The Impact of Our Design Decisions: Leather’s Role in a Circular Economy
IDCEC CEU# CEU-121714
Designation: HSW Sustainability
Learning Level: Basic
Subject Code: 3. Interior Design Education / 1. Instruction1 Credit
AIA CEU#: 121714
1 LU/HSW
By exploring how our choices influence environmental health, human health and circularity, we can draw a direct line to the profound impacts of our design decisions, and material selections within the built environment. Throughout this CEU, we will discover differences between a linear and circular economy and leather’s important role.
Lesson 1: Circular Economy
In this lesson we gain an understanding of the differences between the linear and circular economy models, and the impacts on environmental and human health through their waste implications.
Lesson 2: Industry Impacts Within the Built Environment
In this lesson we will begin to discover the environmental, human health & life cycle impacts of the built environment, addressing specific examples of hazardous material selections.
Discover how to shift your impact by considering an ecosystem of attributes in your design and material selections.
Lesson 3: Leather’s Role in a Circular Economy
Leather Making is the process of converting perishable animal hides into leather. In this lesson, we will learn the process. The goal is to understand how each step in the process effects the subsequent processes, distinguish between different tanning methods as well as identify end use/applications for the different methods.
Lesson 4: The Reality of Leather Alternatives; Understanding Regrettable Substitutions
In the last segment, we will address historic examples of regrettable substitutions to learn from our past. We will explore the role that greenwashing plays in our materials and review results of a scientific study comparing leather and vegan alternatives.
We will introduce emerging industry resources and a simplified checklist to help architects and designers make meaningful and informed material selections.