The Sustainable Revolution : Sustainable Finishes and Furnishings.

When integrating sustainable into a design finishes and furnishings can have a significant impact. One way to conserve resources when designing an interior is to specify materials is to reuse as many materials as possible. This entails thoroughly looking at the finishes in a room, like the flooring, and determine if they can be reused, like sanding down and refinishing the floors. If reusing what is already there is not an option the next best option is to use as less of the material as possible. Thus a room should be designed to best match the standardized sizing of products. For example when designing a room in which carpet squares will be used the designer should match the floor plan in correspondence to the size of the carpet squares so none have to be cut down and thrown away. Other strategies to integrate sustainability into a design can include recycled products, chemical free products, and products that take into account the LCA.

Wall Coverings

For sustainability purposes when choosing wall coverings for interiors one should consider durability, insulating properties, and sound absorbency. It is important to consider durability, like colorfastness or washability, to make sure the product can last as long as possible so it does not end up in a land fill. All wall coverings should be installed with zero or low-VOC adhesives or tacked to surfaces. Some sustainable wall covering materials include mulberry fibers, linen, cork, honeysuckle vines, cane, raffia, jute, bamboo, and sisal.

Flooring

There are mainly two options when it comes to flooring: hard or soft. Hard floors can include wood and concrete, while soft floor include carpet. Hard floors can improve a room’s indoor air quality as hard floors do not harbor dust, dirt, or allergens like soft flooring can do. Some sustainable wood flooring includes the use of bamboo, sustainably harvested wood, and reclaimed or remilled wood. Bamboo is peeled away so the material is rapidly renewable, has low embodied energy qualities and also looks aesthetically pleasing. Reclaimed or remilled wood is recycled material that can add a lot of character to a room. You can either use reclaimed wood in its original state or remilled wood is reprocessed to give a newer look. Concrete floor are another hard flooring option. This flooring can eliminate additional materials used for wood flooring during the installation process. To also reduce the energy impact of concrete flooring one should use fly ash concrete instead of Portland cement. Cork is another sustainable flooring material that is retrieved from the bark of a cork tree. Cork can be used as finished flooring or as an alternative to an underlay for wood flooring.

Since comfort is an important quality in an interior environment, hard flooring may not always be the go to choice. Soft flooring, like carpet, can provide comfort as well as an aesthetic quality to a room. When choosing carpet it is important to consider an area rug or a whole carpeted room as an area rug will use fewer materials and hold less allergens. However is a whole carpeted room is desired one should consider qualities like durability and color. One should choose carpet made from durable materials and finishes like a high pile and high dimensional stability as well as choose a color that is timeless rather than trendy to ensure a long life of the carpet. When selecting carpet chose carpet that has been refurbished or recycled. A designer should also use natural fibers rather than synthetic fibers as they typically are produced more sustainable and can be repurposed or recycled.

Below are some tun and interesting companies that incorporate sustainability into their product design and manufacturing. I am thinking of using some for an upcoming project! It is always important when choosing sustainable products to research the company and their claims to make sure they are truly doing what they can to help the environment and not just claiming so.