness are encouraged to keep expanding what we know and direct our clients to walk with us on this journey.

I have explored many interior environments in my history and have always focused on giving back to the education of interior design, their clients and their students. We are given chances to grow and learn. Embracing it can be extremely enlightening.