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John Berry, left, the director of Design West Michigan, smiles as Greg Metz, center, principal of Lott 3 Metz Architecture LLC and chair of the Michigan chapter of the American Institute of Architects, discusses how some certification programs do not necessarily incentivize the best option for green buildings. PHOTO: SUSAN J. SMITH

The Designer Leadership in Sustainability panel discussion drew a mix of professionals and students to a standing room only crowd at Kendall College of Art and Design to hear how various design disciplines interpret and implement sustainable business practices. PHOTO: SUSAN J. SMITH

By Joe Boomgaard | MiBiz
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GRAND RAPIDS — Diverse disciplines of design define sustainability in different ways. In the absence of a common definition or a similar framework around the concept, professionals can struggle to collaborate, when, in theory, they would have the most impact on the triple bottom line. But the creative types in West Michigan haven’t thrown up their hands in defeat just yet.

Nearly 300 designers, professionals and students gathered at Kendall College of Art and Design in mid-January for a panel discussion hosted by Design West Michigan entitled “Designer Leadership in Sustainability.” The event was a collaboration of Design West Michigan, Kendall, the design committee of the West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum, MiBiz, and several design associations, including the local chapters of American Institute of Architects, AIGA, the Industrial Designer Society of America and the International Interior Designers Association. Panelists included Joe Jeup, president of Joseph Jeup Inc.; Greg T. Metz, principal of Lott 3 Metz Architecture LLC; Lee Davis, principal of Lake Affect Design Studio; Kevin Budelmann, president of Peopledesign; and David Muyres, a consultant at New North Center for Design in Business.

In many cases, designers’ implementation of sustainable principles can be difficult to notice, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t there. For example, Davis said her interior design company only does “green design,” but it sells its work simply as “design.”

“We only look for design that is sustainable. If you only give good options, they’ll only make good choices,” she said.

Jeup, a furniture designer of high-end, custom luxury items, said he constantly challenges his company to look at the process of how it makes its products and to make decisions that have a lesser impact on the environment and the people in the plant. But at the end of the day, some customers might be demanding certain exotic or choice materials that aren’t very sustainable.

“Our clients don’t seek us out for sustainability, but we don’t use that to market ourselves,” Jeup said, who noted that in preparing for the panel, he really had to question what his company was doing to be more sustainable. “But we’re doing more than I thought.”

Like Jeup, Budelmann said his firm’s clients are all over the board when it comes to sustainability. But he’s found that clients most active in and “genuine” about sustainability often don’t like to talk about what they’re doing, even though some of their actions are driving transformational change in their industries.

“I think some change will come from the big players, but I don’t think their reasons are altruistic. I think there’s a genuine bottom line impact,” Budelmann said.

More and more, design organizations or associations have been coming to the table with sustainability statements, but Metz, the current chair of the American Institute of Architects Michigan chapter, said that the AIA has been surprisingly late to the game. In particular, he wishes architects would focus more on building reuse projects — “the most sustainable” option — versus new construction.

“I love LEED, but it’s a detriment to some green buildings. Why tear down a great building just for a LEED gold (plaque)? I wish there was less greenfield bias and that you’d get negative (points) if you tear down an existing building,” Metz said. “We need to rethink how we do things.”

Muyres couldn’t agree more on the need for designers and policymakers to re-evaluate antiquated practices and focus on sustainable models. Specifically with transportation, Muyres said it’s difficult to break the mold of a traditional car-based structure because it’s so ingrained in society. Designers must take up the challenge of finding a better, more sustainable alternative.

“We need to shift from designing cars to designing how to move people from point A to point B. …(W)e need to create a new vision for how people move around,” Muyres said. “How we convert the existing system to be more sustainable is a bit of a challenge. Politicians focus on their term in office. But a long-term vision, there’s no change for that to happen. There’s not a reward structure of looking out that far.”

Panel organizers say designers should be in the right position to help provide some of that long-term vision. Theirs is a profession that needs to balance consumer needs with efficiency. Because designers have such an important upfront role in product or systems design, they have the power to make the right sustainable choices.

“Recent studies show that over 80 percent of the environmental impact of a new product is defined at the design stage. This startling number highlights how important the Designer Leadership in Sustainability panel discussion was in focusing on each professional design discipline’s role in our collective journey toward sustainability in our region,” said Tom Newhouse, principal of Thomas J. Newhouse Design.

“The panel’s diverse design disciplines showed both similarities and differences in their affect on sustainability,” said John Berry, director of Design West Michigan. “It was apparent that there’s a benefit to such a dialogue bringing greater awareness of the issue. There is also a long way to go in getting to a shared understanding of the full impact designers can have on the issue. We hope that this panel was another step in clarifying and advocating for designers growing responsibility in our environment.”