Sustainability & Interior Design with Susan El-Naggar

Susan El-Naggar is a LEED Green Associate and WELL AP and along with her husband, Tarik, AIA both are principals at Healing Environments. Susan has over 20 years of experience as an interior designer. She received her education for interior design at The International Academy of Design & Technology in Chicago and completed additional studies in Portugal, Egypt, Israel, and Montreal. She has worked on a variety of projects in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and California. Susan is an NCIDQ certified interior designer and a registered interior designer in Indiana and Illinois. Susan has been recognized in Who's Who in Entrepreneurs, participated in showcase houses for interior design in Indiana and Illinois, and has been a speaker and consultant throughout Northwest Indiana and the Chicagoland area. She has been a chairperson for the American Society of Interior Design IL Chapter, and Porter County Builders Association. She also sat as a juror for the National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ). She is currently a professional member of the American Society of Interior Designers, Valparaiso Chamber, and U.S. Green Building Council. Susan El-Naggar - Get To Know Susan Susan got her start at the International Academy of Design and Technology, focusing on interior design. She became sustainable-minded when she and her husband started to study products in their household. They began to switch these products with green products that worked for them. Then, they leaned into their interior design and agriculture business. Susan and Tarik now make sure houses and rooms promote healing and inner peace for the spirit. "My husband and I started to gather all of the products in our home and started to replace them with green products. This was the beginning of my journey into that space." - Susan El-Naggar Early Sustainability Journey Susan begins by telling us how she wanted to be an interior design and create her own business. This love started at a young age when she went to art school and would create art. Susan would do everything by herself when her first business started and then she went to school for interior design. Proudest Achievements Susan's greatest moment in her career was creating a project with her husband. This project was at a home, and the client wanted a healing spot for their household. Susan and her husband were able to tear down a master room and create a spa room. This was made with green products and natural products. They entered this in the American Society of Interior Design Illinois chapter and won first place. "We started to knock the room down all the way, and we could do whatever we wanted. All they wanted was a room like a spa retreat room. We were able to use green products, and it was one of the first times doing so." - Susan El-Naggar Book Recommendations Your Best Life Now by Joel Osteen GBES Community: https://www.gbes.com/unlimited-leed-and-well-training-and-education/ Tune into this podcast to listen to the rest of Susan El-Naggar's journey in this podcast hosted by Charlie. Connect with Susan El-Naggar: Linkedin Connect with Charlie Cichetti and GBES: Charlie on LinkedIn Green Building Educational Services GBES on Twitter Connect on LinkedIn Like on Facebook Google+ GBES Pinterest Pins GBES on Instagram GBES is excited our membership community is growing. Consider joining our membership community as members are given access to some of the guests on the podcasts that you can ask project questions. If you are preparing for an exam, there will be more insurances that you will pass your next exam, you will be given cliff notes if you are a member, and so much more. Go to www.gbes.com/join to learn more about the 4 different levels of access to this one-of-a-kind career-advancing green building community! If you truly enjoyed the show, don't forget to leave a positive rating and review on iTunes. We have prepared more episodes for the upcoming weeks, so come by again next week! Thank you for tuning in to the Green Building Matters Podcast! Copyright © 2019 GBES