Sustainability for Interior Design: Interview with Craig Harris, LID Consulting
Considering how design impacts the environment is no longer a choice - for interior design professionals it's a responsibility. However, sustainability doesn't need to be uninspiring or complicated! In our modern world of options and technological advances, we can make change happen in small and beautiful ways. We caught up with Craig Harris, Principal of LID Consulting ahead of the Seminar Series: Sustainability for Interior Design to find out more.
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TDC: Tell us a bit about your story. How did you come to be running a Sustainability Consulting firm?
CH: Like many people I spent a little bit of time figuring out exactly what I wanted to do. Some people I know might be surprised to learn I originally studied commerce and ended up working as an accountant, but it wasn’t for me. I then spent 16 years as a Consultant and Construction Project Manager where I gained a good grounding in the construction industry. I spent a long time delivering great projects but found myself feeling that there was a lot of room for improvement in the standard methods of construction and development.
I decided to approach things from a different angle and in 2009 began Low Impact Development (LID) Consulting with a view to identifying and consulting to industry on how we could improve our practices. I felt that getting involved at a different point in the life cycle of a project provided much more power to change the final outcomes and gave me a better chance of making a difference. Now we advise on sustainability and waste initiatives nationally on both residential and non-residential projects including schools, estates and precincts as well as larger, more high level planning endeavours by councils.
TDC: In simple terms, what does your firm do?
CH: We review, consult and report on planned construction and developmen