"We don't compromise good design to incorporate green products. We develop sustainable interiors because that is good design."
Interior Motives doesn't believe sustainable design has to be cold and uninviting, because it is more than just the implementation of Green products. Sustainability is also about smart, functional design.
With IMI's Award Winning and LEED accredited designers, they achieve sustainable design for the gracious home. After all, the space in which we live should not only affect us in a positive, uplifting way, but it should do the same for the environment. Through IMI's designs, they create luxurious interiors that are environmentally aware, which provides the added benefit of healthy spaces and reduced lifecycle costs to our clients. IMI is a corporate member of the United States Green Building Council (USGBC).
IMI ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY DESIGN SERVICES
- LEED AP Designer on staff – LEED Accredited Professionals can facilitate the verification requirements during the design process to achieve LEED Certified projects with the United States Green Building Council
- Material Specification – an IMI designer takes into account the various aspects of a material when selecting it for use on your project in order to have the least amount of impact on the environment. These are areas of concern when considering materials:
- Local and Regional Material Specs: specifying materials that are readily available locally reduce shipping cost, packaging waste, and energy.
- Recycled Content: materials that are comprised in whole or in part of recycled content all helps to reduce the manufacture and use of new raw material.
- Recyclable/Biodegradable materials: materials that can be recycled, or that naturally biodegrade without harm to the environment assure that materials can be repurposed or safely disposed of after their useable life in your project. Also, any material waste from the project can be safely discarded
- Highly engineered products increase the useable life of standard materials as well as yield more usable material from raw products
- Working with nature, not against it. Sustainable design is about working with what nature has to offer while being responsible to use these materials in a low impact way. When steps are taken to avoid the use of natural materials, manufactured materials act as replacements, which are produced using mass amounts of energy, while expelling a great deal of pollution. These replacement materials usually contain hazardous chemicals as well.
- Selecting materials certified by third party organizations such as the Forest Stewardship Council ensures responsible foresting methods that replace material that is taken for manufacture
- Implementing materials whose lifecycle will last as long or longer than the replacement material can be reproduced
- Designing exteriors that promote native species and landscapes that will sustain with little to no outside influence of chemical growth and excessive watering need
- Innovative design – a large part of sustainable design is making a space efficient and functional in order to reduce energy costs and to promote a green lifestyle. High efficiency interiors have the added benefits of low operating costs to our clients.
- Functional kitchen layouts that incorporate recycling centers promote environmentally friendly living
- Designing spaces that make use of natural day lighting minimizes the need for artificial lighting which reduces energy costs
- Innovative technologies incorporated into the design allow the integration of energy saving mechanisms such as motion detected lights and automated HVAC controls
- Incorporating Energy Star Rated appliances reduces energy use
- Thinking outside the box when it comes to reusing materials through a remodel or on site of a new construction process allows for a unique and environmentally friendly interior
- IMI designers possess a unique eye for finding the beauty in found objects and giving them new life within a project, which often replaces the need for new pieces to be manufactured
- Designs that maximize the use of each material selected reduces product waste during implementation
- Timeless design – creating interior spaces that aren’t “Trendy” but that are Timeless will ensure that each project remains visually and functionally relevant. This will maximize the lifecycle of materials used and eliminate the need for future remodel.
- Healthy Living – designing and specifying with concern for healthy indoor air quality promotes better living and working environments
- Specifying materials with little to no VOC’s (associated with the off-gassing of interior finishes such as woods, carpets, and paints typically made with hazardous chemicals) can greatly increase indoor air quality and the health and comfort within interior spaces
- Preferred vendor relationships – Green design is about promoting environmentally friendly communities and practices
- Promote business relationships and specify materials from vendors who not only offer Green products, but who also incorporate environmentally responsibility within their manufacturing, shipping, and business practices
- Promote local artisans and craftspeople who offer green alternatives and local resource alternatives to minimize national and international shipping costs and energy. This also helps stimulate the economic community in which we live and operate.
- Taking it to heart – At Interior Motives we live an environmentally responsible lifestyle with our in-house recycling program, use of recycled material and recyclable office products, down to our environmentally friendly cleaning products. IMI is also a member of the USGBC
