Interior Design Finish Selection, Sustainability, and Existing Buildings

Vocabulary flashcards covering interior material selection criteria, sustainable design principles, certifications, and existing building evaluation.

Functional Criteria

Performance considerations ensuring materials work appropriately for a space, including durability, maintenance, moisture resistance, acoustics, light reflectance, and heavy usage.

Fire Performance

A key health and safety factor of materials that affects ignition, flame spread, and smoke production.

Building Codes

Applicable building, fire, accessibility, and other regulations that designers must follow for residential and commercial projects.

Human Factors

Qualities such as color, texture, pattern, scale, sound, light, and tactile properties that influence how people experience a space.

Universal Design

A design approach aimed at making materials, finishes, and spaces usable by as many people as possible with different physical abilities.

Lifetime Cost

A cost estimation formula taking into account initial cost + installation + maintenance + replacement over a material's lifetime.

Sustainable Design

Design principles aimed at reducing negative environmental impacts while creating healthy, functional spaces.

Life Cycle Evaluation

The process of examining a material's environmental impact from raw material extraction through manufacturing, transportation, use, maintenance, and disposal.

LEED

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design; a framework system used for evaluating sustainable buildings and interiors.

Green Globes

A building assessment and certification system that evaluates sustainability.

Evidence-Based Evaluation

The concept that designers should evaluate evidence rather than relying on marketing claims like eco-friendly.

Existing Building Evaluation

Assessing an existing structure's current structure, finishes, systems, and materials before deciding what to remove, replace, or reuse.

Rehabilitation

The goal of making an older building functional for modern use while retaining important historic characteristics.

Historic Preservation Standards

Appropriate treatment standards and guidelines that designers must follow to preserve the architectural character and significant features of historic interiors.

Asbestos

A hazard found in various older building products that is dangerous when its fibers become airborne.

Lead

A hazard occurring particularly in older paints that creates serious health risks.

Mold

A hazard often associated with moisture problems that can affect indoor environmental quality.