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Sustainable Design

Protecting our natural world, and its present and future inhabitants, is the goal of this growing discipline, known by many names. Call it "Green", "Eco-Effective", "Environmentally Friendly" or, as we have chosen, "Sustainable Design". Each label refers to the large and complex field that looks at our marketplace, at the making and consuming of the "things" in our lives, and strives to incorporate environmental responsibility at every stage of the process.

Sustainability

The concept of sustainability combines concern for the well-being of the planet with the needs of continued human development. The World Commission on Environment and Development defines it as "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". Sustainable Design requires full awareness of the short and long term consequences of any transformation of the environment; it does not deplete or have a negative impact on natural resources. It is design that aims to eliminate waste, to use renewable energy, to reduce toxic emissions and to leave as light a "footprint" on the environment as possible.

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design - LEED

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) was formed as the nation's foremost coalition of leaders from across the building industry, working to promote buildings that are environmentally responsible and healthy places to live and work. In Spring 2000 they launched LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System®, a voluntary national standard for measuring and certifying "green" buildings and for training and professional accreditation of architects, designers and building industry practitioners.

Currently available or under development are the following LEED rating systems: Commercial Interiors (CI), New Construction (NC), Existing Buildings (EB), Homes (H), Core and Shell (CS) and Neighborhood Developments (ND). Each set of standards evaluates building performance in 5 areas, such as Indoor Environmental Quality and Materials & Resources, and awards points in each. Specific point totals determine if the project as a whole (not individual products) qualifies for basic certification, or for higher levels of silver, gold or platinum certification.
www.leedbuilding.org, www.usgbc.org

How "green" is my fabric?

There is considerable debate on how best to describe and compare the environmental attributes of one textile versus another. Some look first at the presence of toxic emissions that impact indoor air quality. Some believe that recycled or recyclable content is most important, or that natural fibers from renewable natural resources are best. Others feel strongly that the only thorough way to evaluate a product is to do a "Life Cycle Assessment", or LCA, a comprehensive examination of a product's environmental and economic impact throughout its entire lifetime, beginning with extraction of raw materials.

Pollack's Sustainable Designs include the following materials and approaches:

100% Recycled Polyester: These fabrics, without any additional backings or chemical finishes, utilize post-consumer and post-industrial recycled polyester, and are themselves recyclable. The American mills that weave these designs have programs to minimize and recycle selvage waste and shipping materials, assess dye protocols and reduce energy use.
Terratex® is a brand of True, Inc., a US mill, and refers to fabrics that are made of 100% recycled, compostable or bio-based materials that are completely recyclable. Interface has completed an LCA for Terratex®-classified fabrics which shows them to have significantly less of an impact on the environment than fabrics made with virgin polyester. More recently, they have developed a Dye and Chemical Protocol to evaluate the safety of all the ingredients used in their manufacturing process. Their dedication to the principles of sustainability extends to all their business practices.
www.terratex.com
This designates a special fabric quality and manufacturing process developed by the Swiss mill Rohner, following the principles of McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC). The fiber content is 60% worsted wool and 40% viscose, a man-made cellulose fiber derived from renewable beech wood which is integrated with an environmentally compatible flame retardant.

Rather than the old industrial models of "Take-Make-Waste" or "Cradle to Grave", William McDonough, an American architect, and Michael Braungart, a German chemist, have defined a "new industrial revolution" based on the design principles of nature, where everything is designed to be a nutrient for another life form and where "Waste Equals Food". MBDC believes the same can be accomplished in closed loop manufacturing systems. Maintaining that recycling is not enough - it is just "doing less bad" since recycled products still contain toxic chemicals - MBDC asserts that it is possible to design products that can become, at the end of their useful life, biological or technical nutrients in a sustaining "Cradle to Cradle" cycle, nutrients that are completely safe for human health and the environment.

Climatex® fabrics are completely biodegradable and thus can be returned to the earth as compost rather than landfill. To get to this end, every part of the manufacturing process has gone through a rigorous environmental protocol. With the cooperation of Ciba-Geigy, one of Europe's leading chemical companies, Rohner analyzed over 4,500 of their dye formulas. Only the 16 that passed the MBDC protocol, with run-off safe enough to drink and to enter the water system, are used for these fabrics. Additionally, selvages and waste yarn are developed into secondary products, such as felt liners and insulation material, that take advantage of the inherent flame retardant benefits.
www.climatex.com, www.mbdc.com
Whenever possible the Pollack Studio creates fabrics that do not require additional backings or finishes to enhance performance. Many of our fabrics are woven in Europe, a leader in environmental legislation, where most of the mills maintain a high level of compliance with stringent regulations pertaining to pollution, waste management and noise reduction.

An extensive GREEN GLOSSARY is available at www.contracttextiles.org.

Bull's Eye 2225/07 bittersweet	Contextural 4097/03 marzipan	Curly 2243/06 grape	Disc-o 2303/02 cool	Groovy 4106/07 amber	Grove 2227/04 new growth
High Jinks 2300/05 gerbera	Longitude 1040/04 salsa	Maze 2258/06 granite	Osaka 5059/02 frost	Pebbly 4109/03 gravel	Retexture 4102/02 tortoiseshell
Rewrite 2304/04 marker	Sumatra 2291/01 chai	Texturecise 4090/01 granite	Triad Stripe 2226/04 grapevine