The 3 Pillars of Sustainability
There are many interpretations of the words Sustainability and Sustainable; they are used as a verb to describe a process that can take place continuously, and they are also used as an industry term to describe a product’s state. The World Commission on Environment and Development in 1989 defined it in the following statement
“[to meet] the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.
There are 3 ‘pillars’ in any Sustainable activity that need to me present and of equal measure to allow it to exist; environment, society and economy. A project, product or activity can not be sustained over time if the environment in which it is to exist is not ‘whole’ and healthy, if the society or people involved do not have their health and are not happy (wellbeing) and if there is no wise economic framework that will support it. An imbalance on any element creates problems in the operation and eventually failure.
The diagrams below indicate the relationships between these pillars; where diagram 2 highlights the balance required in the approach and importance, diagram 1 depicts the dependence between them to work as a whole.
So Sustainability means balancing social, economic and environmental outcomes for current and future generations and creating the necessary supports and links between them.
This Sustainability philosophy is the driving force behind Elina Grigoriou’s involvement with Ska Rating. Ska rating is aiming to tackle the imbalance of interior environments within the interior design and construction sector. So now interior designers and contractors have an opportunity to create better, healthier and still exceptionally stylish interiors in one!
More information on Ska rating and on having your project assessed please contact Elina Grigoriou on +44 (0)20 894 69 299 or email: elina@grigoriou.co.uk
