IDC-OREGON INVITES YOU TO GET INVOLVED AT ANNUAL MEETING

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 12, 2010


CONTACT:
Michelle Neidiger, PR Chair
Interior Design Collaborative Oregon
(503) 200-5996
Email: info@idc-oregon.org
www.idc-oregon.org


IDC-OREGON INVITES YOU TO GET INVOLVED AT ANNUAL MEETING

Interior Design Collaborative Oregon welcomes the design and construction communities interested in voicing their comments regarding the future of Oregon’s interior design professional practice to attend the upcoming Annual Meeting July 13th 6:00pm at Pratt and Larson Tile located at 1201 SE 3rd Ave in Portland.

IDC-Oregon is a non-profit; grassroots organization of interior designers dedicated to shaping the future of the profession. Their mission is committed to securing a state regulated licensing program and will be submitting an Interior Design Practice Act in the Oregon State Legislative 2011 Session. The purpose of the Practice Act is to protect consumers from unethical and possibly dangerous building practices. This legislation will establish minimum benchmark levels for education, experience, and examination in order to define a minimum level of competency for those who are liable to safeguard the interior environments we all play, live, and work in.

Consumers will be able to make more informed choices when hiring a state qualified licensed interior designer, and understand the many services different specialty qualified experts may offer and perform. Many professions in the State of Oregon who perform services for the public require state regulated licensing to practice including building contractors, realtors, and educators. Currently, of the practitioners involved in the design and construction industry, only interior designers are unregulated. Supporters of IDC-Oregon include those in architecture and construction that understand every decision an interior designer makes affects the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of Oregon.

On a national level, 25 states and 9 provinces have adopted Interior Design Registration Acts. Oregon is one of roughly 14 states currently in pursuit of either a Title Registration or Practice Act legislation. For additional information on IDC-OREGON, to RSVP for the upcoming meeting, or to get involved by supporting our campaign, contact Michelle Neidiger PR-Chair, or visit us online at www.idc-oregon.org.


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The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Promote Healthy Homes

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Contact: U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development: 202-708-0685 Office of Public Health and Science: 202-205-0143

Acting Surgeon General Issues ‘Call to Action to Promote Healthy Homes’

Acting Surgeon General Steven K. Galson, M.D., M.P.H., today issued The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Promote Healthy Homes at a press conference from the National Building Museum in Washington D.C. The Call to Action looks at the ways housing can affect health; its release will initiate a national dialogue about the importance of healthy homes.

“The home is the centerpiece of American life,” Galson, a Rear Admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service, said during today’s press conference. “We can prevent many diseases and injuries that result from health hazards in the home by following the simple steps outlined in this Call to Action.”

Some examples outlined in the Call to Action include preventing falls by taking measures such as installing grab bars in showers and preparing a fire escape plan. Falls are the leading cause of injury deaths among older adults.

Other steps outlined in the Call to Action include:

• Check gas appliances, fireplaces, chimneys, and furnaces yearly and change furnace and air conditioning filters regularly. 
• Keep children safe from drowning, lead poisoning, suffocation and strangulation, and other hazards. 
• Improve air quality in their homes by installing radon and carbon monoxide detectors, eliminating smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke, and controlling allergens that contribute to asthma and mold growth.
• Improve water quality by learning to protect and maintain private water wells.

Galson urged everyone from parents and homebuilders to community leaders and policy makers to embrace the holistic approach to creating healthy homes outlined in the Call to Action.

During the event, Ron Sims, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) also announced the release of HUD’s Healthy Homes Strategic Plan.  HUD’s plan demonstrates why healthy homes is a national priority, describes what steps should be taken to achieve healthier housing, and highlights the key public and private partners for implementation.

“We are pleased that we are able to release our strategic plan to the nation today,” Sims said.  “We must continue to work together across communities and the nation to ensure our homes are sited, designed, built, renovated, and maintained in ways that support the health of residents.”

The Call to Action outlines the next steps of a society-wide approach to healthy homes that will result in the greatest possible public health impact and reduction of disparities in the availability of healthy, safe, affordable, accessible, and environmentally friendly homes.

• Individuals can make their homes healthy and more environmentally friendly by improving air quality, safely using household products, properly using safety devices, adequately supervising children, and abating the use of toxic chemicals.
• Organizations can educate at-risk populations about the connection between health and housing, and identifying and addressing home deficiencies.
• Health care providers can incorporate healthy housing solutions into their protocols.
• Government can help create homes that are affordable and improve people’s health. Adequate supplies of affordable housing must be made available in order for healthy homes to be achieved.

“Good health begins at home. Home is the place that most families connect, talk, and make decisions about their health,” said Dr. Howard Frumkin, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Environmental Health within the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.  “Ensuring that the nation’s homes are safe, healthy, affordable, accessible and environmentally friendly will have a direct, immediate and measurable effect on the health of the nation.”

The Call to Action also highlights the need for research that links housing conditions with specific health outcomes and that highlights the impact of disparate access to safe, healthy, affordable, and accessible homes. The outcomes of this research should result in tangible improvements to people’s lives by translating practice into policy.

The release of this document is part of a larger Healthy Homes Initiative led by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and HUD with support from such organizations as the National Center for Healthy Housing, the Alliance for Healthy Homes, and the Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning.

Please visit www.surgeongeneral.gov  for more healthy home information, to download The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Promote Healthy Homes, or to listen to a podcast from the Acting Surgeon General.

To order a printed copy of The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Promote Healthy Homes, call 1-800-CDC-INFO or email cdcinfo@cdc.gov  and reference the publication title.
Please also visit:  www.cdc.gov/healthyhomes and www.hud.gov/healthyhomes.

BUILDING MONTH SAFETY TIPS BY IDC-OREGON OREGON

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 24, 2010

CONTACT:
Michelle Neidiger, PR Chair
Interior Design Collaborative Oregon
(503) 200-5996
Email: info@idc-oregon.org
www.idc-oregon.org


BUILDING MONTH SAFETY TIPS BY IDC-OREGON OREGON

In recognition of National Building Safety Month, Interior Design Collaborative Oregon is raising awareness of interior design's role in ensuring the health, safety, and welfare of the public.

The fact that some environments are not always up to code is a cause for concern pertaining to the health, safety and welfare of Oregon's building occupants and visitors. Interior designers understand the importance of these issues and are choosing to bring accountability to what we do by assisting building officials and clients through practiced knowledge of up to date code regulations and enforcements to maintain safe homes, workplaces, and public spaces.

The members and supporters of IDC-Oregon make it a priority to become Qualified Professionals in their field through their education on how to design solutions for safe egress paths, ergonomics, cleaner air, better energy use, acoustics, and many other human needs in the built environment.

Our Weekly Tips include how a Qualified Interior Designer ensures consumer safety through designing solutions for "Energy & Green", "Disaster Safety & Mitigation", "Fire Safety & Awareness", and "Backyard Safety". Please contact us at info@idc-oregon.org for a PDF copy of all four weekly tips or visit the news section of our website at www.idc-oregon.org.


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Collaboration Newsletter - Opposition

Over the last year, many of you have voiced concern about opposition to interior design regulation. Challenges to existing and proposed regulation are plenty. The Institute of Justice, a libertarian special interest law firm, is one strong adversary representing decorators in Texas, Oklahoma, and Connecticut to challenge those states’ Title Registration Acts. Currently all of these States regulate the use of the title “Interior Designer” but not the "Practice of Interior Design". The Institute of Justice's argument is that the title of “Interior Designer” is too broad and violates the first amendment rights of the decorators to market their work.1

The Institute of Justice threatened such a lawsuit in New Mexico in 2007. In response, New Mexico’s Board changed the title to “Licensed Interior Designer.”2

Also in 2007, Alabama’s Supreme Court ruled the 2001 Practice Act unconstitutional.3 Their Board amended the Act in 2006, which is the version Alabama's Regulatory Board currently operate under.4

There is also some controversy over Florida’s long standing Practice Act. The Florida Board is busy working with an outside group contracted to enforce their law to ensure that it is being enforced properly.5

The outcomes of the all these cases will be very important to Oregon’s future efforts in pursuing professional regulation - weather that comes to be a Title Act or Practice Act. We continue to pay attention to these and other issues to better inform Oregon's cause. It is important to keep a positive and objective outlook when studying these developments and not get distracted by untruthful arguments often found within the opposition.

If we can delve past the plethora of adverse advertising and articles 6, we can start to see the root of the issue. Building projects require a team of qualified professionals to deliver a project that is functional, safe, and aesthetically pleasing. Studies assert that the design process is becoming less linear and more fluid with the adoption of integrated design and BIM.

Architects, building owners, and engineers have been promoting integrated design for a few years.7 This provides an opportunity for interior designers to assert ourselves as experts in ergonomics, human context and psychology, functionality, materials, and furnishings. Integrated sustainable design, LEED, and Evidence Based Design are all areas where an Interior Designer’s knowledge of the health, safety, and welfare of the public are needed. Health, safety, and welfare are the basis for recognized professional regulation.

IDC-Oregon’s approach for professional regulation is based on collaboration. Currently we are the only professionals working in the construction and building trades not registered or regulated through the State. We are working with the local ASID, IIDA, and NWSID chapters and collaborating with the AIA, industry representatives, building officials, fire marshals, and contractors to discuss the need for regulating interior designers through legislation that establishes minimum standards of defined competency.  The end result will be a clearly written bill - Either a Title Act or Practice Act - that will establish consumer protection and define our profession.

Please join our next Town Hall session on Tuesday January 27th 2009 at the White Stag building. We will discuss the process of legislating our profession. Your voices are crucial to this effort and we hope you will participate in shaping the future of interior design. For more information please visit: www.idcoregon.org.

Sincerely,
Peg Suzio, Past President IDC-Oregon


Footnotes:
1 GRA Committee conference call (October 8 2008)

2 New Mexico Ends Unconstitutional Censorship of Interior Designers. The Institute for Justice. 6 April 2007. (21 November 2008)

3 Alabama Supreme Court invalidated interior design practice act. Interior Design Freedom Coalition. Edward Nagorsky. 22 October 2007. (21 November 2008)

4 Alabama State Board of registration for interior designers administrative code. Effective October 20 2008. (4 December 2008)

5 GRA Committee conference call (October 8 2008)

6 See articles listed below from Institute for Justice. Many additional articles are available to read on their website: www.ij.org

Designing cartels: How industry insiders cut out competition. (September 2006)

Designing liberty: Pulling the curtains on the interior design cartel. (2007)

Designed to mislead: How industry insiders mislead the public about the need for interior design regulation. (2008)

7 The Construction Users Roundtable. Collaboration, Integrated Information, and the Project Lifecycle in Building Design, Construction, and Operation. American Institute of Architects, August 2004. (21 November 2008)

For rebuttal please reference the following:

Rebuttal of the Report by the Institute of Justice’s Designing Cartels: How Industry Insiders Cut Out Competition. Martin, Caren S. (7 November 2007)

Collaboration Newsletter - Mike Stinziano / Dr. Denise Guerin

I’d like to take this time to reflect on the legislative work we’ve accomplished in the past year and present our direction for the upcoming board year. IDC-Oregon made progress in our efforts to develop a greater awareness and understanding of the interior design profession in terms of legislation. We collaborated with IIDA on two important legislative forums as well as attended monthly board member legislative round table discussions.

The guest speaker for IIDA’s August forum was Dr. Mike Stinziano, national legal council for IIDA. Dr. Stinziano spoke about IIDA National’s Government and Regulatory Affairs purpose and policies for securing legislation for interior designers in each state. He presented what’s at stake and why legislation is important for the interior design profession in an honest and fair light and reminded everyone that all politics are local. He explained the purpose of interior design legislation is to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public and he shared information about the various organizations opposing legislation.

Opposition is not uncommon in any legislative effort and our situation is not unique. Opposition appears to arise mainly from fear, lack of communication, and the inability or interest to read legislative bills thoroughly and thoughtfully. Fear of legislation is a common response from designers who have been practicing for a long time and are concerned their ability to practice design or call themselves an interior designer may be in jeopardy. One of the main questions surfacing from Dr. Stinziano’s presentation was what does the issue of health, safety, welfare really mean?

Responding to this interest in the impact of our work on the health, safety, welfare of the public, IDC-Oregon in collaboration with IIDA invited Dr. Denise Guerin to speak about how the health, safety, and welfare of the public is directly related to the work we do. Dr. Guerin presented a two-hour, .02 CEU session defining these terms, providing specific examples, and leading the audience through an exercise to develop a clear understanding of how professional interior design contributes to health, safety, welfare and provides substantial value to people’s lives. The exercise involved identifying solutions for design problems encountered for a particular client, project, building type, and end user. Participants were asked to write one example of a design solution in which our knowledge was drawn upon to protect people’s health. This exercise was repeated for safety and again for welfare.

This exercise was no simple task. It required reflecting and thinking deeply to provide real evidence from our practice that we protect people’s health, safety, and welfare. This exercise related to learning in interior design education, experience or examination. Dr. Guerin’s point was well made: As socially responsible interior designers it is incumbent upon us to engage and practice at a deeper level providing evidence-based design for the work we do.

A recent article in Perspective Magazine (Summer, 2008) entitled Designers are Motivators addresses the impact our work has on health, safety, and welfare. In this issue designers are encouraged to enter into a dialogue with their clients about ways design can create safer, healthier environments. The author, Jan Stone, speaks to the responsibility of interior designers to create environments that encourage physical activity and a healthier lifestyle. As Michael I. Goran, Ph.D. states in the article; “Designers have a unique opportunity to address the obesity problem through identifying and creating aspects of the workplace, homes, schools, and urban and community plans that promote a healthier lifestyle” (p. 29). Stone is intrigued about whether something as simple as a well-placed stair could be a solution for convincing people to walk rather than use an elevator. She acknowledges that well placed stairs are not the solution to reversing obesity however she notes, “From creating collaborative work environments that encourage constant movement to allowing for plentiful daylight access, interior designers can have a direct positive impact on public health and well-being” (p. 29).

The work of interior designers affects many people and we have a responsibility to understand the benefits of designing an environment that is supportive, gets people moving, and provides a richer experience throughout. Research has produced evidence that the work of interior designers can have a positive impact on the health of people. Craig Zimring, Ph.D. states “Change brought on by interior designers can’t happen fast enough, especially considering the CDC obesity map” (p. 32). This change requires interior designers to be aware of the evidence that links design to health and behavior outcomes (p. 32).

Legislation of the interior design profession entails much more than meets the eye. It requires a commitment to 1) unification by defining who we are, 2) requiring specialized knowledge of the profession though education, and 3) being thoughtful of practicing evidence-based design.

IDC-Oregon is committed to elevating awareness of legislation for the profession through educational forums that continue to raise the knowledge level of entry-level design professionals and advancing the knowledge and growth of practicing professionals in 2009 and beyond.

Please join our growing membership to define and shape the future of the interior design profession.

Sincerely,
Peg Suzio, Past President IDC-Oregon

Collaboration Newsletter - Interior Design Titling

I would like to update everyone on national legislative efforts underway on IIDA, ASID, NKBA, and NWSID’s behalf. In particular, Caren Martin, Ph.D. has produced a wonderful response to an article titled Designing Cartels: How Industry Insiders Cut Out Competition, a report that examines Interior Design Titling. While I will not present details of the Designing Cartels article, I believe Martin’s response is a wealth of information relevant to our interest in securing a Professional Status of the Interior Design Profession.

Martin's response in the article, perhaps inadvertently, draws attention to the “confusion that exists in the public realm about the title 'Interior Designer'" thus observing that the authors of the rebutted report don’t understand the difference between 'interior designer' and 'interior decorator'. She feels that given this widespread public disconnect it is even more pressing for the interior design profession to demonstrate their value with respect to the health, safety, and welfare of the public.

Martin writes, “One characteristic of a profession is regulation of its practice”. Regulating a profession requires engaging in a legislative process that is both extensive and complex. It “relies on a broad basis of input from all stake holders and is successful when all parties have negotiated to secure the best outcome for the public”. Martin acknowledges efforts for pursuing legislation encompass gathering sponsors and educating legislators prior to the introduction of the legislation. Therefore it is particularly important for the Interior Design community to work together, and with legislators, to make the case that there is a compelling public reason for regulating their practice. Currently there are 26 other states, including The District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and all eight Canadian Provinces with interior design legislation in place to protect the health, safety and welfare of their citizens. To learn more about states and provinces with legislation regulations go to: IIDA Advocacy

Beyond addressing consumer protection, legislation may serve to qualify and define other essential professional elements of interior design practice, as it has for over 8,400* professions regulated in the United States today.

Martin’s analysis of the data presented in the Designing Cartel article concludes a measure for success which interior design legislation campaigns need: education, examination, and experience. For interior design this includes 1) identifying the relationship of interior design with the health, safety, and welfare of the public, 2) provision for a formal education, and 3) monitored experience in the field.

Checking IDC-Oregon's efforts against Martin’s sense for interior design legislation across the country is one way to gauge our efforts are staying focused on the same issue - Defining the Profession.

In the next legislative corner I will be writing about Denise Guerin and Caren Martin’s publication The Interior Design Profession’s Body of Knowledge. This work talks about the importance of developing a specific body of knowledge necessary to define and support a profession whose work is considered *“reliable and of high value”. Read and download the 230 pages at: http://www.careersininteriordesign.com/idbok.pdf

Sincerely,
Peg Suzio, Past President IDC-Oregon


To read *Martin’s publication go to: https://netfiles.umn.edu/users/cmartin/Martin%20IJ%20Rebuttal
To read Designing Cartels report go to: http://www.ij.org/publications/other/designing-cartels.html