Green Options

Have you interior designers learned about the USBGC Suite Design Competition? This is not only for professionals, but students as well. And it’s global!

Beware the entry deadline is fast approaching on August 31st, 2009 and judging will be completed by October 1st, 2009. The competition is sponsored by USGBC, The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), and The Hospitality Industry Network (NEWH).

A happy Veterans Day to sustainablog readers who’ve served in the US military… and happy Remembrance Day to Canadian vets.

For many veterans of the US armed forces, the rewards of their service are intangible: pride, discipline, commitment to country and community. Of course, veterans also receive more tangible benefits — educational assistance, low-interest home loans, health care — but as we’ve seen over and over again, the provision of these services is often less than ideal. Yesterday, the American Society of Interior Designers announced a partnership with Rebuilding Together’s Veteran Housing Initiative to support our veterans by assisting them with home renovation; part of that support will include “[providing] REGREEN resources, the nation’s first sustainable residential remodeling guidelines, to Rebuilding Together affiliates.”

REGREEN, a partnership between ASID and the US Green Building Council, was launched in March, and is dedicated to “…the development of best practice guidelines and targeted educational resources for sustainable residential improvement projects.” The ASID/RT partnership will begin with a pilot project in the Washington, D.C. area, and will involve “…[renovating] the home of a deserving veteran.”

Under the FAQs for LEED for Homes is a question on whether the US Green Building Council has a LEED program for remodeling. The response is that they are “in active consideration.” It seems they’ve done more than just consider. Last month at the Interiors 08 conference in New Orleans, the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) unveiled REGREEN, a joint program with the USGBC to provide guidelines for remodeling green. REGREEN will target residential designers, construction professionals, and homeowners. Though the USGBC was involved in its creation, REGREEN will be vastly different than LEED. Instead of assigning a point value to each green product or practice, REGREEN will be used more as a resource of what remodelers have done in the past to make homes more energy efficient, healthy, and sustainable.