Discover the Climate Toolkit’s Latest Updates for Interior Designers

The Climate Toolkit for Interior Design is a first-of-its-kind resource focused on the embodied carbon emissions of interior design. It’s the product of a long consultative process that began with a virtual hackathon to create the first version in 2021, and then continued with in-person workshops in eight American cities, resulting in updates and revisions. The most recent edits to the Toolkit, including its new structure, were the result of recommendations from working groups facilitated by METROPOLIS editor at large and Studio O+A cofounder Verda Alexander.

Interior Design and Climate Change

The climate crisis is no longer an abstract phenomenon. Heat waves and extreme weather events have become annual occurrences, and according to the Pew Research Center, 81 percent of Americans agree that climate change has played a role in these events. What’s more, environmental degradation is hitting vulnerable and disadvantaged communities harder—African-Americans, for example, are 75 percent more likely than others to live near facilities that produce hazardous waste.

The climate crisis is a health issue and an equity issue, and there’s only one way to fight it—lowering the amount of greenhouse gasses we put in the atmosphere. The building industry contributes to about 39 percent of global carbon emissions, making it one of the most important areas to lower greenhouse gas and carbon emissions.

Interior designers have a special role to play in that fight.

In November 2020, METROPOLIS published a cover story on the embodied carbon emissions of interior renovations. Until then, interiors were considered a very small contributor to a building’s carbon emissions, especially when compared to structural and facade materials.  

But research by the Carbon Leadership Forum and LMN Architects led to a startling revelation: Every time an interior is renovated, that means more emissions. Over the life of a building, this can add up significantly—and could eventually exceed the emissions associated with core and shell construction!

Interior Designers Have Great Power to Make a Positive Impact

Firstly, because interiors are renovated frequently, interior designers have a continuous opportunity to improve their work. Secondly, the products that designers specify can be more carbon efficient while also keeping people healthy and well. Interior designers have a special opportunity to continuously improve outcomes for both people and the planet!

So, how can we take advantage of this opportunity? How can everyone in the interior design industry make the right decisions to help avert climate catastrophe? This toolkit provides a starting point.