IIDA Headquarters Scores LEED Gold

Located in Chicago's Merchandise Mart, the space is the first professional design association headquarters to receive the designation.

by Nicholas Tamarin -- Interior Design, 3/14/2008

Not content with mere runner-up status, the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) has earned LEED Gold certification for its new office in Chicago's Merchandise Mart, making it the first professional design association headquarters so designated by the United States Green Building Council.

Designed by Ken Wilson’s eco-centric Envision Design firm, the space houses the association's professional staff and its Conference and Learning Center, a state-of-the-art meeting space for IIDA events that will also be available for use by local businesses and organizations. "From the start, the association was committed to providing its members with a space that truly illustrates the power of design," says Wilson. "IIDA believes that good design must include sustainable strategies that minimize environmental impact and provide healthy and productive spaces for people."

Highlights of Envision's green design are an energy-efficient, under-floor air delivery system that allows for individual temperature control, energy-saving fluorescent lighting fixtures and high-efficiency T5 linear pendants.

Additionally, 25 percent of the space's materials were made with post-consumer and post-industrial recycled materials, including carpet, upholstered wall panels, gypsum board, ceiling tile, millwork, steel framing, and office furniture. Another five percent were made with rapidly renewable materials like cork, wool and agrifiber core. Among the IIDA corporate members represented in the space are Allsteel, Armstrong, Carnegie Fabrics, Davis Furniture, Haworth, HBF, Herman Miller, Knoll, Lees Carpets, Luna Textiles, Lutron, Maharam, Shaw Contract Group, and Teknion.

"IIDA seeks to promote awareness and knowledge of interior design strategies that reduce negative impacts on our natural environment and improve the heath and well-being of all people," says IIDA CEO Cheryl Durst. "The new headquarters is an illustration of these tenets in action for our members and the design community."