green design — Blog — TD Fall & Company

Interior Design Tips & Marketing News and Headlines The diversity of information available today is remarkable, isn’t it? Unfortunately, the number of sources from which valuable information can be culled tends to overwhelm and can be quite frustrating. In an effort to help you separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak, we offer these interior design tips and marketing news and headlines, some from sources you may never have imagined could provide you with valuable information.Has Your Interior Design Business “Gone Green”?Some designers jumped on the “green” design trend early, some much later. Some have yet to make the move at all. Reasons for this vary, among them that there is little hard data to suggest that investing in green design offers a significant return on investment.In the next few years though, we should begin to see some definitive or at least indicative, data upon which to base the decision to promote green buildings and green design.According to an article at FacilityExecutive.com, a new study at Harvard University has been designed to answer the question, “How Do Green Buildings Impact Thinking, Health, Sleep?” To get the answer, the researchers are recruiting 100 office buildings around the world to discover the impact of green buildings on health and productivity.Though three years may seem a long time to wait for the results, this is the projected length of the study, optimism is high that the research team will be able to assess employee cognitive function performance, a key indicator of productivity, by using a proven, standardized app-based process. Stay tuned for more…Why Americans Don’t Move HouseIn a recent blog post here, we shared optimistic news about the home renovation sector of the design market, where growth has been consistent this year and is expected to remain strong next year. Could one reason for this bump in home renovations be that some 89% of Americans refuse to move, despite an increasingly strong economy and increased household equity?In an eye-opening article at BuilderOnline.com, we are educated to the fact that the share of people moving house has been steadily declining, even as economic recovery and job growth strength trace back almost five years.Based on the Census' Current Population Survey, “The absolute number of movers has hovered at an average of around the 35 million mark for 10 years now, spiking up to 37 million or so only a couple of times since the Great Recession. Before 2007, the average was up around 40 million.”The fact that American mobility is falling as a percentage of a growing population is eye-opening indeed, for those of us who’ve always thought of the US as a somewhat transient society.The numbers tell a different story and, for the sharp interior designer, knowing the settled nature of homeowners in your marketplace will go a long way toward helping you plan your marketing strategy.Looking for more new design trends, marketing tips, and ideas? Get in touch with TD Fall today.

TDFall - Interior Design Tips Sustainability is a Thing As mentioned in a previous post, Know Your Marketplace - Millennials Influencing Interior Design Trends, the influence of millennials is growing, in many ways shifting the focus and goals of the interior design industry. Of the many ways in which this demographic is influencing our market, sustainability may be the most important – and enduring – as it become ever more important to other age groups and market influencers.As explained by the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), sustainable design encompasses more than simply “thinking green”. Sustainable design goes beyond being just efficient, attractive, on time and on budget. It is a design that cares about how such goals are achieved, about its effect on people and on the environment. An environmentally responsible professional makes a commitment to constantly try to find ways to diminish design's impact on the world around us. It is also a smart way of doing business: sustainable design is the fastest growing segment of our industry.Green Design PracticesRather, sustainable design reflects an all-inclusive approach to a designer’s professional responsibilities, by employing:

Integrated building design developed by collaborative multi-disciplinary teams
Indoor environments that support occupant well-being and productivity
Resource and energy efficiency
Social equity at local and global levels
Protection of the natural environment
Positive economic impact of optimized operational and maintenance practices, and life-cycle cost assessments

Whether the ultimate design goal is decoration, renovation or architectural detailing, all interior designers must stay abreast of current trends in the field.In the design industry, today’s fastest-growing segment is the incorporation of sustainable, or “green”, interior design. From the use of rain water collection to supplement waste water needs, to using sustainable materials such as bamboo, innovation is high when it comes to designing a sustainable space.ASID offers a series of reports on sustainable design practices, materials, and products. To learn more, click on the links below:

Have you begun to see this trend? Is sustainability a thing in your marketplace? How have you responded?