Or making the case for health trumping safety in our hs&w public relations trifecta

Kudos to Perkins + Will for changing the paradigm of the traditional Architecture and Design services firm.  While Perkins + Will has a long history of leadership in both the healthcare and sustainable design realms they have really upped their, and the entire profession’s, game by creating a research specialization.  They have actually been receiving a lot of press for their efforts particularly in non-trade publications.  This is also a public relations coup on their part, but let’s stick with why this has anything to do with PROFESSIONAL interior design.

Here is a brief press item from one of our trade magazines;

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/contract_201209/index.php?startid=12

Here is a link to Perkins + Will’s Transparency Page;

http://transparency.perkinswill.com/default.cshtml?url=/

Now that you have informed yourself as to the perils of the interior environment…..and no I am not talking about specifying Class ‘C’ finishes where the code books clearly state that Class ‘A’ finishes are required, thanks to Perkins + Will,  we now have much greater obligations to our clients than to make sure they do not perish in an unfortunate conflagration.  Quite simply we have to make sure we are not killing them via a glacially slow, far less obvious, and much less appreciated manner.

That is surrounding them with materials that can kill them.

While this idea is not entirely new, we have been aware of poor indoor air quality (IAQ) and sick building syndrome (SBS) for some time now, this is the first time (to my knowledge) that a major design firm has latched on to the issue for public outreach purposes.  Which in my mind has upped the ante for not only the architecture profession but more directly, the interior design profession.

Thanks to Perkins + Will for outing this interior issue.  Now what are we going to do about it?