From Commodity to Quintessence, DesignIntelligence predicts 25 “mind-expanding trends that move beyond problem solving to creating solutions” for the A/E/C industry.

David Armano of the HBR Blog Network shares 6 predictions on where social media will go next. Get ready for an uptick in socially integrated TV shows and maybe even digital leaderboards at your office.

Don’t miss these 12 Crucial Consumer Trends for 2012 from the people at Trendwatching. Watch for the effect of public interest in the environment on corporate recycling programs along with a trend toward the increased use of crowdsourcing and how it might affect your business.

Check out Care Home Design for People with Dementia that focuses on what the patient and their care-giver value in the built environment of a care home. Access to outdoor space and way finding aids rank high on the list.

Sarah and Jessica Sherman contend that designers’ failure to adopt the underlying spirit of ADA legislation has led to a lack of progress overall in implementing ADA standards in the built environment.

How do you ensure working well together as a Board?

First things first–our goal is to make working on the Board fun because we all know that you work better when you’re having fun. As a Board we are also open to new ideas and we do not have a lot of red-tape, which really makes our Board collaborative and not afraid to try new things or suggest ideas. Communication and consistency is huge for us especially with our two biggest city centers in different states. We have an annual retreat in Steamboat Springs, Colorado that all Board members attend to help get us off on the right foot, but in between we rely heavily on monthly conference calls, and lots of emails.

The Rocky Mountain Chapter Board brainstorms together on the annual retreat to Steamboat Springs.

What are you most proud of?  

That we won small Chapter of the Year for 2011! It was a huge accomplishment for our Chapter, we have gone through a lot of changes, restructuring, and development in the past few years and it was wonderful to see all those efforts pay off.

What is one little known fact about the Rocky Mountain Chapter?

While we only have city centers in two states and we actually encompass four states including Colorado, Utah, Montana, and Wyoming.

IIDA Members enjoy a break at the Salt Lake City Tradeshow where vendors present their products to architects and designers.

What are the future goals of the Chapter?

1. Increase Membership across all Membership types.
2. Provide a community for designers.
3. Be more involved in City Center communities.
4. Support students.
5. Educate the public on Interior Design.
6. Protect industry.
7. Promote design excellence.
8. Be creative in everything we do.

What is your favorite Chapter event of the year?

Our annual fashion show, Pret-a-Porter in the Denver City Center and Fashion Remix in the Salt Lake City Center, where leading Interior Design firms and students showcase their creativity in chic fashion show of garments crafted with a diverse range of interior finishes.

A model at Pret-a-Porter shows off her unique design.

What three words would you use to describe the Chapter?

Thriving, creative, approachable.

Aiden McGuire, KI; Barbara Haaksma, Milliken; Ray Kennedy, Haworth and Natalie Jones, Mannington active in the 15th Annual IIDA Industry Roundtable

The first weekend in January always brings a sense of vibrancy, invigoration and new beginnings.  So, too, does a long-standing tradition of the IIDA Industry Roundtable, now in it’s 15th iteration, amassing some of the key leading manufacturers and important Design luminaries of our community.  This year a prestigious group came together January 6 – 8 to explore the way social media is impacting workers, the workplace and work itself.

Facilitated by IIDA Executive Vice President and CEO Cheryl Durst, Hon. FIIDA, LEED AP, the discussion was lively, honest, and at times strained.  In a healthy way.  In all ways, the discussion was authentic and genuine.  A White Paper deliverable will be available in early March for more detail on the discussion and detail.

In the meantime,enjoy some of the wisdom Durst gleaned – some key learnings – in no particular order and with a sense of levity. 

1.  Levels of engagement and estrangement at work, and in life, have never been higher.

2.  Innovation (an overused and underqualified word) is hard.  Stand up, walk around and think.  “A desk is a dangerous place from which to watch the world,” quoting John Le Carre.

3.  Collaboration is overrated.  The terminology, at least.  What workers want is “community,” engagement with like-minded folks and opportunities to interact with highly effective people who can get things done.

4.  Mobile working requires a mobile mindset.  Yes, you can work anywhere, but do you really have to or want to? You still need a place to put your “stuff.” And you still want to feel part of the culture and a team.  A cool chair doesn’t hurt, either.

Melanie Kahl, Perkins & Will; Jessica Statz, IIDA, Gensler; Claire Monette, Nelson and Lira Luis, AIA, atelier lira luis LLC, share their insight and expertise on social media.

6.  Social Media is vast, elusive and real.  Whether you ignore it or dive in headfirst, the workplace – and employers – must find ways to accommodate, incorporate and participate.

Forever more, the world of business, communication and human relations is changed.

7.  Experience is everything. And the only thing.

8.  Learning and discovery begin with all of us. Everyday. Just because we talk about this, doesn’t mean we know all the answers.  Yet.

9. Facts are awesome, inspiring and intriguing.  Depth and breadth of knowledge is even better.  Wisdom rocks.

10.  The future is here.  It just hasn’t been widely distributed.

Anything to add?  Let us know.  We’ll be working on the event write-up, and publishing more nuggets of insight over the next few months.  Together, we’re better than individuals.

How does nature impact learning? Find out more in this case study by Cheryl Knodel conducted to describe the effect nature had on learning among children age 3 – 6 attending two Florida Montessori schools.

Restaurant design has always created an experience for the consumer, but technology is now evolving the focus to consumer engagement. Check out Clarissa Volker’s dissertation, A Choreographed Experience: The Role of Technology in Restaurant Design, for more insights.

How can future designers expand their international design knowledge? The International Design Exchange Project, a collaborative student design exchange program between the Interior Design program at Kansas State University and at Sangmyung University, Chonan, South Korea, was developed to expose students to global design issues and international design markets.

What’s the best way for architects and Interior Designers to work together?  Find out in the dissertation Exploring Design Process Evolution in Architecture and Interior Design Firms by Elizabeth Marie Benzenberg.

In a recent study, researchers discovered new developments in daylighting, including room orientation and bed in relation to the window views. Read more on the study, Impacts of Indoor Daylight Environments on Patient Average Length of Stay in a Healthcare Facility.

The State of Evidence-Based Design in Healthcare Interior Design Practice: A Study of Perceptions, Use and Motivation. EBD is talked about but how often do healthcare designers actually employ its principles when making decisions? Find out in Emily Phares’s thesis.

Defining Fundamental Needs for Primary School Design in Haiti. Leslie Hallquist flew to Haiti to evaluate four schools and proposes simple, low-cost design solutions that could improve the facilities.

Christian Home Groups: An Ethnographic Study of 21^st Century Christians and Their Built Environments by Neolani Mumm takes a look at how worship in private homes today is a 21^st century expression of the first-century Christian house church.

Karen Rowan’s thesis, A Design for a Christian Contemporary Worship Environment, takes on the task of re-designing a fellowship hall to better reflect the needs of the parishioners as well as maximizing the message of the church.

In Environments for Young Children: A Qualitative Study and Design of Healthy and Nurturing Preschool Environments, Tanya West explores how children utilize the interior spaces in child care facilities.

How do you ensure working well together as a Board?  

We have some events that are just for Board Members, including our fall and spring retreats. Our spring retreat at Interface’s Catawba house at Callaway Gardens, is where we get a lot of work done, but also have fun hanging by the pool and playing games before we get down to business. The Board also participates in a Christmas tree decorating event at the local Children’s Hospital. Being a smaller Chapter the Board Members are always serving on event committees and getting to know each other and Members that way as well.

The 2010-2011 Board Members enjoy the Spring Retreat at Callaway Gardens.

What are you most proud of?

The Alabama Chapter is an extremely giving Chapter. After the tornadoes on April 27 that left so much of the state in devastation, our Chapter Members pulled together to donate items to the victims, and many went out to lend a helping hand. In addition to numerous truckloads of donation items, Members and sponsors also donated over $2,000.

The IIDA Alabama Chapter participated in the 2011 Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.

What is one little known fact about the Alabama Chapter?

We always have a good time at CLC, from laughing so hard we cry, falling in the water at the Haworth showroom or meeting Joe Jonas. It’s all good clean fun.

What’s the future of the Chapter?

We continually strive to offer benefits to our Members by improving on the events we already have as well as adding more programs that we think would benefit our Members. Our Huntsville City Center is very small, but we are working hard on providing many of the same events there that we do in Birmingham. Down the road we would like to have City Centers in other cities in Alabama as well.

IIDA Members attend HamaCon, Alabama’s version of NeoCon in Birmingham that features exhibitors, new products and networking.

What is your favorite Chapter event of the year?

Our favorite Chapter event is ARTrageous, an art auction that raises money for the IIDA Foundation, our Members look forward to it every year.

What three words would you use to describe the Chapter?

Energetic, charitable and fun.

Last week, ASID released the Guide to Ecolabels to help you navigate through the myriad benchmarking programs in use today. The publication was developed with assistance from the association’s Sustainable Design Council and will be updated annually.

In a follow-up to their 2008 study, researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Lab performed post-occupancy evaluations on 22 GSA buildings in Re-Assessing Green Building Performance.  Did the buildings perform better than the industry average?  Well, it depends.

Researchers at Tsinghua University in Beijing not only investigated the acceptable range for temperature, lighting and acoustics for office employees, they also looked at the cumulative effects of these factors on IEQ.

Modern Hospice Design, looks at hospices in Great Britain, Ireland and continental Europe, tracing the history of the movement from 1967 and offering lessons learned that can be incorporated into hospital design anywhere.

An updated and expanded edition of the Interior Design Profession’s Body of Knowledge was released last week. In addition to new definitions of health, safety and welfare, the authors include twelve recommendations for moving the profession forward. After you have read the study, let the authors know what you think.

January 2012 brings new energy standards for light bulbs. Are you ready? Download an app for your iPhone that not only helps you choose the right bulb but also calculates dollar and energy savings. Winner of the 2011 EPA Apps for the Environment Challenge.

Want to blow the whistle on misleading green advertising? Then the Greenwashing Index is for you.

Ron Johnson was instrumental in designing the Apple store. Now he is the CEO of J.C. Penney’s. In Retail Isn’t Broken, Stores Are, he takes a look at the future of brick and mortar.

Green buildings may be good for us, but they are bad for birds. The American Bird Conservancy wants to do something about that. Interested? Read Bird-Friendly Building Design.

In a report published recently, the AIA identified the lack of construction financing as the major obstacle to job creation. The association took its findings one step further by setting up the framework for financiers and developers to come together by capturing information about stalled building projects.

The lack of a common vocabulary can trip up even the most experienced design team. The Center for Health Design continues its efforts to keep people communicating effectively with its publication of a glossary of healthcare environmental terminology.

Another contribution from the Center for Health Design: the results of a survey of healthcare staff reveal how they define “green cleaning.” Those surveyed were generally unaware of the role played by building design and operational practices, believing instead that green cleaning is strictly about selecting and using products.

What type of hotel is more likely to incorporate green practices and design features? An independently operated boutique? Or one that is part of a large chain? Find out in this study from Washington State University.

1. What is the Number 1 task designers would like to accomplish on your website?
2. In what setting do they want to hear your ideas?
3. How long do they want to wait to hear back about a request?
4. What do they expect from you in the process of specifying furniture?
5. Is it important to keep their libraries stocked and up-to-date?

If you want to know how they feel about working with designers on your staff or what they want out of a spec or the answers to over 20 other questions, you’ll have to read the report.

Answers:  1. Schedule repairs. 2. Lunch-time presentations 3. Same day. 4. Installation. 5. Very

We look forward to reading your comments.