By Metropolis and SURROUND
Brought to you by Metropolis, Deep Green is a podcast about how the built environment impacts climate change and equity. Buildings are some of the biggest things we make as human beings. We explore
... more
4.9
2929 ratings
The podcast currently has 35 episodes available.
Join us live from NeoCon 2024 as we dive into the transformative world of sustainable textiles with our special guests, Dean Lindsley, VP of Pallas Textiles, and Geraldine Blanchot, founder of Limn and Loom. This episode explores the groundbreaking textile collection "In Good Company," which embodies a new paradigm of responsible manufacturing, industry collaboration, and broader societal impact.
Dean and Geraldine share the inspiring story behind "In Good Company," revealing how it represents not just a collection but a movement towards sustainability in the design industry. Discover the innovative use of Sequel, an upcycled marine plastic yarn, and the philanthropic efforts tied to the Sequel Foundation, aimed at oceanic conservation.
We also delve into the technical and creative challenges faced in developing this collection, the significance of collaboration across the supply chain, and the broader market applications of these sophisticated, tactile textiles. From corporate workplaces to hospitality and healthcare, learn how specifying these materials can lead to impactful change.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
What is Office Furniture’s Role When it Comes to Climate Impact? In 2018, Americans threw out 12.1 million tons of furniture—and nearly 80 percent of that ended up in landfills. And the problem may not be where you think it is. Fast-furniture folks get a bad rap, right? It turns out that's not the biggest problem with furniture. Eight million or so of that 12.1 million tons of waste furniture was office furniture. There’s also growing research around the role of furniture in the impact of climate change on buildings. Over the life of a building, the renovations that happen—changing out the lights, furniture, carpet, etc.—on the inside of the building account for about half of the embodied carbon emissions of the building over its life. And out of that half, another half, so nearly 25 percent of the embodied carbon emissions in any building, is furniture. The good news? Research also shows that furniture might have the highest potential for us to lower the carbon emissions of interiors. In today’s episode, editor-in-chief of METROPOLIS Avi Rajagopal is going to talk to leaders in the furniture industry—KI (Jason Lazarz and Angela Allen), Allstee (Jason Hagadorn), and Steelcase (Katie Pace)—about their work responding to a changing society, a changing workplace market, but also increasing demands and a greater focus on furniture when it comes to climate impact.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
The furniture industry has seen something of a transformation over the last decade with the rise of fast furniture: cheap, disposable pieces, often produced overseas with little to no oversight. Every year in the United States, about 12 million tons of furniture goes to waste, and 80 percent of that ends up in our landfills. In addition to contributing, through that enormous amount of waste, to our environmental problems, furniture is also often cited as one of the industries most at risk for exploitative labor practices. But furniture retailer Room & Board was founded in 1980 as a business that’s different: putting sustainability at the heart of its operations since day one and producing 90 percent of its products in the United States. Most recently, the Minneapolis-based retailer achieved B Corp certification, an independent verification of its practices to show that it meets the highest standards of performance, accountability, and transparency on a range of factors from employee benefits to charitable giving, supply chain practices, and materials.
In this episode, Room & Board director of sustainability Emily McGarvey joins METROPOLIS editor-in-chief Avinash Rajagopal to discuss why the retailer decided to aim for B Corp certification, how they went about it, and the challenges they faced—but also what it means at a very fundamental level for the furniture industry.
This episode is brought to you in partnership with furniture retailer Room & Board.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Discover industry tools and resources for circular design, as Avi Rajagopal and Samantha Sager discuss actionable steps we can take toward tackling the challenges discussed throughout this season of Deep Green. How can we make an impact on an individual level? How can we educate ourselves and those around us? What organizations can we turn to for guidance? Incredible tools, research, and innovations are helping the industry move in the right direction but to meet the moment we will have to shift away from our culture of consumption and redefine the roles of architects and designers in shaping a sustainable future. Hear from Rajagopal on his hopes for the journey forward.
Chapters
Review of the principles of circularity
How can we pursue circularity as individuals?
How can we pursue circularity as a community?
Industry resources and tools
Rethinking the designer’s role
Resources
Salvage Superstar: Renovation Angel
Rheaply Brings Ingenuity to Recycling Building Materials
Arup’s Circular Buildings Toolkit
Two Platforms Help Designers Specify Low-Carbon Interiors
Build Reuse
Deep Green is produced by Samantha Sager, Wize Grazette, Lauren Volker, Rachel Senatore, and Hannah Viti, and is part of the SURROUND podcast network. Special thanks to Avi Rajagopal, Editor in Chief of METROPOLIS, for his insights. Recorded at the podcast studio by Vornado in the Penn 1 building in Manhattan.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
In this special bonus episode, Avi Rajagopal sits down with materials expert Dr. Andrew Dent. As executive vice president of research at Material ConneXion, which for 25 years has been empowering designers with access to innovative materials, Dent says he has seen increasing excitement from his clients around sustainability over the past decade. But making the most responsible choices in the world of materials can be very complex. Listen as he shares how he navigates these tricky waters, the challenges with recycling, his optimism around chemical recycling, why he’s more excited about new processes than the materials themselves, and more.
Chapters
A little bit about Material ConneXion
The responsible materials landscape
Recycled and renewable materials
What is chemical recycling?
Biobased and biodegradable materials
The promise of processes
Resources
Material ConneXion
Deep Green is produced by Rachel Senatore, Lauren Volker, and Hannah Viti, and is part of the SURROUND podcast network. Special thanks to Avi Rajagopal, Editor in Chief of METROPOLIS, for his insights. Recorded at the podcast studio by Vornado in the Penn 1 building in Manhattan.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Learn how we can deepen the connection between the built environment and the natural world, as Avi Rajagopal and Samantha Sager discuss the third principle of circular design: regenerating nature. Navigating the complexities of where materials are derived from, how they are made, and what happens to them at the end of their useful life is crucial as architects and interior designers work to support a more circular economy. What defines a biobased product? How do we responsibly source these materials? Is a biobased plastic always biodegradable? Hear from Rajagopal on the ideas and experiments coming out of the industry designed to return more materials go back into their natural cycles and loops on this planet.
Chapters
The third principle of circularity: regenerating nature
What does biobased actually mean?
Biobased vs. Biodegradable
Success story: a completely biodegradable chair
Responsibly sourcing biobased materials
Infrastructure and composting
Resources
PROWL Urges Designers to Consider the Afterlife of Products
Model No. Furniture
Natural Habitat: A Tranquil Retreat in Cold Spring
Deep Green is produced by Samantha Sager, Wize Grazette, Lauren Volker, Rachel Senatore, and Hannah Viti, and is part of the SURROUND podcast network. Special thanks to Avi Rajagopal, Editor in Chief of METROPOLIS, for his insights. Recorded at the podcast studio by Vornado in the Penn 1 building in Manhattan.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Explore the intricacies of material recycling, as Avi Rajagopal and Samantha Sager pick up where they left off last week, focusing on the second principle of a circular economy: circulating products and materials at their highest value. Are all materials suitable for recycling? How can we make sure that recycled or reused materials perform to the standards of commercial settings? How can we better design products and buildings for their end of life? Hear from Rajagopal on some innovative ways our industry is circulating products and materials, recycling more responsibly — and giving nature a much-needed break.
Chapters
Resources
METROPOLIS Climate Toolkit
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation
METROPOLIS July/August 2023: This New Upholstery Line Features Yarn Made From Marine Plastic
Deep Green is produced by Samantha Sager, Wize Grazette, Lauren Volker, Rachel Senatore, and Hannah Viti, and is part of the SURROUND Podcast Network. Special thanks to Avi Rajagopal, Editor in Chief of METROPOLIS, for his insights. Recorded at the podcast studio by Vornado in the Penn 1 building in Manhattan.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
What obstacles does our industry present to the dream of a circular economy? Join METROPOLIS’s Editor in Chief, Avi Rajagopal, and producer Samantha Sager as they begin to explore these challenges, beginning with how we can eliminate more waste and pollution from our processes. A&D culture is shifting away from building new (for the first time in 2022, retrofits and renovations accounted for more money in architectural buildings than new construction!) but are we adapting buildings as sustainably as possible? Are we preparing them for future adaptations or just passing the buck? Are we considering the interiors? What about the communities that live around these projects? It’s easy to say, “Oh, let's reuse a building,” but in practice it tends to be a pretty tough and complicated process. Hear from Rajagopal on the steps our industry is taking to reuse more responsibly—and live a little bit closer to harmony with nature.
Chapters
What are the principles of circularity?
Principle 1: eliminating waste and pollution
Unpacking adaptive reuse
Future-proofing our buildings
Resources
METROPOLIS Climate Toolkit
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation
METROPOLIS July/August: “3 Adaptive Reuse Projects Prioritize Flexibility for the Future”
LMN’s Tenant Improvements Embodied Carbon Study
Deep Green is produced by Samantha Sager, Wize Grazette, Lauren Volker, and Rachel Senatore, and is part of the SURROUND Podcast Network. Special thanks to Avi Rajagopal, Editor in Chief of METROPOLIS, for his insights. Recorded at the podcast studio by Vornado in the Penn 1 building in Manhattan.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Unpack the environmental impact of the building industry and the hurdles we face in reducing our carbon footprint with METROPOLIS’s' Editor in Chief, Avi Rajagopal, and producer Samantha Sager. They discuss how the sector is responsible for 40% of global carbon emissions and 30% of worldwide waste, and is the second largest consumer of plastics, putting the industry at the heart of the problem of the climate crisis. A must-listen for those passionate about sustainable interior design and architecture, this episode underscores the urgent need for change: a move away from our trend-driven culture. Join us this season as we explore the challenges our industry presents to the dream of a circular economy. May you be inspired to advocacy and action.
Chapters
Resources
METROPOLIS Climate Toolkit
“Why Interior Designers Must Fight Climate Change”
LMN’s Tenant Improvements Embodied Carbon Study
Deep Green is produced by Samantha Sager, Wize Grazette, Lauren Volker, and Rachel Senatore, and is part of the SURROUND Podcast Network. Special thanks to Avi Rajagopal, Editor in Chief of METROPOLIS, for his insights. Recorded at the podcast studio by Vornado in the Penn 1 building in Manhattan.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
The podcast currently has 35 episodes available.