along with the building industry utilize 35% of the
total energy that is produced globally and are
accountable for 38% of the emissions, [7].
Considering that interior designers are dealing with
buildings/spaces and are the decision makers, when
it comes to the systems, materials and products used
in buildings, they have a substantial impact on
buildings’ overall sustainability, [6], [8]. Interior
designers, analyze the needs and behavior of
building’s user as well as the ways the user interacts
with the surroundings spaces and suggest spaces that
are functional, healthy and also aesthetically
pleasant, [9], [10]. As mentioned previously, interior
designers select systems (such as heating, ventilating,
air-conditioning, plumbing, acoustic, day- and
artificial lighting, etc.) as well as specify materials
and products that deliver quality indoor
environments. Therefore, the sustainability of a
building, as well as the building impact on
environmental and user wellbeing is significantly
subject to the choices interior designers make.
Bearing that in mind, is important to transform the
learning environment, educate future interior
designers and ensure they make sustainable choices
as future practitioners. As stressed by ESD, the
transformed education should not target to change the
climate, but rather the minds via equipping
individuals and communities with the understanding,
skills and attitudes for making better choices and
creating a more sustainable world and climate-
resilient societies, [2].
Nations around the world, including United Arab
Emirates (UAE) adapted UN 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development and as a result developed
their Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For
instance, in 2017 UAE published its 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development and identified the 17 SDGs
that aim at creating a more sustainable nation, [11].
Goal 13, for instance, aims in mitigating climate
change, while goal 11 in creating sustainable cities
and communities. Statistic data for 2022 shows that
the CO2 emissions from residential, commercial and
public services in the UAE is comparatively low (0.5
per capita) to the USA (11 per capita), [12]. However,
the comparison of the buildings’ score in energy
efficiency of the two above mentioned countries
shows that the UAE is way behind the USA (UAE
9.5 and USA 17), [13].
Considering that interior designers play a
significant role in overall sustainability of a building,
(that includes also energy efficiency), this research
focuses on interior design education and the role it
plays in changing the mindsets of students for making
more sustainable choices that in its turn will
contribute to designing more sustainable and greener
buildings in the UAE. The research attempts to
bridge the theory and practice in sustainable interior
design education via application of Leadership in
Energy Efficient Design-Interior Design and
Construction (LEED ID+C) in interior design studio.
There reasons of choosing LEED ID+C as a bridge
between theory and practice are: students are aware
of it due to the program curriculum; it addresses
different aspects of sustainability; and it aims to
deliver the triple bottom line revenues to our globe,
people and the economy, [14]. The research describes
an experimental teaching approach applied in the
Department of Architecture at American University
of Ras Al Khaimah (AURAK), where three faculty
teaching interior design courses got together for
increasing students’ awareness in sustainability
through practicing it. Through monitoring and
assessing the information, knowledge and awareness
students acquired during the experiment, the research
concludes with listing its benefits and suggests how
the teaching method can be further improved.
2 Theoretical framework
Due to the fact that sustainable interior design
considers user’s emotional and physical wellbeing
along with the environmental wellbeing, it can be
defined as a wholistic practice that initiates from the
triple bottom line (social, environmental and
economic), [4]. Interior design is described as a
multidisciplinary practice that explores and bridges
the two environments – natural and the human.
Interior designers must be aware of architecture and
engineering, building systems and materials, human
behavior, ergonomics, social, economic and
environmental sciences and much more, [15].
Therefore, the education in interior design is also
defined as wholistic in terms of sustainability.
Sustainable education in interior design is much
dependent on interdisciplinary curriculum and well
as on transformative and innovative teaching
approaches of the educators that contribute to the
preparation of a new generation of designers
equipped with knowledge and skills in sustainable
design and are enthusiastic about creating a new,
more sustainable world, [15]. Besides the application
of transformative teaching methods, interior design
educators must also employ methods to meet Council
of Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA) program
performance criteria. Additionally, they should be
aware of green building regulations and various
certification programs, [16], to promote
sustainability and green design through embedding it
into course content and delivery methods, [15].
WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on ENVIRONMENT and DEVELOPMENT
DOI: 10.37394/232015.2023.19.115
Liudmila Cazacova, Anis Semlali