Circular Interior Design: Sustainable Restaurant Object Space Place — Biofilico Wellness Interiors

Sustainable restaurant design with David Chenery

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circular economy

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restorative restaurants

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Sustainable restaurant design with David Chenery 〰️ circular economy 〰️ restorative restaurants 〰️

Welcome to episode 55 of the Green & Healthy Places podcast in which we discuss the themes of wellbeing and sustainability in real estate and hospitality.

I’m your host, Matt Morley, founder of Biofilico healthy buildings, and in this episode I’m in the UK talking to David Chenery of Object Space Place, a sustainable interiors company specialising in hospitality environments. The construction industry plays a crucial role in implementing circular design principles to minimize waste and improve sustainability.

Our conversation covers the Restorative Design Framework that David has developed with his business partner over the past five years, the role of circular economy principles in restaurant design, designing out waste and lowering embodied carbon while still delivering memorable customer experiences, as well as the pros and cons of sustainability assessments for restaurant spaces.

David is an interior architect by trade, a considered thinker and someone with a rapidly growing client list that may suggest an inflection point in the UK restaurant industry’s relationship with sustainability.

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Matt Morley

David, welcome to the show. It could be really useful for anyone considering a similar shift in their own career to understand how you integrated sustainability into your restaurant interior design work? What was that process of going from being ‘just’ an interior architect / designer into someone with a real focus on sustainable restaurant interiors?

A transition to sustainable restaurant interior design

David Chenery

It’s certainly not that there was one particular lightbulb moment, it definitely was more of a gradual process, slowly feeling more and more uneasy and more and more uncertain. We’ve been going for 11 years now and we started out designing a lot of hospitality.

Then over the years, even though we always tried to do things with integrity, we cared how we treated people we were working with and about designing things with proper materials, avoiding materials on a red list and so on but we never really got to grips with what ‘good’ restaurant interior design would actually look like. This gradual process involved adopting a circular approach to emphasize flexibility, sustainability, and efficiency.

We started working with the Sustainable Restaurant Association about five or six years ago, and we just really started interrogating those questions and started thinking, What does a good restaurant mean?

what is restorative restaurant design?

Andrew Stephen, the CEO of the SRA at the time, threw out a question to us - he’d always wondered what a restorative restaurant would look like, how would that actually be designed? And whilst he gave it to us as a throwaway question, for us, it really stuck, to the point whereby we developed a whole design framework, what we called “the restorative design framework” around trying to solve that. The concept of a circular building, like The Circular Building by Arup in London, influenced our thinking on sustainable construction practices and the ease of disassembly for recycling and reuse.

In the first instance, we boiled it down really simple - to design places that give more than they take. So I guess the point to emphasize there is that we were overwhelmed by the complexity and not sure what this sustainability thing was, and is a SKA rating enough? Is BREEAM enough?

Matt Morley

The idea of almost being overwhelmed with the whole theme of sustainability, and perhaps not quite knowing where to start is something I hear from clients as well, they’re sort of looking for guidance. And by the time someone picks up the phone, I sense something has nudged them in that direction. And it might not be the core tenet of their brand, But there’s enough out there, enough prompts to make them think about how they can integrate sustainability into whatever they’re doing, for example, a boutique hotel group. What about in your sector of restaurant design, would you say the same as true there? Or are there more restaurants that have sustainability at their heart of their proposition?

a shift to sustainability in the UK restaurant sector

David Chenery

Well, I mean, it's one of the reasons we now call ourselves sustainable hospitality designers to begin with, we kind of shied away from that a little bit. Because if you stick your hand up and say you are sustainable, then you know, you're putting yourself in the firing line. And ultimately, you know, once you dig into it, and start pulling all those threads around sustainability, you realize that if you do anything in this country, the UK, you immediately have a carbon footprint, six to 10 times higher than anywhere else in the world.

So can you ever say what you're doing is sustainable. But we realized that to begin with, we had to educate our clients and bring sustainability into our projects. But the commercial reality is that building stuff is hard at the best of times. And unless someone comes to you with that sustainability agenda, it is very often going to get kicked to the side as you go along.

So we had to sort of stick our hands up and say we are focused on sustainable hospitality design, which therefore means we now attract the people that want to pursue that agenda. So I guess it's hard because we have pushed ourselves to live in this bubble. But I definitely think there's been a huge shift in understanding and even more so in in the last year or so.

We're now being approached by restaurant groups who don't make big claims around sustainability. But they might have, you know, 5 to 10 restaurants already and they're aware of as they continue to grow they want to do that in a way that is going to minimize their environmental impact. And they don't quite know how, like you suggest, but they're trying to find some people to help make it happen.

Matt Morley

So I see similarities there between, say, the office sector and hotels, where it's about a soft sustainability, so it's not absolutely defining them, like, say, a hard sustainability brand that's completely committed to the cause. And yet, they know that they need to make baby steps in that direction. But then that raises the question of, where does it start and end if it is a sustainable design that you're creating for a restaurant?

And clearly there are these rating systems, whether it's BREEAM for a new build, or SKA that you mentioned in the past around your interiors on the restaurant work. Did you initially rely on those certification systems more and step away from them over time?

sustainable restaurant design certifications

David Chenery

I think what we’ve realized when we created our own design framework, so that the assessment systems are rigorous, independent, and they make a lot of sense. And we had to learn to work in BREEAM, how to work in the SKA system, definitely.

It’s only through doing that, that you might start to see some of the the flaws, or some of the shortcuts or the kind of bureaucracy associated with them. If you have a one-off independent restaurant somewhere in the country, that won’t have a huge budget for such assessments so they’re just going to run it all directly themselves.

That’s a very different approach than trying to do something for someone like a Wagamama who’s got hundreds of outlets around around the country and has processes in teams and all this stuff.

So our framework acknowledges that. And we really will tailor it to the client we’re working with. Ultimately, we want it to be as sustainable as possible. But we know that different clients will come with a different level of ambition. So we might work with a chef like Chantelle Nicholson for Apricity, where she wanted to push as hard as she could, you know, we were really trialing the circular economy ideas in terms of the materials, we were measuring the embodied carbon to get that as low as we could, the landlord Grosvenor, were really behind us pushing that as hard as they could. Reducing construction waste by incorporating circular design principles and a lifecycle approach is crucial in this context.

So there was a lot of energy in that same direction whereas we might work with Gail’s bakeries, you know, who are beautiful, and they care about sustainability. And they care about the social side and the environmental. And they’re also doing about 30 sites a year. So there is a commercial reality to the speed and the cost of doing those.

So we are working as hard as we can within that commercial framework to make the best decisions. And that’s to be honest, what we quite enjoy is that we are constantly being challenged not to just live in an ideal dream world. But actually some of it is very, very ambitious and we can set a new benchmark in sustainability and sometimes it’s more about raising the bar slightly.

measuring sustainability in restaurant interior design

So I think assessments are really interesting when it comes to the measurement, this is really what we’re talking about the measurement of sustainability. I think there’s some interesting nuances to dive into there. The first one we’ve realized is that quantitative measurement, the idea of numbers almost always comes down to carbon, because that’s the thing we can reduce down to a number, the bigger the scale of the organization we’re dealing with, the more you need numbers, because it’s just really hard for everyone to grasp the qualitative, multifaceted layer of sustainability without numbers. So it’s, it’s not really a good enough representation.

Optimizing production processes for energy efficiency and waste reduction is crucial in the circular economy model, which seeks to create sustainable practices that allow for resource reuse and minimize environmental impact.

But carbon is really, really useful as a tool. You know, I always say that carbon is to sustainability, what calories are to a healthy diet, you know, I could eat 1000 calories a day, and I would lose weight. But if it was all chocolate, and I did no exercise, that is not a healthy diet. In the same way, carbon is an oversimplification of all the other stuff around you know, VOCs Indoor Air Quality and the social side of things which we can go into as well.

But if the planet managed to get down to dealing with that carbon, we’d be in a lot better place. So I do think that that’s thing with the conservative side. And then the other is you’ve mentioned with the assessment systems A good thing about those are that they are more qualitative They have much more, you know, many more features within facets within them that measure things like the air quality or looking at glare or their staff wellbeing, all these sorts of things. So that’s the way we sort of broke those two things down, when it comes to measurement, I think it’s kind of worth understanding the differences of those.

Matt Morley

And then to some point in that process, you felt comfortable enough to set your own working model of how you go about integrating these various themes and topics into something that you put your name to.

developing principles and a process for designing sustainable restaurant interiors

David Chenery

Absolutely. What we realized was, firstly, when we started looking at the assessment systems at the beginning, we think, how do we make this a sustainable design? What does that even mean? If we get SKA gold or BREEAM Excellent? And then coming across the circular economy and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation website in particular. That’s why I can’t get happy with this idea is because it’s still within the scope of one project. And we need to understand the ripple effects and the circular flows of everything else, and how stuff goes together.

So our framework then becomes about that, because we see that as a bigger understanding of the material construction design ecosystem. Using sustainable materials to adhere to circular design principles is crucial in this context. So I think that’s just a more intelligent place to start as well for us because it then leads us to ask a lot of different questions. And what we start to look at a design approach that is slightly different, based on a set of principles.

the problem with sustainability assessment systems

The danger of an assessment system is you end up with this huge checklist and a really complex spreadsheets. And you know, you’ve got to get however many points out of however many other points, and then you start getting tactical about what decisions you’re making, right? Because you got to get to the certain levels. And if we just get a couple more, we can get up to silver, and it becomes a different weird game, that clearly is better than doing nothing. But it’s not engaging with the core idea.

You know, and I think for us, we wanted to step outside of that and think, Well, if we really want to make a difference here, how are we going to do it. And the other realization is that it’s all very good saying, let’s get the lowest embodied carbon we can. But if you sit down with a blank piece of paper and try and work out let’s just design something low carbon it’s almost impossible, you can’t design to that it’s meaningless.

So we need a design strategy. The unsustainable extraction and consumption of raw materials contribute to environmental degradation and resource scarcity. And that’s why circular economy is so good for us. We’ve managed to prove that if we design out waste and pollution, if we design to keep materials in use for as long as possible, if we get reclaimed chairs and tables, if we sand the existing floorboards, if we expose the walls, if we use the right type of paint, if we cut the staircase up and make it into a wall cladding, that guess what we managed to reduce the embodied carbon of that of typical fit out by 45%, just by doing that for a high end restaurant in central London.

So that connection for us was kind of a key moment of saying, well, we can design this way we have this strategy of designing out waste, of thinking about principles. But the point in developing the framework was, it gives us a way of working. And I think without that, that’s where so many designers feel a bit lost, because we don’t know how to interrogate those decisions and ask enough questions.

If someone can give you an EPD, that says, this has three kilograms of CO2, and another one says this one’s got four. If that’s all you know, then you’re just going to pick the three, even if it comes with all kinds of other compromises on the sustainability, or huge water usage, or all kinds of all kinds of stuff. So that’s why we had to develop a framework and we certainly don’t have all the answers, I wouldn’t sit here and say, we have it all down. The point of having the framework and the point of us applying that to these projects is that we are learning every day.

consultants for a sustainable restaurant interior project

Matt Morley

Maybe that opens discussion then around how far your role goes in terms of the design of the space? Typically when I’m looking at say an entire healthy building project, whether it’s new build construction or refurbishment, I’m often on a call as one of 10+ different consultants from a QS, to MEP, to project management, lifts and so on… but with a restaurant are you operating effectively as a One Stop solution or are there others that you might bring into the mix with you?

David Chenery

Again, it’s a question of scale - a one off independent restaurant with a focused brief, lean budget, then yes we might do most of that sustainability work.

If we didn’t have a sustainability consultant, we often with a social enterprise called Bio Regional who can do assessments for carbon, SKA or bespoke metrics that we’re developing around the circular economy.

And then on the MEP side, we are definitely not MEP consultants. So particularly operational carbon, that energy efficiency piece, we would look to partner with someone like MESH (net zero carbon building performance) then a landlord or or contractor may have their own people they will bring along, but on smaller projects, what we’ll find is you will tend to have specific conversations with, say, the HVAC contractor, or the plumber, or the electrician, to see what we can do with them to get things better. And if it goes slightly a notch above that, then we will have an MEP consultant, similar to ourselves, who will give input on that. The significant climate impact associated with the production of office furniture and the potential reduction in emissions through circular economy practices like refurbishment and repair should also be considered.

But that does really depend on the scale of a project and your average high street restaurant of 3000 square foot is probably unlikely to have that person. So you know, that’s probably where we develop our knowledge, particularly often they’re contractors or installers within the industry, that can have a similar mindset to us.

If I go into my garden here, and I pick a pear off the tree, I don’t need a carbon lifecycle assessment or a sustainability consultant to tell me that that’s a good choice. You know, there are some straightforward, common sense principles that we can apply.

The Pareto principle applies suggests 80% of the impact will come from 20% of the decision. So you know, if we’re looking at the water systems, we know even just from looking at the SKA systems that if they are the same 5-7 things you do in terms of water management, such as low flow taps, and WCs, leak detection systems, you do those right and you’ll get most of the impact anyway.

Circular design principles and end-of-life in a sustainable restaurant

Matt Morley

In the past I’ve studied green and health building certifications from LEED, to WELL, FITWEL, and so on following the checklist. And then at some point, you just start, you just start freestyling without needing to hold on to the sides of pool, let’s put it that way. Then you start to combine elements or leave certain bits out, knowing that you’re getting 20% of the value.

So what about end-of-life phase with your restaurant designs? How do your clients manage that?

David Chenery

Well, I guess since we’ve been focused on doing this, fortunately, nothing we’ve designed has had to be taken apart. So you have to say that that’s theoretical in a way and it’s just a really important acknowledgement as a designer that most restaurant fit outs will last about five years whether it’s because the concept has failed or they want to make changes or simply update the look and feel of the space. Even the average building gets fitted out 20 to 30 times in its lifetime.

So, yeah, we haven’t had to be challenged on that yet. But we are aware when we’re designing, you know, whether it’s a counter going in or material finishes on the floor? How is this going to come out again? Can we use particular materials that are in as useful a format as possible? Can we avoid cutting tiles?

Last week, I was looking into an issue for Gail’s, the difference between a timber floor and a tiled floor. Now at end of life, those both become quite difficult. You know, we spent two hours talking to a tile manufacturer about how realistic is it actually that we’re going to get these tiles up, and then once that tile adhesive goes down, are those coming up in pieces, or are they going to be able to be reused? Again, if you can get them up whole, they’re still going to have all the adhesive on the back. And it’s going to be such a labor intensive process to take that off, it’s probably unrealistic to use that for anything other than aggregate, which isn’t really good enough.

We need to as an industry find a better solution for that timber again. Likewise, if we’re looking at a herringbone floor, now that can stay in longer, you can re-sand that, you can refinish it, you can re-stain it, it’s going to have a lower carbon footprint, if you take the carbon sequestration into account and having carbon negative score effectively. But again, you’re not because that has to be glued down in a commercial setting, you have to glue that timber down no matter what you do, because it’s going to move over time. So therefore, you’re not going to be able to take that floor up, even if that’s in 30 years time, for example, without and be able to reuse those elements quite easily. So some of those questions I don’t have the answer to at all.

In many cases, if you do something of quality, you’re maximizing the chance it can stay in there for a long time. But yeah, it’s it is a challenge, I really do think it is, you know, we need to understand how materials come apart. Again, we need to design for disassembly, so that elements can be taken apart using mechanical fixings wherever we can, rather than glue - that is a general principle. But you know, in, in commercial or hygienic environments, like restaurants where we’re talking about cleaning down every day that that can be quite difficult as we come up against standard best practices. Additionally, it's crucial to regenerate natural systems while addressing the tension between resource extraction and environmental protection.

Matt Morley

I think that sort of transparency and honesty is, is really the only position any of us in this game can take because you know, we’re all always learning, but simply doing the best we possibly can at any given time. Right? And as long as it’s a sort of circular but forward motion, we’re heading in the right direction.

restaurant design trends and sustainability

What about restaurant design in general, when you look at what’s happening in the industry, particularly in London, but around the UK, Are you broadly optimistic of where it’s going?

David Chenery

I try and kind of cultivate quite a stoic mindset but we will do everything we can to make it better. I think that depends on which side of the bed I’ve got up in the morning. I think I’m nervous how everyone has rebounded straight back into growth mode After COVID. I think people are just trying to build things. And I don’t know if we’ve necessarily learned the lessons we could have done. But I’m happy that initiatives like Net Zero Now and the Zero Carbon Forum are getting more traction. I’m happy that, you know, the SRA is, is getting good traction with its members.

Right now, I honestly believe it’s probably like a five year problem. And I don’t think you can be running your business, for the benefit of your stakeholders and shareholders. with them front of mind, if you’re not tackling this issue of sustainability, because you’re just not building a resilient business,

So if you don’t dial back in and actually look at your business model and look at your supply chain, and look at how you run your buildings and your energy usage and all of that stuff, you’re just going to have a tougher and tougher time in the years to come. I don’t believe The whole industry has got that and agrees with that. I think there are a number of people who still want to think it’s business as usual but maybe a little bit more green. - we need to move faster than that! By incorporating circular design principles, the restaurant industry can promote a more sustainable future, significantly reducing environmental impact and fostering a healthier planet and society.

David Chenery's current sustainable restaurant interior design projects

Matt Morley

What have you got going on at the moment? What do you have in your pipeline?

David Chenery

We’re certainly fully booked until September at the moment, which is great. I mean, there’s Gail’s - a great client for us. And we’re doing a number of new sites for them - we just opened one in Epping recently. These projects aim to be resource efficient by minimizing environmental impact and maximizing the longevity and adaptability of materials. There’s actually a hair salon project we’re working on as well.

We’ve been approached by some other people like L’Oreal to help them apply our framework to a hair salon. So there’s a flagship I’m working on with them at the moment, which I’m not actually allowed to talk about But that will be quite high profile in central London. And then alongside that, we’ve got some some independent restaurants, we’ve got a six tenant food hall we’re working on.

But also we’re doing a number of more consultancy pieces now, as you can probably imagine. So some of the larger groups, were talking to them about how we can bring these principles and this framework to their sites, whether we end up designing them ourselves or not. So that’s quite an interesting conversation, how we can educate internal property teams on carbon literacy or this disjunction between net zero targets and daily operations.

Matt Morley

Very good. Well, it sounds really positive. So people are looking to follow along or see your news and updates. What’s your chosen format?

David Chenery

Yeah, LinkedIn is definitely best. That’s definitely the place to find me.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidchenery-sustainablehospitalitydesign/

What is Circular Design?

Definition and Importance of Circular Design

Principles of Circular Design

Benefits of Circular Design in Interior Design

Applying Circular Design Principles

Flexible Spaces for Adaptability and Reuse

Health risks of toxic chemicals and materials in building interiors

a short history of building materials

In the past, human shelter and the earliest buildings were simply made from naturally occurring materials such as clay, wood, or stone, organically sourced and all safe enough to go back into the ground at their end of life.

It was only the industrial revolution starting in the second half of the 18th century and the concomitant explosion in synthetic compounds - that in turn began to find their way into building materials - that the buildings designed to protect us from the elements around us first become a health risk in themselves (who knew!).

Slowly and almost imperceptibly, the toxicity levels in buildings and interiors continued to rise as the decades passed and the ‘chemical revolution’ proposed ever greater numbers of solutions for the construction industry… until we finally began to take defensive action in the 1970s - starting with lead!  

Today, building and interior materials have the potential to negatively impact human health and wellbeing if they are not properly chosen, installed, and maintained.

These risks can vary according to the life phase of a chosen building material but we recommend taking into consideration all phases of the material’s life for good measure.

To do so, we apply the concept of a Life Cycle Assessment to better track, moderate, and eliminate harmful toxicity from a construction and fit-out project wherever possible.

It is also worth noting that if the whole cycle of a material is taken into consideration, the groups at risk of exposure to such toxic materials expand beyond just the building occupants. 

The negative health effects of toxic materials have the potential to extend to those living near the factories where the materials are made, the workers using the materials during construction of a building or interior fit-out, and even those charged with disposing or recycling the material at the end of its life.

For this reason we believe it is fundamental to understand what impact building and interior materials can have on human health.

Here we will look at common sources of toxic substances in building materials; common toxic substances we want to avoid in building materials; the health risks of human exposure to such toxicity; authoritative ‘red lists’ of these harmful chemicals in building materials and what can be taken from the materials-related content of various leading healthy building standards. Let’s get it into!

Common sources of Toxins in building materials

Toxic substances can be found in an alarming number of building materials and products from flooring to insolation, carpeting, cabinetry, paints and coatings, furniture and fabrics, all manner of adhesives and finishes.

Careful analysis of all such source materials should therefore be instilled in a project’s design phase as early on as possible to implement a green procurement policy as part of the project’s DNA.

Asbestos, VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds), SVOCs (Semi-Volatile Organic Compounds), Lead, HFRs (Halogenated Flame Retardants), Chromate Copper Arsenate (CCA), and Phthalates are some of the most commonly occurring and detrimental building chemicals for our health.

Below we cross-reference the source with the type of toxic substance:

• Insulation Materials <> Asbestos, VOCs

• Paints <> Lead, VOCs

• Coatings <> VOCs, Phthalates

• Adhesives <> VOCs

• Furniture & Fabrics (e.g. upholstery foam) <> HFRs, VOCs

• Composite Wood Products <> Chromate Copper Arsenate, VOCs

• Flooring Materials <> VOCs

• Combustion Sources <> Lead, Particulates

• Cleaning Products <> Phthalates

Common toxins to avoid in building materials and products

Humans can be introduced to these chemicals through a variety of manners such as ingestion, inhalation, hand-to-mouth ingestion, skin absorption, breastfeeding, and even placental transfer before a baby is born. 

These potential avenues of human-chemical transfer from building materials are compounded when interior ventilation is poor, highlighting the increased importance of indoor air quality in the post-Covid home, workplace, gym, learning environment, etc.

‘Off-gassing’ is a common characteristic of such materials, describing the release of toxic particles into the indoor air over time, which if improperly ventilated can accumulate to unhealthy levels in building interiors.

That new car / carpet / furniture smell? That’s the first wave of off-gassing. If you can smell it, and it’s not a natural material, you’re witness to off-gassing. Best open a window!

It is essential to not only choose healthy materials and products, but to also monitor and maintain healthy indoor air quality to avoid health hazards. See our section on indoor air here.

Health Hazards of toxic building products and materials in interiors

Negative health implications arise from many building materials and products, including from legacy materials, so-called “high performing” materials, and even from operations-based sources such as chemical-based cleaning products used by facilities management in an honest attempt to make interior spaces cleaner and healthier. The irony surely cannot be lost on any of us! 

Although several legacy chemicals that were widely used in the past without proper understanding are now widely banned, many are still present in buildings and therefore remain a threat.

These chemicals include asbestos, lead, Chromate Copper Arsenate, and countless others yet legislation moves at such a slow pace compared to the release of new chemical compounds that we as healthy building consultants have to adopt our own strategies to help rather than relying on industry-wide legislation from above. 

Asbestos is responsible for over 200,000 deaths each year, the leading cause of mesothelioma, and is a known toxin and carcinogen.

Lead is an endocrine disruptor (or ‘hormone disruptor’) and can therefore affect reproductive systems, puberty, and child development during pregnancy. Lead can be ingested, absorbed, or inhaled and upon accumulation in the body causes highly detrimental health effects.

Chromate Copper Arsenate contains arsenic, which is associated with lung, bladder, skin, and liver cancer. In addition, it can be leached from wood structures into soil and expose children to contaminants, further increasing its danger. 

Halogenated Flame Retardants are commonly inhaled, ingested or absorbed through skin contact and have been found to disrupt endocrine function, cause neurological damage and even cancer. They have the potential to cause long-term health effects as they accumulate in our bodies.

VOCs and SVOCs are compounds that are emitted from materials and accumulate in interiors. VOCs can cause sick building syndrome, nausea, and central nervous system damage. Gaseous at room temperature, their negative health impacts increase considerably with poor ventilation and generally low indoor air quality. These compounds are commonly inhaled, and some VOCs are even considered carcinogens.

Phthalates are known endocrine disrupters, negatively affect reproduction and development, and are carcinogenic. Their health impacts also bioaccumulate, meaning they slowly build up over time and cause detrimental health effects.  

Red List Resources of toxic chemicals in building materials

There are several resources that can provide guidance on so-called ‘red list’ materials, or materials that have scientifically proven negative health impacts and should ideally be avoided in all building projects with a view to human wellbeing in interiors. 

The International Living Future Institute (ILFI) has a definitive and highly demanding material red list for example while health-oriented design practice Perkins & Will has its own precautionary list that provides information on unhealthy chemicals and materials they believe should be avoided.

Cradle 2 Cradle (C2C) sustainability certifications for a product or material can provide a resource for healthy materials. 

In addition, ingredient disclosures such as Declare, and Health Product Declarations (HPDs) can help guide and inform builders and designers on making health-focused choices by encouraging transparency from manufacturers.

In sum, there is no longer any need for this to be an endless laborious task, project teams can and should leverage the work done already by standing on the shoulders of giants and implementing procurement policies that prioritize products and materials with high recycled content, HPDs, Declare labels and so on. This then places at least some of the responsibility on the general contractor to contribute to such sustainability efforts.

healthy Building Standards on materials and avoiding toxic substances

The WELL, LEED, and BREEAM certification systems as well as the Living Building Challenge provide resources and guides for healthy material implementations. 

WELL, focuses on the human health implications of all building-related decisions, provides in depth research, guidelines, and strategies to avoid unhealthy products and materials within the built environment. As such it is a definitive research tool and guide for us as healthy building material consultants.

The US Green Building Council’s LEED and the UK’s BREEAM both encourage material transparency too of course, as well as encouraging healthy indoor air quality through low VOC emissions and proper ventilation. 

As with so much in the world of healthy buildings and healthy interiors, the two concepts are in fact inextricably linked - enhanced indoor air quality and a healthy materials procurement policy go hand in hand.

As mentioned previously, the Living Building Challenge, part of the ILFI standard, focuses on choosing responsible materials and provides an impressively researched Red List of materials to avoid. 

Contact us to discuss your healthy building materials enquiry.

Bamboo in sustainable buildings and interiors

sustainable building materials and interiors

the case for bamboo

Welcome to episode 51 of the Green and Healthy Places podcast, in which we explore the themes of wellbeing and sustainability in real estate and interiors today.

I'm your host, Matt Morley, founder of Biofilico healthy buildings and in this episode i’m talking to my good friend Manuel Diaz Cebrian about his role in creating a new bamboo industry in Mexico.

Manuel was previously a Director at the Mexican Tourism Board in London where he managed the country’s image throughout Europe, repositioning Mexico as a cultural and culinary destination to beat.

He is now Director of Special Projects for Marbella Design Week and is launching into the world of sustainable entrepreneurship by agitating for a Mexican bamboo industry to rival that of nearby Colombia.

We discuss bamboo’s sustainability credentials, it’s various applications in sustainable buildings and interiors, its social impact benefits for indigenous peoples in Mexico, the influence of Bali’s Green School on bamboo-friendly architecture and architecture collectives around the world, and mucho mas.

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Matt Morley

So you're doing really interesting work around sustainable bamboo. And it's one of those materials that has a wide understanding to some extent, but I think there's also a lot of confusion.

So why don't we start with that piece around the varieties of the bamboo as I know that it's basically a grass, but how many different varieties there are and which ones are most relevant for sustainable buildings and interiors in your opinion?

Bamboo as a sustainable building material

Manuel Diaz-Cebrian

Absolutely, I'd have to tell you, first of all, my introduction to bamboo was as a gardening ornamental plant. When I went to Bali for the first time, I was so impressed to see and stay in a hotel that was built completely of bamboo; I didn't know that sustainable bamboo had all this potential to support a structure such as a hotel building for example.

So then I came back to Europe, and especially in Mexico nobody knew that much about the potential of bamboo so I started to look at its business possibilities in Europe and North America where it is less well known.

Varieties of sustainable bamboo material

There are more than 1600 kinds of bamboo. You could imagine that the varieties will differ according to climate, to their kind of soil, altitude, etc. Every single kind of bamboo developed in different climates and characteristics of soil. But they're among these there are possibly seven used widely used in sustainable construction of buildings.

Its strength is how fast it grows, as you mentioned earlier, many people do not really understand its possibilities as a sustainable materials for interiors or buildings, OK maybe you as a healthy building consultant yes you know more than others but actually very few people know that bamboo is not a tree it is a grass.

It can grow one meter in height each week once it is 3-5 years old and it could grow up to 30 meters in height, with a width of 20cm-30cm.

Reducing the carbon footprint of buildings interiors

Matt Morley

So that brings us into the discussion around sustainability and bamboo being a fundamentally sustainable material for buildings and interiors. I know there's also some interesting information around its carbon footprint in particular, we're all I think now finally paying far more attention to the carbon footprint not just of our buildings, but also the interiors, in fact of the interior fit-out - or how much carbon are we embedding into the buildings and interiors that we're producing.

So, how does that work in terms of preventing deforestation, which I guess is to some extent explaining its advantage as a sustainable material right?

Manuel Diaz-Cebrian

So bamboo stores its own water, it’s moving up and down inside the tubes of bamboo basically, its roots are not very deep. Bamboo recovers the nutrients it needs from the soil, it is capturing carbon rather than releasing it into the atmosphere. The carbon can stay locked away for 30-40 years like that. It depends on how you use it and dispose of it.

Reducing deforestation via sustainable materials such as bamboo

Talking about deforestation, obviously no single species is a complete solution to the problem so bamboo can play a role with a multi-crop strategy to ensure biodiversity and regeneration of soil. It is less advisable to have entire jungles dedicated to bamboo alone as a mono-crop strategy.

Primarily, bamboo is going to give the soil the nutrients it needs for healthy development and regeneration. Bamboo is a tool to help us regenerate our forests in an intelligent way, it ha a role to play in that process.

I know we had to stop the forest in the forest state in our jungles and wood, but there's already a lot of plant that has been damaged. And bamboo comes as a resource to regenerate those areas that have been already destroyed.

Growing sustainable bamboo materials around the world

Matt Morley

Can bamboo only play that role in certain geographies and latitudes around the world? What are its limitations in terms of locations?

Manuel Diaz-Cebrian

It all depends on the altitude in the soil, from the climate on the humidity. Obviously the Chinese and the Asians developed it most aggressively and bamboo is a native plant from that area but it is also found in Latin America for example, as well as Indonesia of course.

In Japan, bamboo is considered a very fine material while in China it is less prestigious, almost a symbol of poverty because it was so readily available.

Now we know that sustainable bamboo can also be grown in Mexico, it’s just a matter of culture, learnign how to care for it, harvest it, treat it and turn it into sustainable building and interior products.

For example bamboo is often treated with borax to prevent bacteria killing the bamboo. It’s a successful treatment that may involve submerging the bamboo in borax for instance.

Examples of bamboo in sustainable interiors

The applications of bamboo are what we can do with it in real estate and interiors, so it can be a materials such as flooring and panels. It can be used as a tubular product for construction as in that format it has the highest capacity for being a load-bearing material in structures.

So, that gives the bamboo a certain strength, because actually in the industry of the construction or index industries, we produce them, they are the metal, tubular things because they the tubular form resist a lot of impact and way bamboo has this form and strain by nature.

And you can see this example in Bali and many in many pavilions of examples from Belize is this very well known Colombian architect, he's been actually building up pavilions and churches of bamboo in our in his natural form Joseph tubular that you will have seen and supported with engineering techniques.

uses of bamboo for architects and interior designers

Matt Morley

So you mentioned the the same tubular shape that provides inherent strength to the material. So when you in terms of those characteristics, when you're talking to architects, when you're talking to designers, what characteristics are of most relevance?

What are the things that that can ultimately make it so useful? And how is it applied in different ways not just in a tubular form but I know I've seen it come through and flooring into effectively tiles so you get into flooring tiles as an alternative to wood.

Manuel Diaz-Cebrian

The possibilities are endless! I'm gonna give you a lovely example - you could produce fabrics you could produce food, you could produce jewellery, even juices and food. So really you could use the whole thing in different ways. to produce fabric is very popular now in India, the number one country producing bamboo textiles.

Bamboo is has a great future because it's durability number one and number two the hardness and number three the rapid growth. Those three factors are the most important factors to consider all the time. It can be used in kitchens, in flooring both indoors and outdoors. Once you engineer bamboo you can create different textures, colors, and usages.

For example, there is a hotel in in the Netherlands in Amsterdam called Hotel Jakarta mainly made from bamboo combined with other woods.

Why is important for the architects or the people in the construction industry to use bamboo. Well, first of all, for the three characteristic as I mentioned earlier, there's durability, strength and agility and obviously the hardness but the other one is just to support the sustainability of this resource. The more demand, the more we can support a boom in bamboo.

What is preventing bamboo from becoming a more widely used sustainable material?

The problem we have is that people are still very non aware of the opportunity for bamboo. I’m involved in creating a network of growers of bamboo in Mexico, for example. Obviously, compared to Asia, in Latin America, the industry for bamboo is very small. But this is more because we didn't know the potential, or how amazingly profitable it could be.

Because obviously, we didn't know how to use it or what to do with it as a sustainable material. We want people to learn how to take advantage of the durability of the material and the demand for it in treated form. That is what' is missing at the moment in Mexico.

Matt Morley

So I think that's what I find so interesting about what you're working on here, this project of effectively creating or reinventing the bamboo industry for a country like Mexico. So as I see it, you've got effectively three levels, right you have the producers, you have the crops, you need the space, you need the fields, you need the farmers to produce it and look after it.

Then there's the processing / treatment piece in the middle. And then a final piece, which is around the sales and communication and the distribution of where it goes to the end consumers which we've just covered some that bit in the middle, between the growers, and those who purchase the refined product. What does that what does that look like?

Or what could that look like in Mexico who's doing that refinement of the raw material and turning it into a product? Or how could that look in a in a new industry in Mexico?

Manuel Diaz-Cebrian

Let me go back to something as important mentioned, John Hardy created the Green School, which is the School of Bamboo in Bali years ago. He fell in love with bamboo. And they discover all the boundaries of this material. And then through the years, they created the Green School of bamboo in order to educate people on its potential. So it started being a school for children, and then became a school for architects.

John's Hardy daughter is a famous architect now too, she's the one that came back to the roots of her father, now she's one of the most popular and famous architects focused on bamboo buildings construction. The Green School has educated a lot of architects worldwide.

Interestingly, these architects and their word of mouth has created a lot of small collaborative groups that are now dedicating their lives to work and teach people what to do with bamboo. why it was important to harvest to harvest it, why where you can do it, how you could go with the bamboo not necessarily being rich, but actually how do you use it.

There is a famous architect in Mexico, she is working on a program that is started in Thailand about how to build your own house using bamboo? How incredible is that - teaching people to grow bamboo and build their own house with the material they have grown.

Social impact and sustainable bamboo

One of the reasons I’m getting into the bamboo industry in Mexico is because obviously the countryside in Mexico, Latin America is kind of cool. So bamboo is certain areas that are tropical, have been achieved those, they the coffee industry, I know the industry has really damaged our jungles and on our land tremendously so integrating bamboo into the selection of natural resources that you could use in a particular habitat partially resolves that issue rather than damaging the soil further.

So the whole idea is for indigenous people get a benefit from harvesting the bamboo, make the main number more profitable. And also not only for the construction, or use it as well as decoration items, for chairs, for lamps, all the stuff in red to get the added value of the bamboo. Because not everything is used on the construction, some leftovers are thrown away. The whole idea is to teach people how to take the benefit from the whole bamboo stem.

Colombia is the most advanced country already in this industry as they started years ago but Mexico has great potential too!

How are you helping to create a sustainable bamboo industry in Mexico?

First of all, you got to create the union of producers of bamboo, because they're kind of separated at the moment, it’s all very disparate and spread out, nothing brings them together into an industry yetto unify a price point, control quality, how it is treated, promote this new sustainable building interior resource to local architects and interior designers, etc.

Matt Morley

Really appreciate how you've described that kind of playmaking role of putting it together piecing the different elements together so that you create what is hopefully going to be a long term project around a sustainable alternative to building with less and less sustainable building materials.

So I think it's got so much merit if if someone wants to read further into the subject if they want to explore the topic a bit deeper. Is there what's uh, is there a recommended resource? Or where would you say we could go to kind of learn a bit more?

Manuel Diaz-Cebrian

Well, I have to tell you actually, I've been researching bamboo, I mean, ideally, in a professional way for the last few years. Because as you know, I'm the director of special projects for Marbella Design.

We gave a talk two years ago to architects and designers in Marbella and we started educating our guests about bamboo there. Many did not know the roof of the airport terminal at Madrid Barajas is made of bamboo for example!

I'm going to Paris in two hours just to see a pavilion that Simon Velez has built made of bamboo. So it's more and more and more that you're seeing this.

Last year, I invited Dr. Pablo van der Lugt to speak at Marbella Design Week, author of the book called ‘Booming Bamboo’ that I recommend to architects and interior designers interested in sustainable interiors or building construction. This is something of a bible in fact. I give a copy to every single person I meet who wants to learn more about the wonders of bamboo!

Show notes:

https://www.greenschool.org/

https://hoteljakarta.com/

https://designweekmarbella.com/en/home/

https://boomingbamboo.com/

Biomimicry and Biophilic Design: Biodesign Insights by Danielle Trofe - Wellness Design Consultants

the potential of mycelium as a healthy building material / examples of biophilic design that are truly sustainable / biomimicry as a leading light in the new field of sustainable design

Welcome to episode 43 of the Green & Healthy Places podcast, brought to you by Biofilico healthy buildings & interiors.

In this episode I’m chatting to Danielle Trofe, a biodesigner with her own studio in New York who also lectures in biomimicry for The Pratt Institute and Parsons New School. Danielle is a part of the green building movement herald, promoting sustainable and biophilic design.

Danielle’s MushLume collection of lampshades made from organically grown mushroom mycelium and hemp have featured in the seriously cool, eco-luxury 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge amongst other projects and she is a leading proponent of biofabrication - that is using naturally grown materials in product design.

Our conversation covers all of these ‘bio’ terms that may understandably be new for many of you, we also look into the full Life Cycle impact of a design product from production through to end of life, we discuss how biophilic design can when delivered poorly equate to a largely superficial greenwashing of the interior design process, and we introduce the topic of green chemistry, that is research and development around new bio-based materials that designers such s Danielle can then introduce into future product development.

Conversation highlights

• biophilic design allows us to connect to nature indoors, reminding us that we are still part of nature

• a label of ‘nature-inspired’ doesn’t necessarily mean a product is good for both people and planet, poorly delivered examples of biophilic design may in fact be harmful to the environment

• biomimicry as a movement is emerging as a rigorous framework for creating design that takes into consideration both our own health and that of the planet.

• I think a lot of the biodesign field is really about taking action, it’s not just the study of it but rather how we can actually start making goods that help restore balance back to our ecosystems.

https://danielletrofe.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielletrofe

https://twitter.com/DanielleTrofe

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FULL TRANSCRIPT FOLLOWS COURTESY OF OTTER.AI (excuse typos)

Matt Morley

Let’s begin with some terminology, specifically ‘biodesign’ and ‘biofabricated design’. How do you describe those two concepts to someone coming to this subject for the first time?

Danielle Trofe

In this past decade, or maybe even a little bit further, biodesign as a term has kind of come out in two different fields, one in the medical field and one in the design field. It’s serving a purpose as this catch all term that incorporates biomimicry, biofabricationbiophilic****design, to help those who don’t really know what each of those different facets really means. So that we can all kind of have the same conversation.

What is Biofabrication?

Biofabrication is what I do, it's about using a living organism to actually grow a product or design for you. So you're typically extracting something from nature or not, you can actually grow in a lab and and use that living organism to do the producing for you. In this case, I'm not not doing the manufacturing, the organism is actually doing that, for example mycelium - the roots of mushrooms - but also bacteria, algae or kombucha.

What is biophilic design?

I refer to Biophilic Design as the visual copying of nature and natural elements. We all have Biophilia, we all instinctively connect to nature in different ways, biophilic design is about tapping into that emotional state, that very native energy that we all have inside of us. Biophilic design has been shown to improve cognitive performance and provide health benefits. It allows us to connect to nature indoors, reminding us that we are still part of nature.

What is biomimicry?

Biomimicry goes a bit deeper by looking at Nature’s forms, processes and entire ecosystem, so it has these three different levels in other words. The aim is to draw out these principles to integrate them into human design to address any design or engineering challenge. Biomimicry involves understanding how nature overcomes similar challenges to the engineering challenge encountered. It leverages nature's evolutionary problem-solving to solve technological challenges.

Matt Morley

I think it’s very clear that you’ve mastered those concepts, it’s often so difficult to give a succinct description of concepts like biophilic design, yet you just managed to do it! Part of your work is in fact in education isn’t it? Besides being a designer you are also a teacher on biomimicry?

Danielle Trofe

Yes, correct. So I’ve been teaching biomimicry and biodesign at the Pratt Institute and the Parsons New School in Manhattan. I try to help orient students with an understanding of what this new field of nature inspired design is all about. That’s really what it is, it is a very new field, that is still unfolding, these terms are really being birthed at the moment, we continue experimenting with them.

Terminology can also vary from region to region. I know in the UK and in Germany, there are different terminologies for biomimicry for example. Everyone involved in this field is collectively trying to come up with a language to be able to talk about these particular topics such as biophilic design.

Matt Morley

There is so much discussion now around healthy buildings, healthy materials and wellness interior design on one side, with concerns over the sustainability of our buildings and interiors, the impact of our built environment on the planet, on the other. It looks to me like biodesign bridges those two worlds of wellness interiors and sustainable buildings.

It is not contributing waste, nor damaging the environment, and at the same time biodesign products are non-toxic, so these bio materials are inherently healthy and help contribute to an Indoor Environmental Quality plan.

Danielle Trofe

Yes… but with the caveat that it is done correctly! So let’s talk about that. Yeah, there is poorly delivered biomimicry, biofabrication or indeed biophilic design, right? You could create something that looks exactly like a tree. But if you’re using materials that can’t be recycled, that take tremendous amount of energy to create or that are mined unsustainably, you’re not really completing the holistic viewpoint of what biomimicry is, or hopefully in the larger sense, bio design.

My point is that just because it can fall under that label of nature-inspired, that doesn’t necessarily mean that a product is good for both people and the planet. The issue is that there’s nobody really there to judge what is or isn’t a high standard of biophilic design, for example.

So we’re kind of evolving together to be able to evaluate our own designs. Even if you are taking inspiration from nature, do you have the understanding and the tool set to be able to authentically factor in a products complete life cycle assessment, including where it’s coming from, how it’s affecting humans / nature during its use phase and the end of life disposal?

Whether that’s biophilic design, bio design, biofabrication or biomimicry, one thing that really stands out when you work in these fields is that there’s a greater framework for ensuring that a design meets all those needs throughout the process, from inception to production and end of life. This framework ensures that the number one thing and biomimicry is life can do, life creates conditions conducive to life.

That’s where I feel biomimicry as a movement is emerging as a more rigorous framework for creating design that really does take into consideration our health and the health of the planet.

Matt Morley

You’re practicing what you preach as you apply those same theories in your own products. And so that, in a sense leads us into the MushLume Biofabricated Lamps discussion. Why don’t we talk a little bit about how you have created a case study in a way of how to implement these ideas in a product-led business.

Biofabricated lamps

Danielle Trofe

Sure. Yeah, so about eight years ago, I started working with this amazing material that was coming out of upstate New York that was created by Ecovative - a mushroom mycelium material. And so for anyone who doesn't know what Mycelium is, it is the roots of a mushroom.

So just like an apple is the fruit of a tree. Mushroom is the fruiting body of this network of mycelia that live beneath the forest floor. And nature is the big recycler you know, it decomposes all dying and decaying matter in a forest or in an ecosystem. It connects all plants and an ecosystem actually is nature's communicator, it shares information, can warn other plants of impending danger, distributes water within a forest, shares nutrients underground… It really is this incredible organism that is one of the largest terrestrial organisms on the planet. There's one network that's known to be a couple 1000 years old in Oregon and stretches several football fields long.

Mycelium and hemp as healthy materials with positive health benefits

We take this mycelium and instead of extracting it out of nature, like we often do for most of our goods, we are we are inoculating it in a lab and reproducing it, then once it is in a liquid form we combine it with hemp and let nature do what it does best - grow! For that we put it in an environment that it wants to grow in, allowing the mycelium to bind to the hemp over a course of just a few days. You will see this white matte structure that actually solidifies all of the hemp.

The hemp is just used as support material for it to grow into, and also food as well. So cellulose, it wants to digest the cellulose. To give an understanding of the application of a lampshade, we create these forms, we pack them with the substrate that's already been inoculated. And then we just leave them to grow, we're not even adding additional water or energy into the production process!

Our largest lampshade, which is a 24 inch diameter dome takes about a week to grow. And if you think about this timeframe, to be able to use wood, you know, you're looking at anywhere from 25 to 100 years of a tree growing out in nature, and then you're harvesting this and you're putting all this energy into being able to process the material to use it.

We isolate mycelium in a lab, transport it a very short distance, and then let it grow in the course of just a few weeks. So you can already start to see the life cycle impact there.

The other most important part which is something that we're not as familiar with, but we're starting to understand its value now, is at the end of its life, the mycelium product is just going to decompose!

Biodegradable at end of life

Traditionally, in the last couple, maybe last 100 years, we've really wanted things to last. We want things to last as long as possible, we want them to be super durable. But we're starting to find out and especially since the invention of plastics that these might not be the best concepts. And rather than using materials that we're not quite sure how they're going to break down to an elemental form and affect our own bodies. We know exactly what's in these lampshades and they are going to actually add nutrients back into the soil rather than pollutants. So that's a completely different concept to a lot of our traditional goods.

And often people are like, Well, is it gonna break down in my living room but it's actually a very inert material. We do bake it at the end of its growth cycle, that's mainly to damage the cells enough so it won't continue to grow in your living room. It won't spore, it won't shoot off mushrooms. It's a completely stable, inert material in your living room. There's nothing that's going to break it down.

What's more the lampshades have this incredible soft feel, almost like a lamb's ear. So it's something that you actually want to touch. And there's not many lamps out there that inspire you to interact with it. And of course, that makes it a conversation piece, being able to talk with your guests at the dining room table about the light fixture that's overhead.

Matt Morley

You are rightly pointing out how long a lampshade really needs to be with us, where's that sweet spot between durability and being biodegradable. I wondered whether the lampshade had anything inherently suited to this particular medium. Could you have done any other number of things but you randomly selected the lampshade? Have you got an entire collection of products in your mind eventually?

Danielle Trofe

Yeah, so that's an excellent question. Part of the story is that Ecovative at the time was working mainly in packaging. So using the material to displace Styrofoam, which is a fantastic use for it.

We reached out to them, ordered samples and we wanted to start working with the idea of using it for a lampshade and it was kind of a crazy idea at that level eight years ago, and it ended up being one of the best use cases for it because of the material's properties. So to give everyone a better idea - when fully grown, it's very lightweight, it almost has the density of Styrofoam, but has a much softer exterior coat, which is actually the mycelium.

We can actually tune the material and kind of play with a little bit with its coloring. So yeah, we do have some that are not completely white. And that's the other thing about them. Once it's grown, the Mycelium is white, naturally. And that's how we leave them. So there's not any paint that's added to them. That's just the natural form that the mycelium takes.

Mycelium as an alternative to plastic packaging

It's great for packaging for single use packaging but it has limitations in terms of you a product like a chair or stool that is going to get bumped around, rubbed, scratched or knocked over. But for an object that's hanging above you suspended from the ceiling or perhaps a table lamp that's not always being touched, then that's a perfect case for using mycelium.

There were a number of years of us getting over shipping issues, modifying the form so that when they ship they don't crack or break, and they can be installed easily by the end consumer too. So there were huge learning curves of bringing this biotechnology to a place where you could commercialize a product.

I used to grow everything in Brooklyn, New York, I had a studio space here, and I would grow each one by hand. And just over this past year, year and a half, we move production to a company out in California who now grows all the lampshades for the studio. So we're able to finally expand past my own capabilities.

Biofabricated materials as a future trend

You're really seeing not just the general public, but the industry start to buy into Biodesign. Early on when we started to work with this material, nobody really knew what mycelium was, it was kind of a new term but the conversation has really shifted in the last five years so people know what Mycelium is.

There's all these startups around the world now working with mycelium whereas when I first started, there was maybe a handful around the world. We're talking single digits. So it's really been larger than just one studio or just a few companies. It's now so many young startups, working around biomaterials because they see the value in creating new products that are not going to necessarily pollute the planet or provide a negative impact.

Algae as a healthy material in design

Matt Morley

The other big player then, that I think deserves a mention in our conversation is algae - another biomaterial often mentioned in the same breath along with mycelium. Are you working with algae based materials too?

Danielle Trofe

Yeah, just when I started working with it, and it was for a completely different project, I ended up closing the studio to shift focus a little bit but we do work with it, for example an algae-based pigment to color the lampshades. We're collaborating with artists and designers to paint on our lampshades using algae ink. A start-up in Colorado has developed a new ink pigment derived from algae, which is fantastic.

There's also the Biodesign Challenge, which is a nonprofit organization that has a worldwide competition for young students to be able to create Biodesign applications and then have them be judged by professionals within the field. And there's been so many startups that have come from just these kinds of competitions, and you're really starting to see this field being driven by people that are under 30.

I really I do believe it's the generation underneath mine that is really going to power everything in terms of sustainability because they've inherited something that generations before did not - there has to be action. So I think a lot of the biodesign field is really about taking action, it's not just the study of it but rather how are we can actually start making goods that help restore balance back to our ecosystems.

Matt Morley

You collaborated with the 1 Hotel brand - they arguably reinvented what ‘eco luxury' could mean in hospitality. Can you talk to us about that project to help them create an example of biophilic design in one of their suites using your mycelium lampshades?

Biophilic design with natural elements in hotels

Danielle Trofe

Yeah it was fantastic. Working with 1 Hotel, that really was the project that elevated our lampshades to the next level, we did around 130 lampshades in this huge cloud in the presidential suite at the 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge. Biophilic design in hotels can support positive health benefits for guests.

Just working with 1 Hotel as a partner, it was really fantastic. We share the same values and be able to create different kinds of opportunities where the public can participate. So for instance, we had an exhibit where people could come in and see the lampshades being grown for the hotel. One of the things I realized is to hear the conversation that we’re having now, it’s really difficult to not physically see and feel the material, or watch the growing process. Demystifying that experience was really valuable.

The images that we got from that project really captured the possibilities of what our MushLume lampshades could do and have inspired a few other hotel installations since then too. We have grown from that as well I think, those images really did solidify that this is not just a case study. This is not just a single project but a commercialized product - that differentiation was huge. From there, we could move beyond this small niche to compete against big lighting brands, while also supporting positive health benefits through biophilic design in hotel suites.

Vertical gardens

Matt Morley

You've also got a vertical garden product that looks to be essentially a sort of an upright, vertically oriented planter for multiple plants. I'm wondering if you've got more things in the pipeline. Where do you go from here?

Danielle Trofe

Yeah, so the vertical garden was actually originally a hydroponic vertical garden. So that was the first product I ever created. And we launched that back in 2012. And it really kind of grew into a couple of installations with BMW.

The vertical garden now exists in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. So if you go to their Visitor Center, you can see it there. And it's something that hasn't completely come to full realization, mainly because I started getting into the lighting and that kind of took off. But it's something I do want to bring back and one of the main reasons this was lagging is because at the time there weren't the tools to be able to create those planter pods. They look kind of look like Alien eggs, if you will.

So we created them out of thermoformed plastic which went against everything that I as a designer and as a studio believed in. So we've kind of been in this holding pattern to get to the right material and the right process to be able to recreate this. And that's actually being done right now, with much more sustainable materials.

For example we're looking at upcycling food waste into ceramic planter pods. So that's definitely something that's happening in the future. We hope to actually come out with a full product and not just an installation.

As for future, it's a good question. I recently became a mom. So a lot of things have really shifted. You know, even a fetus can contain over 100 Different manmade chemicals at that stage yet it's extremely difficult to find healthy materials or healthy interior products aimed at babies. That's the next thing I want to get into - green chemistry, and being able to actually bring products that are not toxic to our environments.

Green chemistry to develop new natural materials

Matt Morley

So the green chemistry thing for those who perhaps not clued up on it, that’s really where the nature-inspired R&D is taking place that then facilitates people such as yourself as a designer, to create the bio products you envision, that then are sold to bio-friendly businesses like 1 Hotels with their biophilic design in the bedrooms. Green chemistry is a crucial part of sustainable design, focusing on creating products that are environmentally friendly and efficient. It can help create products that mimic natural forms and patterns.

If you haven’t got the green chemistry, providing you with what you need - the tools and materials to create the products - then the products can’t materialize yet. These products can enhance human well-being and connection with the natural world.

Equally, if there isn’t also the consumer demand, the end market there to make it all into a viable business proposition, then the products either don’t materialize or remain prototypes and concept designs. So we have this delicate dance required to push the industry forward…

Danielle Trofe

Exactly - what you’re doing with the Green & Healthy Places podcast is also helping these fields to advance, by communicating these ideas to a wider public. We need to popularize the basics of what Biodesign is about, biomimicry, biophilia, all of the ‘bio whats’ to our industry and beyond, to consumers because ultimately consumers are driving the demand for these bio materials and bio products as well.

Clients are asking for things that are more sustainable. And they’re also starting to ask the questions. Well, where does this come from? How was it made? Hopefully ‘where does it end up?’ will be the next question that they’re going to ask…!

https://danielletrofe.com/

Danielle’s products are available in Europe through https://www.grown.bio/

Healthy sustainable furniture by Benchmark UK

Talking healthy materials, circular economy principles, biophilic design and Life Cycle Assessments with Benchmark Furniture, in Berkshire, UK.

Welcome to Episode 34 of the Green & Healthy Places podcast, in which we explore the themes of sustainability and wellbeing in real estate and hospitality. 

I'm your host, Matt Morley, founder of Biofilico healthy buildings and Biofit wellness concepts. 

This week I’m in Berkshire in the English countryside talking to Sean and Laerke Sutcliffe of Benchmark Furniture.

Set up by Sean with his business partner, the late Sir Terence Conran, in 1984, Benchmark may be an artisanal workshop of 70-plus people but they have also been trailblazers in pushing forward the theme of green and healthy furniture in recent decades.

They’ve worked with Foster + Partners, Westminster Abbey, Oxbridge Colleges, museums and countless public buildings around the world. In our conversation we cover:

• How they stance on sustainability has evolved over the past 40 years to incorporate health and wellbeing

• The history of VOCs and Formeldehyde in wood workshops

• The link between tropical timbers and deforestation

• Vertical integration as a way to control the provenance of their work

• How hiring apprentices locally ensures long-term staff retention

• Their brand extension into healthy upholstery using NaturalMat filler

• Life Cycle Assessments and the metrics of environmental impact that matter

• Their thoughts on ‘biophilic furniture’ and the medium of wood

If you like this type of content, please hit subscribe, you can find Benchmark at benchmarkfurniture.com and my contact details are in the show notes for feedback and comments.

• https://www.instagram.com/madebybenchmark/

• Made WELL Sustainability Report

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HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE CONVERSATION

our workshop considers both People and Planet, our carbon footprint and the transparency of our materials

here we are on a redundant farm, employing more people than the farm ever did in agriculture in high quality artisanal jobs

We produced the first wooden furniture in the world that had fully verified lifecycle assessments

I hope a time will come when we will base taxation of products, not on an arbitrary figure of the of the pecuniary value but on their carbon cost

as human beings, our oldest and most trusted relationship with any material is with wood

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FULL TRANSCRIPT FOLLOWS COURTESY OF OTTER.AI

Matt Morley

I would like to start with a question around your the positioning of the business itself. So you seem to have this wonderful combination of craftsmanship, sustainability, and responsible business practices. And it feels so now it seems so current, and yet, you've been around for a little while. So I wonder if you could place that in context? Did you set out with that initial vision, and the world has aligned or has it been more of an evolutionary process over the last 30 years or more.

Benchmark Furniture / Sean Sutcliffe

So we set out 39 years ago, when we started the workshop, with a highly unusual stance in the furniture making community I took a rather stubborn stance that I won't use any tropical timbers. And people were quite dismissive, and some people are quite offended. But I had been learning as a young man about deforestation, and particularly a prime forest. And so my stance then was - we like to use wood, but we won't use any tropical timbers. Because that way, we are not deforesting, and we're not using any endangered species. And that was our stance for many years.

What's happened over the intervening nearly 40 years now is that the argument has moved. And so what is our stance is now not so much that we won't use tropical timbers, although we choose we prefer not to. But it now embraces so many other things that we've learned over the last 40 years.

We were the first workshop in the UK to go zero formaldehyde, the first workshop in the UK with FSC chain of custody (FSC) Certification - we've we've always tried to look ahead at the way that the sustainability arguments and the health and wellbeing arguments have gone.

People tend to think that the health and wellbeing argument is pretty new. But actually, 25 years ago formaldehyde became the hot topic. And what we're saying today will change tomorrow, because the situation on the ground will change, science will change, imperatives and priorities will change. Now everyone's very focused on carbon. But, some while ago, everyone was very focused on acid rain, say or eutrophication.

Laerke Sutcliffe

But I think it's also interesting to sort of look at it from both the planet and the people angle. And that has become quite important for us within the last six years to have a position where we both consider the carbon footprint and the transparency in the materials that we are using. So being that workshop, or that destination, where you as a customer can come and buy your product and combine the carbon footprint, and the non toxic material considerations together.

Matt Morley

You mentioned the word transparency there - clearly, a responsible business, in a way needs to take ownership for presumably a bit more than just that final piece of the puzzle, have you adopted this process of vertical integration? And what role has that played in helping you get to where you are today?

Benchmark Furniture

We've done it over a long period of time. But in truth, most of our vertical integration came about through a simple desire to have more control over the quality of our work, and the provenance of our work.

Nowadays, vertical integration also gives us more control over the wider aspects of employment practices, diversity practices, and so forth that play into the supply chain argument. So we happily, frequently get asked quite deep and complex questions about our supply chain, and the more that we can supply from under our own control the simpler that process is.

Of course, we've still got our materials supply chain. But in terms of subcontract supply chain we use very, very few subcontractors.

Matt Morley

You also mentioned the idea of employment practices. And it's something that really comes across in terms of your communication online, the idea of adopting responsible work practices that really seem to be a part of your DNA and as a business, was that an instinctual process?

Benchmark Furniture

Yeah, I think I wish I could say there was some greater and higher good about it, but actually, it was very simple. A realization some years into running the business and training people, that if you employ locally, your retention is much better.

So we started off employing graduates and students, or craftsmen from far afield, you know, other parts of the UK or overseas, and they’d come to do a few years, and then normally go back to their places of origin so we thought, well, this is mad, we started employing and training apprentices only from my local area.

It may sound a bit mean, but when when aspiring apprentices apply to training here, if they haven't got a pretty local postcode, they're not in the running. That a self interested thing about keep retaining staff. But of course, what it also plays into is our journey to work miles are very low.

We have very long employment profile here. And so we really do care very deeply, we've got second generation staff here, which is very gratifying. So it started out purely as a way of keeping staff. But it actually has evolved into a very good employment practice in terms of local employment and, and artisanship.

The countryside has lost most of its skilled jobs. And here we are on a redundant farm, employing more people than the farm ever did in agriculture in high quality artisanal jobs.

Matt Morley

There is then also that connection in terms of the materials as well, a key piece of a healthy interiors and healthy building strategy. So employing and working locally. And then as you mentioned, not using tropical woods. So could you talk to your vision of, of cradle to grave lifecycle in terms of the materials that you're using for your products, and perhaps place that in the context of the wider industry? Because it's not necessarily an industry that's known for getting everything right, in that sense, but you've really taken a stance on it.

Benchmark Furniture

Yes, and we, we have the great advantage that we our principle material is wood, I mean, 99% of everything we make originates as a tree. So we have a fantastic advantage in terms of sustainability, providing that we're making sure we're buying our wood entirely from sustainably forested sources. And that's an absolute must for us, you know, we will only do that.

The materials that do extend beyond wood into upholstery, for example, we've changed radically our approach to upholstery, because that's where there is use of petrochemical foams, which is almost ubiquitous in the in upholstery world. They're very nasty business.

We were really lucky that some 10 years ago, we started working with Imperial College London on lifecycle assessment. So we did this as some projects that we did with the Royal College and, and the American Hardwood Export Council, looking at measuring the the real proper metrics of cradle to grave lifecycle assessments. We produced the first wooden furniture in the world that had fully verified lifecycle assessments.

And we've continued to do that, it's an evolving science in it - It's an imperfect science still. But we now on all our core ranges do environmental product declarations, which include lifecycle assessments. And we're able to give not just the carbon content or the carbon store, of the pieces of furniture, but also all the other measures the other seven measures of environmental impact that are embodied within the work we do.

So it's a really fascinating things. And in order to be really transparent, and protect against a world that is flooded with greenwash, we really need metrics. And is only through lifecycle assessment and independent verification, that we can get reliable and proper metrics and people can, can see and trust the knowledge they've been given about the impact of what they're buying.

Laerke Sutcliffe

I think we also decided about I think it's five years ago, that we wanted to take it to the next level as Sean was saying, the fact that all products today are declaring themselves ‘sustainable’. So you know, where does that leave us, a firm who truly has been sustainable from the very beginning, before it was something cool?

Where if we wanted to keep leading the way in terms of taking it to the next levels, how did we best interact with the movement, so we decided to have third party verification to be able to put the hard facts on the table.

So in that process, we had to go back and analyze a little bit the materials that we were using, so glues, oil, and upholstery was our biggest challenge. And we then went into to a process of putting quite a bit of pressure on our supply chain, which I think is needed, you know, people, like ourselves and our friends in the industry required a lot of responsibility in terms of choosing the materials that we put out in the world.

So if we can put that pressure on the supply chain saying, guys, unless you can meet those criteria, so there was transparency. In our case, we wanted to have a declare label on the products, so unless the products that our supply chain provided could meet that the low VOC basically, they couldn't deal with it, we couldn't deal with them.

So we had to have some upfront meetings about either we work on this together, and we get to where we need to be at, or we have to go and look for other places to source our core materials. So I think that was a really interesting process.

And as Sean say, you know, we obviously come from a very good starting point because we work mainly in timber, but we still did have to do get our clues and our oils and, and PE and really in engage with the upholstery. And I don't know if it's worth it going into sort of like a deeper sort of description of how we did

Matt Morley

So the even the idea that your furniture could be unhealthy, that a flame retardant, a chemical process is going to off gas into your home or your office over the first six to 12 months, the idea that the adhesives might do the same and lower the quality of the indoor air in your space. And also you mentioned the filler but I saw that you'd found an ingenious solution by working with a UK company that I know from Devon who do the wonderful natural mattresses - so you went to a natural mattress company to find a solution to fix the issue around nasty foam filler as your upholstery?

Laerke Sutcliffe

That's right. And and I think as I said, you know, we started out by putting pressure on the existing supply chain and didn't actually get anywhere. For us, it was quite important to actually do the heavy work ourself, because you get into the grid of what it actually really takes to not just tick the box, but actually do the right things.

So we, in the research process, it became quite clear for us we had to be thinking, innovative, and as additive, and NaturalMat has been quite revolutionary in the way that they have providing their different materials to build up their mattresses. And so we reached out to them and said, You know, this is what we are trying to achieve. And actually, today, if we really want to do some massive changes, we believe we have to collaborate across industries. And be and think a little bit above, just sort of like the day to day, you know, and what we set out to do goal wise, our mission and so on.

We actually became really good friends with the guys running NaturalMat, and we had to persuade them that you know, guys, come on, let's work together. And let's try to, to do things in a way that is not necessarily the conventional way of doing things.

Benchmark Furniture

I do think that we're all going to make a lot more difference if we collaborate more. And if we, if we have as much openness and transparency about what we're doing. So we have a rule here, anybody can come and visit our workshops, you know, industry competent competitors, whatever, they can come and see what we do and how we do it. Because on our on our own, we're going to make very little change. But if we can help lead away and and larger and perhaps more influential businesses, financially influential businesses can can see that there's a way forward and follow suit, then, then we're going to be very happy to have shared that knowledge.

Laerke Sutcliffe

We do also on our website, we actually share our composition of how we managed to put together our post street at the end, because that was also quite a process of finding both comfort and, and sort of actually meeting the first fire retardant natural fire retardant within the build up of the structure. So we did put quite a lot of sort of testing and effort into getting there. And as shown saying, instead of sort of, you know, could putting a copyright and sort of being proud about it.

We actually say, guys, give us a call. This is how you do it, we show it on the website, and yeah, very open to share. And I think it's also important to mention that we you know, we have walked the walk and come a long way, we still have a lot to do, and we will keep walking. But we are never, never trying to look or come across as the expert in the industry, but more the sharing people that we hope you will follow. If that makes sense.

Matt Morley

Talk to us a bit about the OVO furniture collection because from outside it looks like it's encompassing a lot of your values and the principles behind the business in one - is it sort of the furthest you've gone so far in terms of delivering on that?

Benchmark Furniture

Yes, the OVO range was the first of our core ranges that we did for environmental product declarations on and it for me It embodies the very best of design and I think the design is the best of modern design. It's simple. It's tactile, it’s biophilic, you just feel good in its presence, you want to stroke it. It's non toxic. In its consistency in its materials, it has a measured embodied carbon declared on it. And in almost all cases, other than the leather upholstery pieces, it's, it gives us a sort of net carbon store or people even call it carbon negative, but we call it a net carbon store value.

I think it does embody the best of of what we do. But we've extended the environmental product declarations now to many more products. And we've had some external consultants write algorithms that enable us to do this in a simpler way, we still have to have the figures verified by third party peer reviewed, but it does enable it to be more streamlined. And it is a bit burdensome, and a lot of businesses just cannot see how they would ever do it. But the processes are becoming simpler.

Models are being built that will enable makers of anything really to do this, and it's just gonna be very valuable. I hope a time will come when we will base taxation of products, not on an arbitrary figure of the of the pecuniary value but on their carbon cost - being a much more real cost as we face You know, the climate situation we we face. So, I think that that it's really important the sharing of knowledge and the making it easier for businesses to to produce lifecycle assessments or environmental product declarations.

Matt Morley

There may not be government level legislation yet around targets for the carbon impact of furniture in a new workplace. Let's say if that workplace or the owner, the real estate developer signs up for a LEED certification process and indeed the well process there then, in a sense that provides that structure that then gives additional credits and effectively encourages the industry. And someone like myself was specifying which furniture should be put into these 12 floors of offices.

Were then out looking for brands, businesses, products, such as they have a collection that have that epd behind them, and they're then rewarded with credits on the on the overall project score. So I think there is a commercial angle to it, if anyone's still not convinced that it is the purely the right thing to do. When one is aligned with LEED or BREEM certification, one of these systems, there are literally points scored for purchasing products that have these EPDs. And that seems to be the best we have in terms of nudging the industry in the right direction.

You mentioned biophilic design, and it's typically referenced for entire spaces, and a lot of people think of effectively plants. But I'm big advocate for biophilic design being much more about things like texture, colours, patterns and natural fabrics.

Unusually though, you mentioned it in the context of your furniture. So from where you sit, how does this trend if we can call it that reflect a shift towards a more natural approach to interiors? How are your pieces talking that language of nature?

Benchmark Furniture

So our pieces of furniture do speak as a very natural piece because principally, they're made of wood and as human beings, our oldest and most trusted relationship with any material is with wood. It is the most in any survey done anywhere in the world at any time. Wood is the material that gets the greatest amount of trust and credibility from the buying public.

I just believe I know that we react very well. When we can see that something's made of wood and preferably have solid wood. The fact that we can touch it, the fact that we can feel the grain we can see the grain it just takes us into a natural world. There are all sorts of measures that that are starting to be done or on the the brains reaction in relation to to nature and there is some science We're starting to get some science that is actually able to pinpoint, specifically which parts of our brain react well.

But I'm also a great believer in instinct. And I regard instinct as being a little more than the sort of distillation of 1000s or hundreds of 1000s of years of experience in existence of the race. If our instinct is to accept and trust and feel good in the presence of material, then you're probably right. And we don't give enough credit to instinct we tend to look for, for sort of scientific explanations for everything, and yet we accept that instinct exists within the way a whale migrates or swallow returns to its nesting site, we accept that instinct exists, but in everything except human beings.

I think we should listen a little more to our instinct, and everybody feels better, closer to nature. And if that closer to nature means sitting at a wooden table and feeling a piece of wood, or sleeping in a wooden bed, or having a wooden floor, a wooden wall, then that's also beneficial.

Laerke Sutcliffe

I think, also more indirect, for instance, our new collection, our new fabric collection, has aspects of biophilic by the fact that it's created in in natural materials and without the need of any fire retardant treatment. So aspects like that, that, you know, if you keep if you're building up products are spaces with only materials this either, yeah, natural or not, in need of any toxicity for any treatment. That layers up, in my opinion, they biophilic design.

So I think but as you're saying that biophilic design is quite often misunderstood by you know, just at the very end of the project, you putting a few sort of plants, in plastic pots around the green wall, the green, green wall, you know, it sticks much deeper than that, then then then then in how you are creating a space in layers.

Matt Morley

I noticed one of your previous projects was the Maggie’s Center in Manchester, I had the opportunity to collaborate with Lily Jencks, the daughter of the late Maggie on one of my early projects and Lily, a landscape architect created a wonderful green gym space for us. And I when I saw that you'd also been involved on a Maggie center in Manchester, I just thought what a great one an obvious connection and so fitting.

So perhaps you could just describe a little bit the involvement there because again, I think there's a real connection with with biophilic design and creating a nurturing space and it's essentially a cancer care center. So a place where it's real mission, its purpose is to nourish and calm and relieve anxiety.

Benchmark Furniture

Yeah, I'm I'm a huge fan of the Maggie's charity and Charles Jencks his vision. After Maggie's work, it was Maggie's vision in her own lifetime, having suffered that, that sort of shock of being diagnosed with cancer, and you walk out of the oncology department in some big hospital, and where do you go? Where do you take that shock. And their vision was that you take it into a Maggie center, and that these centers should seek in every way to sort of calm and reassure and comfort you. And nature is in their view, and I would share it entirely the greatest comfort at that moment. And so all Maggie centers are built as much as possible in natural materials. They have gardens, they have a big kitchen table where you can give away which encourages a sense of community and sharing of your that moment and of of your diagnosis or treatment afterwards. And so we've actually been involved in a lot of Maggie's projects Manchester was was one of them, which was a foster and partners project. But we've done a lot of the Maggie centers and I think that sadly, I'm Charles Jencks has he's died there, but the the charity continues, and Garner's a lot of goodwill for very good work, but it is that central thing of putting nature at the heart of a building, whether it be through gardens, planting, natural materials, tactility shape form, and undoubtedly every Maggie's that I've ever been into Give a feeling of wellness sort of ironic when actually tend to be rather full of people who are unwell with cancer. But but the the physical environment is a very well environment.

Matt Morley

There's then also the topic of, of circularity and circular economy and durability and something that one can really sense with with your work is that no doubt due to impart to the vertical integration to the level of craftsmanship to the quality of the products and materials, something that's going to last.

And you've really committed to that with this idea of almost sort of a take back scheme at the end which connects with the idea of circular economy and I'm a big fan of this, I think pretty much everyone needs to get on board. But it seems to be a slow takeoff. How have you adopted that approach? And what have you learned so far from that?

Benchmark Furniture

So I think our stance on this started with with the concept of lifetime repair. What we make is inherently durable, because we operate with high levels of craftsmanship, and hopefully good design, where durability is built in and designed in. But the concept of lifetime repair. I think it was it was probably Patagonia and Yvon Chouinard, and in my awareness of the work that he'd done on it, I thought, well, that's all free.

So of course, we should offer lifetime repair, it's an easy thing to do. So that was the starting point. And then the circularity argument, as it's gained momentum over the last 10 years or so, really took us beyond that to what is a relatively new initiative for us of take back scheme, where anybody who owns our furniture, we do have geographic limitations, which are just for the purpose of the practicality of recovering and bringing it back.

But essentially, within this moment, we operate it within the UK, we can collect there for if it's no longer required, it is no longer relevant, useful. Or the or the circumstances of the owner have just changed. We can take it back, we can give it a value depending on the condition of it, which is then issued as a credit against more furniture that we can supply.

But then what we take back, we seek to either repair, refurbish, repurpose, reuse, or at worst recycle. And because it's all natural materials, they're recyclable. And so in order to, to offer that and do that, you have to think at the design stage and the making stage about well, how easy is it to repair, how easy to take it apart? when this comes back to us, you know, are we going to be able to take it apart until you start to think even when you're making it for the first time about how you're going to remake it or repurpose it or refurbish it.

There's nothing new I mean, you know, it's it's centuries old, the concept that that furniture should be able to reuse and repurpose it was you know, furniture used to be the one of the very high value items that any household owned. And so it had to be transportable, it had to be repairable and somehow we lost sight of that.

So we're only really seeking to reintroduce something that that has been around. But yes, it's it's an exciting, it's an exciting new avenue for us. And it also hopefully will bring a new audience to us because there will be this, this body of furniture that's available for for resale, refurbished furniture for resale. And that hopefully will bring us new customers as well. So we will I hope it's good business as well as good for the world.

Laerke Sutcliffe

But also as you say, it sort of starts already from the product development point of view. So we have a when we start new projects we just about to go into a new product development process this month. And when we start out a collaboration like that, we have a wheel that we sort of measuring all the or the starting process and all the way through really up against this wheel. And one of those is but if it's gonna last the life time, how do we then you know, how where do we start? So I think it's definitely starting from the very beginning that we are considering all of those different aspects which is ending up being there. They sort of finish it finished product,

Matt Morley

Effectively shouldering the responsibility for waste creation upfront in the production process in the design process because you know, you're taking ownership of that rather than designing and saying, Well, someone else can worry about what happens when it when it's finished when it when it's no longer needed.

Benchmark Furniture

Yes, but I'd also say we don't look upon it as perhaps waste creation, because what we take back is never waste. I mean, what we take back has opportunity, it has repurposing it, it has a resale, it has a lot of inherent embodied values still in it more than just the materials for recycling. So I'm the very, very last resort would be conversion into biomass fuel. But, but that would be the absolute last resort. So I really try to think that I would like to think that nothing we make ever ends up as waste, it just ends up as another kind of resource.

Matt Morley

Which is the takes us back to the wonderful circle rather than a linear, hopefully, hopefully, in some is admirable work. It's pretty great stuff. So you've obviously got retail collections, you also working with interior designers and architects, how are people connecting with you? Where are you present in the world?

Benchmark Furniture

People connect with us, I mean, I suppose our primary link is through the architectural community we've worked with, we're lucky enough to work with many of the world's biggest best and or most forward thinking architects. And so that is one of the major connections with the world.

We also deal with the furniture dealerships who have historically not been at the forefront of either either sustainable practice, you know, they'd be more interested in flogging a lot of furniture, then then what happens to it is lifestyle is the date its lifetime use. But actually that is changing. And pretty much all the dealerships are now having to engage in the argument.

And they have this whole, sustainable and circularity of health and wellbeing aspects now bigger, much higher in their customers buying profile. And so the dealerships are having to take that on board as well. That's another network that we that we operate through. And then I think just through the world of, of people who are interested in sustainability people like yourself, people like the planted, planted cities group that are looking at how we improve circularity, the way we view the products we consume.

Matt Morley

The good part there is that there's there's very little imagine sales process because the work speaks for itself. And there's a shared value system that one can just tap into and connect with because it's in one sense universal, although we wish it was slightly wider spread, of course, but for those of us who have bought into it and have adopted it as our worldview it's and we connect with see what you do, it's there is no conversion process required. It's just completely smooth. Well, that completely connects with how I see the world. And that's, I think, where the real value is.

Healthy Materials with Matter of Stuff

Materials for a healthy interior with Matter of Stuff in London, UK

Green & Healthy Places podcast episode 032

Wellbeing & sustainability in real estate & hospitality

Welcome to Episode 032 of the Green & Healthy Places podcast, in which we explore the worlds of wellbeing and sustainability in real estate and hospitality. I'm your host, Matt Morley, wellbeing champion - Founder of BIOFILICO healthy buildings and BIOFIT wellness concepts.

This episode, I'm back in London, UK talking to the two Italian founders of Matter Of Stuff - a furniture procurement consultancy that offers bespoke manufacturing via a network of craftsmen as well as research and development of new materials and manufacturing processes.

sustainable interior materials

My conversation with Simona and Sofia focuses on the sustainable material side of their offer. It is worth noting that their range goes far beyond that inspired, at least in part by their links to artisans throughout their home country.

Here though, we're digging into the importance of choosing locally produced building materials, considering a materials entire lifecycle, and a circular economy approach to repurposing building waste.

In terms of specific materials, we cover things like sustainable ceramics, clay plaster, live mycelium, recycled glass, biodegradable cork walls, and an ingenious sea stone product made of discarded seashells from the seafood industry.

All of this is really just a reflection of the wealth of knowledge at the fingertips that these two young ladies have. And they're now setting their sights on construction materials in addition to interior surface materials, so expect to hear plenty more from them over the next year or so.

Matter Of Stuff

Yeah, so I'm Simona. And we're both architects, we set up Matter Of Stuff seven years ago, wow. Time flies, but we came from an architectural background working in offices in London, I had a big studio for myself. And we find a gap in between the manufacturing industry and what is the the actual scenes of the architectural industry. So we are defining ourself as a consultancy for both materials and procurement of furniture manufacturing. We are actually trying to fill the gap in between architects, interior designers, and the manufacturing world.

Healthy interior materials for architects

So are you finding that generally, is it perhaps that architects are focusing on on the big picture, and they perhaps have their regular materials that they go to materials that it's easy for them to specify? And in a sense, you're, you're trying to propose new ideas?

Matter Of Stuff

“Busy architects may not have the luxury of time to research deeply new products and materials constantly. This topic has become very broad and their job has been pushed into larger more complex projects, so we help them navigate the world of materials and sustainability. ”

— Matter of Stuff

Craftmanship and sustainable materials in offices

So how do you see the hand crafted in relation to say industrial production? How do you see the relationship between the two because there's the sort of the imperfections on the one side, that kind of Wabi Sabi thing. Then in some contexts, and you mentioned offices - they are typically prefer almost an industrial approach to the furniture and the finishes. So how do you balance those two?

Matter Of Stuff

We wrote a manifesto about perfection, debunking the myth of imperfection, really, because we believe that in crafts as opposed to industrial production, imperfection is a symbol of craft ands add value, there are two way of manufacturing items one is producing at a large scale in a line.

What we value is the handcrafted. And so often, like small scale businesses, which are very dedicated to really high quality, however, there is a there is a little thing about the the mentality, the making by hand that goes and add a little detail, and every item makes every item you need. And that's what we value most.

Carbon footprint for furniture

How do you manage your own carbon footprint for the furniture projects that you're involved in?

Matter Of Stuff

Yeah, so for basically for every piece of furniture that we sell, we deal with, there is a little code a little number that assigns a carbon footprint of every object and when we add up in a schedule all those numbers then we come up with a total quantity of carbon footprint emitted and then we try to offset it by partnering up with the Tree For Life - a charity set up in Scotland, the first place on earth to declare a climate emergency actually.

“I think of carbon offsets as the last resort for companies trying to make a difference; everybody should do it if possible but getting to the root of the problem requires researching materials that can transform the building and construction industry, such as recycled materials, mycelium and so on. ”

— matter of stuff

There are there are many ways potentially to influence the market to change and one is triggering thoughts and reflection and topics of furniture to interior design to the actual construction. Like we can do bricks in virgin material or we can break down an existing building and rebuild it from the materials that are actually used in the demolition process.

We also need to start thinking about localizing production. So bringing manufacturing closer to the construction site. What I mean by this is, for example, we work with recycled plastic - a super interesting concept and idea. However, if it is shipped from Italy, let's say to Los Angeles in California, then it doesn't really become sustainable.

A Life Cycle Analysis of Materials

So on one level, we have recycled materials but we also have to think about where that material is produced and the distance that it travels to get to the site.

Matter Of Stuff

Yeah, and the final thing that you need to add to that is also the life cycle of our materials. So once you finish the project, you're not done at all, you have all these new life of materials that need to be repurposed from the building that you have completed. And as that is long life cycle.

So it is about adding a third element to sustainability thought, which is, how can I then reuse this material that I've used in my project in another project, and so on creating a circular process of reusing all your waste, because at the end of the day, we don't have only a problem of resources, we only have a problem as a massive amount of waste we are generating. So by kind of shifting the thoughts on these three topics, you can really make the massive differences.

healthy materials - ceramics

If we then go one level deeper and start looking at some of the materials… let’s start with ceramics, you've got some really interesting ceramic tiles, including some that have industrial waste made of iron and manganese and metal? How do you communicate those to a potential client in terms of why you would use certain types of ceramics over others?

Matter Of Stuff

Ceramic is a very exciting material. I think, because it's been used for centuries, we have so much knowledge gathered around it. And really, I think what we have tried to convey in our selection of ceramics is mainly How can we do it in a more sustainable way so that the impact of an oven at 1200 degrees doesn't become a problem in terms of carbon emissions.

We actually selected mainly companies and independents that are trying to use ceramic in an interesting way. So the first thing is, we don't have our range or set of ceramic tiles, we only make them bespoke to the needs of a client. But we are producing only on demand, which is a massive shift to how ceramic is conceived.

This means we don't create waste because we obviously don't produce more than what is demanded. We only turn on the oven when it's necessary, which is another point. And then I think there is a really interesting thing because ceramic is made out of iron sand sort of glazing that it's mostly having chemical reaction in the oven.

And by actually trying to recycle metal waste we are regenerating those materials that are polluting the environment into a product that can have beautiful color as a normal glazing by reusing something that would be otherwise poisoning landfills. We try to really guide our client and architect to understand what they're purchasing and only purchasing what is necessary.

Non-toxic materials for improved air quality

Okay, so the recycled content is the pigment in the glaze on top of the tile that contains these recycled components but you also mentioned there's some toxic elements potentially in other types of ceramic tiles? The ceramic tile unglazed is a healthy material but it is the glaze we have to careful of is that it?

Matter Of Stuff

Yeah, so I mean, in general, when you create tiles, you are having a body of clay that needs to be skipped, let's call it and you put it into the oven, and you fire it, and this is unglazed. And then we use glass and metal particles and pigments to create the beautiful coloring of the surface of the time.

Obviously, there are chemicals in that process that are not natural, that could actually be poisoning. And obviously we try to avoid those and try to only use things that are, you know, potentially natural source of coloring. Obviously, by using some of these iron and manganese and other metals that were left in the, in the landfills, we are offsetting the pollution that they will generate and instead creating a beautiful coloured glaze.

the healing power of clay

Do you see that as almost part of one healthy material family then as you also supply clay plasters and paints, all offering a connection to one of our most ancient building materials.

Matter Of Stuff

Yeah, clay and earth is one of the oldest material humans have used. I think the main difference with clay plaster and paints is that you're actually using the clay unfired so you're not turning on an oven, you are mixing it with different types of pigments or silica, and things that can create really beautiful coloring, and then you're just plastering walls with it.

What is also quite important is that clay has incredible properties is actually a healing material. We use it, you know, as a face mask, we use it as well to cure our aching joints when they are a bit stiff. So clay has this really strong natural power of healing. And by using it as a natural product on your walls, you're creating a surface that is hypoallergenic, but has also ability to regulate humidity inside a room, which is something that is very important for the health of of, you know, of as human in cylinder.

materials that are both green and healthy

You're describing these materials both in terms of people and planet, both the healthy and the environmentally friendly. So balancing the two in terms of the impact the material has on the planet, but also on the potentially positive impact that can have on on the health of the people spending time in that space. What about mycelium in that sense, it is a new material that's suddenly getting talked about so much. What is its potential?

Matter Of Stuff

Yeah, I mean, it's biophilic Design, I mean, it comes, there's something interesting in designing with a living material, right? We can plan the outcome and we can kind of control it in a way that it comes to a desired form or shape or certain performances.

What's great about mycelium is that it's a fungus, and it grows by eating some kind of organic matter. And then what we can do, we can stop the growth of the material once it's rich, the shape and the performances that we want. And we can kind of see it in a way that it stops growing and it stops it starts actually performing.

But after its lifecycle as a building material, for example, if an office needs to be taken down in 10 years time, then the acoustic panel that is composed of mycelium can be taken out of the wall and thrown in compost and actually it biodegrade with nature.

I think that's something completely beautiful and and it's new Of course it's there's so much of this research that it's has been gone through I think as a consequence of the Greta Thunberg movement you know a couple of years ago people are getting a lot more like aware and I think governments are investing a lot more into funding and subsidizing also research and design and new manufacturing processes that are you know, innovative and have you know, something something new to give to to kind of the construction industry I think that's great and it's it's the only way forward in a way

opportunities for recycled glass in wellbeing interiors

You also have a range of glass products and recycled glass in particular such as recycled glass panels made in the UK 100%. So it's taking the sort of the local box if you had a local project in in London or the UK, right?

Matter Of Stuff

So recycled glass, it's an amazing opportunity for all of us because glass, again, is one of the oldest material humans work with. Most of our recycled glass are taking shape into a pixel that could be repeated, either creating chandeliers or creating new wall systems with other materials, as well as the recycled glass which becomes actually an incredible tool to control acoustic performances into a room.

So by changing completely the composition, this creates material that is almost like a pumice stone type of thing. So it's very light, very porous, and can actually trap Sound waves inside in a very special way. So we simply use glass as a new material. But in a way, we can recycle it infinitely because it's only about you know, melting again the glass and so to keep on adding on it.

Also what is quite interesting about being very local is that you use the glass, the type of glass you have very close to you. So you control the quality of the glass and the colors. And therefore you can start creating patterns and so the composition that you know, are controllable and predictable.

We have also created recycled glass reception desk, or even tables, which is quite it's quite interesting and exciting, but we mostly work with designers who are private client they want to are interested in the material and then we come up with a beautiful design for it.

Cork walls as a sustainable design feature

Okay, so we have a couple of alternative options for acoustic panels. With the mycelium and the recycled glass. The recycled glass can also be almost kind of like decorative panels, but in the mycelium, I noticed can also be a type of floor tile. Talking about the walls I noticed you've also recently started working with Portuguese cork wool supplier, corks that some of the finishes there and that the designs that they have are really amazing. It's not what you would expect from a piece of cork, right?

Matter Of Stuff

Well, I mean, I think the main purpose of design is to innovate and make a material look new and interesting. So what Gencork has developed with cork is I think the ultimate design plus onto a material that has been seen and kind of used a lot.

So it's quite interesting to work with a Portuguese company because with cork because they are the biggest, you know, biggest premier production of cork in all Europe. And the trees are protected so they can only aravis cork in specific way and they need to ask permission to the government to actually you know, pick up the bark and produce it.

So it's very controlled process. And this is because they don't want to arm ever the plant. Also, by using cork we are using something that is completely renewable because it's only the skin The auditory, and therefore it can be constantly growth.

So it's harvest every normally six years, leaving the tree the time to regenerate. Expanded cork is produced differently from normal cork, we use high steam, and these makes the cork pop like popcorn and expand. And he kind of binds the material together with the rising of the trees instead of using a lot of other products or glue or epoxy resins.

So this means again, our cork panels are 100%, biodegradable and organic and they could be re cycled in a new pond. And I feel cork is like us for insulation of solids and many other purposes, but has never been pushed into a beautiful material that can be actually a facade or an interior cladding.

So the main purpose of this panel is generating a new aesthetic, a new three dimensional surface. And almost they can be carved as as a piece of marble really. So not only becoming a wall, but they could potentially be used even to create bespoke furniture or, or reception desk or, you know, seamless moving from a floor to a wall to a ceiling panel, which is quite exciting. I think for designers out there.

sustainable materials made from seashell waste

And finally, then I wanted to ask you about the recycled system to read so that you have because it just seems to have this beautiful story about the tons and tons of discarded seashells is that from the from the from the from the seafood industry?

Matter Of Stuff

Yes, we basically it's a project developed by two designers studied in London, it's a very exciting project where they actually started looking at how the seafood industry is kind of, you know, dumping a lot of these really beautiful material, because it's actually calcium carbonate. And we normally feed these into our production by, you know, kind of like seeking it.

While we are done throwing it away and sort of creating a lot of waste. So by reusing it and creating a composite that is kind of natural, they are generating a new type of concrete, they were actually asking a point to try and make the structural to really replace concrete entirely.

And it's quite interesting how much attic theory is behind this product, because the designer actually don't want this because as soon as you start trying to give more performance in terms of strength, they will have to add heat to the to the production.

And these would take away these completely non toxic completely like low carbon emission material, which I find very interesting because in a way, all our work revolves around one single tote, which is how can we make these material cheap enough and sustainable enough to replace technical materials that we are using.

So if we are able to make mycelium are really strong compared competitor to polyrattan, for example, or to or to a really terrible acoustic panel made out of synthetic fibers, we are really shifting the industry and we are not anymore forcing people to say oh, I need to spend so much more money to use these really sustainable material that is then maybe not behaving as I want.

We the real change and real shift into the industry could happen only if we make this product really permeable and easy to use. So ultimately, I think all our work revolves around trying to keep fanatic around what what is material do and try and really to push them to behave in a way that can replace those terrible materials that we are working with now.

And I mean, one thing that I think it's important to ensure we have only talked about surface material, which are only probably 10 or 15% of what is used in the industry. But we are working a lot on the vaccines to try and also scout for those materials that could really replace the larger quantity.

So how can we do an MDF that is more sustainable? Or it's completely recyclable? Or how can we replace entirely bricks with a new concept that doesn't allow doesn't require so much firing? So I think it's an interesting open quest, you know, and we all need to sort of exchange information and and knowledge and so that's why I think it's lovely what you're doing with this podcast, like trying to engage people to discover each other and hopefully, you know, this can lead to, to more knowledge shared among people in industry.

Healthy materials advisory

Are you advising construction companies? Are you collaborating with architects? How perhaps the range of different clients if you could describe those and how you're delivering your services effectively?

Matter Of Stuff

Yeah, so we, we work with both architects, interior designers, and of course, artists interior designer at the change maker, the are the main specifiers. And we've worked with contractors before, we've worked with directly with co-working spaces that have different locations in in London, supplying furniture.

And of course, there's a huge level of research that goes through and, for example, for furniture as well, like we've recently introduced a way to browse furniture on our website by sustainable properties, say let's furniture have, you know, certified wood or if they're made out of recycled material, if they are recyclable.

And that's, that's all research that we do. And it's kind of a service of the people that, you know, we work with, in a way. We believe in kind of free content, kind of sharing as much as possible.

Of course, London is quite a wild industry, but we're quite generous with our research. And, and yeah, so it's a we're open to new collaboration, we're open to private clients, as well as, you know, construction companies. And we welcome all kind of enquiries.

https://www.matterofstuff.com/

Sustainable interior materials - NUO wood

Sustainable materials for interior design - NUO wood veneer

What makes a sustainable material?

We specify healthy materials in an interiors fit-out for green buildings, focusing particularly closely on flooring, wall coverings and furniture.

This strategy incorporates elements of sustainability, biophilic design and healthy interiors to ensure that the materials going into a space are non-toxic, do not off-gas over time and will therefore not have a negative impact on Indoor Air Quality.

We specialise in sourcing circular economy, upcycled and marine- or plant-based materials for healthy interiors as well as sustainably sourced natural classics such as bamboo, wood, cork and rubber.

Inevitably, there are often some hard choices to be made, no material in our buildings has zero impact on the environment once we factor in production and transport but there is now a world of options that do far less harm than you might think and indeed some such as upcycled and Circular Economy materials that are genuinely doing good, either for the planet or the people it comes into contact with when in use.

Is leather a sustainable material?

We have covered the debate around leather justifiably being called a sustainable material elsewhere (see our podcast here with Moore & Giles leather), the argument goes that it is a byproduct of the colossal meat industry anyway and no cattle are raised and killed just for their leather.

When tanned in a certain way, for example using a byproduct of the olive industry, rather than the toxic chemicals that are usually involved in this process, we think this is a fine solution for high-end interiors - our problem is the low-end, mass market end of the spectrum, that is where things have gone badly wrong.

It remains a delicate subject and in an ideal world real natural leather would be a prestige fabric coming only from the few pasture reared, grass-fed and chemical-free cattle that had lived long, healthy lives in nature, once the world’s consumers had given up on their addiction to cheap, low quality beef. Therein lies the problem.

The new sustainable materials NUO wood

So. while we wait for scientifically grown meat to develop into a viable alternative, we look to a range of leather-life fabrics and materials that can supplement our creative resource library.

Here we will look at NUO a German made newcomer on the sustainable material scene that uses sustainably sourced wood.

Their timber logs are cross-cut, debarked and steamed, then processed into veneer sheets of 2.5m x 1.5m dimensions,. These sheets then have a fabric glued to the back before the real magic happens when the wood is laser cut with a fine engraving like detail detail to create a soft material with the flexibility and malleability of leather.

What can this sustainable material be used for?

Whenever a fabric has been proven for use in the automobile industry, we know that it can handle hospitality uses, residential or indeed luxury yachts. That is the case with NUO as it has been used in door panels and seat shells as a ‘soft wood’.

As sustainably sourced wood is one of the best natural materials available to us as sustainable interior designers, we are especially pleased to see that NUO appear to be working with the utmost respect for the forests their raw material comes from. This is key. Get that wrong and it is hard to argue in favour of real sustainable material credentials.

NUO also has some interesting acoustic qualities, it is fire protection class B1 and adapts well to upholstery uses in sustainable interior design projects.

Contact us to discuss your sustainable material project with us.

Healthy materials: Moore & Giles sustainable leather

The role of leather in sustainable interior design and healthy buildings

The ‘Green & Healthy Places’ podcast series takes a deep-dive into the role of sustainability, wellbeing and community in real estate and hospitality.

wellbeing & sustainability in real estate and hospitality

In episode 18 of the Green & Healthy Places podcast we take a deep dive into the world of wellbeing and sustainability in real estate & hospitality.

talking sustainable leather

Today I’m chatting with Beverly McAuley, Director of Education & Sustainability for Moore & Giles leather in Virginia in the US, a leading proponent of high quality, sustainable leather with four olive-tanned leather products in their range and many more such innovations in the pipeline.

Circular Economy

We discuss the state of the leather industry today, how Moore & Giles view leather as a waste diversion strategy from the meat industry and how they now use a Cradle 2 Cradle, plant-based die that is a byproduct of the olive industry to create a Circular Economy tanning process.

Quality natural leather has a long life and improves with age unlike so called eco or vegan leather that is basically a completely different material, likely PVC or vinyl layered with chemicals.

Welcome to episode 18 of the Green & Healthy Places podcast in which we take a deep dive into the world of wellbeing and sustainability in real estate & hospitality.

GUEST / BEVERLY MCAULEY , DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION & SUSTAINABILITY FOR MOORE & GILES LEATHER

• http://mooreandgiles.com/

• https://www.mooreandgiles.com/leather

HOSt / MATT MORLEY

• https://biofilico.com/

• https://biofit.io/

• https://sustainableyachtingbioblu.com/

======================

TRANSCRIPT FOLLOWS COURTESY OF OTTER.AI - excuse the typos!

Welcome to Episode 18 of the green and Healthy Places podcast, in which we take a deep dive into the world of well being and sustainability in real estate and hospitality. I'm your host, Matt Morley, coming to you from the World of Wellness, real estate and interiors.

This time I am chatting with Beverly McCauley, Director of Education and sustainability for moore and Giles leather in the USA, a leading proponent of high quality, sustainable leather. We discussed the state of the leather industry today, how more in jails few leather as a waste diversion strategy from the meat industry, and how they now have developed a cradle to cradle plant based dye that is a byproduct itself of the olive industry to create a truly circular economy, tanning process. Quality natural leather has a long life and improves with age. Unlike so called eco or vegan leather that's basically completely different material, likely PVC or vinyl lead with lots of chemicals. So there's real food for thought in this conversation.

Thank you so much for being with us today. I really appreciate your time. As an intro, I just wanted to take a little step back to set the scene because I know you're you're an ambassador for the ILFI living future Institute, you have your own nature based retreats. And I know that mindfulness meditation is a part of your your, So you've got a number of interests, you're also Director of Education and sustainability for Moore & Giles . So what's the career path that's led you to where you are today? And how do you balance all these different interests?

Balance is a great word and always a challenge. But, you know, it's been interesting, I have a degree in design, interior design. And quickly after college many years ago, I learned that I really enjoyed learning, I just wanted to keep learning and quit quickly moved into being a representative for various natural products throughout my career as a resource to my clients. So that's that's the way I've always liked to be in my job in my career. On the flip side, my personal life, I've been a nature freak, since I was little, that's where I found my peace. That's where I found my inspiration, and always would prefer to be outside versus not. And so through the years, I kept finding that my interests had these different lives. So the nature based retreats, the meditation, you know, it all centered around health and wellness, and then several years ago, really made that connection between nature and health and wellness. And then this position, career wise, has just been that final puzzle piece to really make it all come together. So now all of these experiences and pieces of me are put together in this really great puzzle where I can bring people together through my love of nature, and connect people to it and support it through action. And through educating folks and trying to lead the way as much as possible in this industry to help people make wise decisions when it comes to the environment and our planet.

President that sort of leads us neatly into second question then around the actual more angels business today and and its structure and products. So you've got this passion and interest and an understanding of nature and natural products and who you are today as directors and sustainability and education. So can you just describe to us the various products or services and and the business structure of Moore & Giles today.

And the business structure basically, you know, we are a leather company. We bring leather into the United States from various tanneries around the world is pending on their forte you know their their product. We also have a bag and accessory division as well that we host from our same headquarters in Virginia. Yeah, so we, we have over a Gosh, several 100 different products, colors, we inventory more leather in the US than any other supplier. And we have, you know, when it comes to sustainability, thankfully, and probably have led the way in the industry, and will continue to do so. So just keep trying to push that push that envelope and help the industry to become more and more sustainable.

Okay, and the main, the key point there then is, is that leather is effectively a byproduct of another industry. So be the byproduct of the beef industry, we can see what we like about that what's good or bad about the beef industry. But your main sort of foundation of the argument is that this is happening anyway. And there's leather would presumably just be left to be thrown away.

That's absolutely the case. It's so funny. I found myself you know, I've been selling or working with leather for 16 years, over 16 years. And I, you know, we would continually say it's a byproduct, it's a byproduct. And then I started realizing a lot of people don't really understand what that means. The leather industry is not the meat industry, the leather industry exists to divert the waste from the meat industry. Okay. So if the leather industry didn't exist, the hides that are produced by the weight waist or by the meat industry would go into the landfill, it'd be it would be a huge environmental issue. There are, gosh, 300,000 plus or minus hides annually, that would be added, I mean, added to the landfills around the world. So the leather industry really is an answer to an otherwise hazardous environmental issue. So that, you know, that's that's the first thing that I think people aren't aware of, and don't really realize they still I get clients who will say or people who will say, well, don't you kill, kill the cow for the hide, and I will tell you, no cow is killed for its hide. Same would go for sheep, you know, people eat lamb as well. Everything that we provide is a byproduct. In other words, everything that we provide is diverted waste, and it's tanned to be converted into something useful, and functional, and, and gorgeous and long lasting. So yeah, that's, that's a big a big learning curve for folks. And usually, once they get past that, it's a lot easier to look at, look at and consider leather. And the other thing that is kind of a byproduct of that is, you know, people ask about animal welfare. Again, the people tanning leather are not the farmers raising the cows, or the meat industry, rendering those cows. However, over the years, a lot of the tanneries have been able to come together and help create legislation to better the animal welfare down that supply chain to the farmer. So that's kind of an interesting, you know, they didn't have to do that. But but that has happened. It's been a positive influence from the leather industry backward toward the, the farming

with more drugs and prioritize certain certain suppliers that have, for example, set a certain level of environmental standards over others because it's so big, the industry is so huge for you. How is how is the business selecting those that it chooses to work with, versus those that it perhaps doesn't deem appropriate to work with?

You know, tanning leather is been in industry for 1000s of years. I mean, it's just been around for so long. So there's this huge history behind it right. And within, you know, the last several decades, it has been imperative for tanneries to innovate, or die. I mean, if they don't do the right thing or change, they're not going to last very long. Thankfully, we have long standing relationships with our tanneries. So it's more likely for us to work with a company for a long time and work with them, if need be, to help them move forward and be innovative than to just pick up new tanneries every year and drop the other one. So the tanneries is important to us then, therefore, to work with tanneries that are well respected, good to their community good to their people, doing the right thing. You know being reached compliance and you know chemically and environmentally doing the right thing. So a lot of the tanneries we work with on their own without us having to say anything, or doing some really great things, environmentally. And then when something comes along, but is even better that I'm sure we'll probably talk about, like all of tanning, we go to those tanneries and we feel comfortable saying we'd love for you to try this, let's work together and collaborate to make this happen to to once again, keep pushing that forward.

And so just just for those of us who are perhaps less familiar with the structure of the industry as a whole, then the role of the tannery, and then the ultimate sort of the the brand, the company that turns it into a product, in this case more on trial. So the others, you're then buying the skins, the tannery is sourcing the skins, applying that some energy use in that process. And can you just talk us through the details of how that works, because it's not entirely clear to me at least.

Sure. And, you know, I'm sure there are variations around the world. But in general, the farmer I'm just going to go all the way back, the farmer raises the cow or the cattle for the meat and dairy industries. At the end, if a cow is a dairy cow at the end of its life, they're not going to bury it in the backyard, you know, it's going to go to the meat industry. So ultimately, the meat industry by product is then purchased. And sometimes there's someone in between in between there, I'll tell you, that sells it to the tannery. But, you know, some of our tanneries know the farmer where the cow was raised up the hill, just because they're in such close proximity and these little villages in Europe, and some of them get hides from other places and have them trained in but at any rate, the hides come into the tannery, the tannery is the manufacturing process that takes that hide and tans it so that it's no longer basically no longer decomposing, it converts it into leather. So hide isn't really leather until it's been tanned until it's been tanned it is considered a hide or skin. Once it's tanned, then it goes through those processes at the tannery that to make it you know the product that you wear or you sit on, you know, they do all of the finishing processes. At that point, it's been brought over to the supplier like ourselves, who then you know, inspect stores and sells the product. We are somewhat unique with our tanneries and that you know, like I said before we will collaborate and create products with them, just for us or just for our clients. But they do all the the manufacturing process portion.

So the more jobs would be both in one sense, a middleman that then supplies the finished hides to say interior designers or architects who are doing interior fit towels, what have you. But also, in some instances, you create products yourselves such as the furniture bags.

That's true. And we do we sell we're a wholesale company when it comes to our hot the hides of leather. And we sell to a pollsters we sell to furniture manufacturers, you know, those industries as well.

Okay, and so you mentioned the olive green and it's probably the the product that sort of most leapt out from from the research that I've done online just because it just seems Yeah, sort of a fantastic combination of, of ideas and natural products. So obviously, you're very proud of that. Were you involved in its process? I mean, can you just sort of give a description of exactly how you're using olives as as another byproduct to tan? Right? The leather aim itself is a byproduct, right?

Yeah, so it is so cool. And it this process totally is what re energize me with within the industry got me excited about seeking the role I'm playing now and kind of was that person puzzle piece that connected everything together that I mentioned before. It's the product itself is called a living leader. Okay, that's who makes the product and it's actually it's not the all of itself. It's a byproduct from the olive industry. So it's using a byproduct of Tana byproduct best of both worlds totally plant based. So basically it's the fallen all of leaves from the olive trees or when they prune the olive trees you know for production just like you would prune an apple tree because if you don't, it's not going to render good apples. It's those all have leaves but it also uses I i I'm always learning more and more just the waste from the industry. So when Press the olives to make olive oil, that kind of the more solid waste, you know, that comes from the olive pieces, if you will, that can be used, I mean, all of these different portions of the of the olive industry, the byproducts. And that's an important word when it comes to this process are used to tan leather. So rather than taking something from nature, like tree bark or plant oil or harvesting an actual and growing trees and cutting them down to use, this is just product that would otherwise be burned into the atmosphere, or go to waste in some way. So it's a really great circular model.

And this was one of the one of the products that you then took forward for a healthy material certification, right. And that is all right.

So we took we we have four and growing, I think we might add a couple more this year, all lefthand products within our line and within those several different colors and textures. The beauty of this process is it doesn't you're not really limited. So you can have all these different textures and colors and possibilities really a lot of a lot of really great possibilities. We took our end products and went for declare labels for those on the tanning and to live in leader product that is used for tanning these leathers is Cradle to Cradle gold and material health platinum. Which is also unheard of in the in the tanning industry. So that's it's just really, we feel this process will turn the tanning industry on its ear. There are a lot of great things happening with the typical way people tan leather and have for many years. But this is just kind of that next generation. You know, this is we're seeing into the future here for this product.

For those who are perhaps some familiar, you've dropped quite a few terms. I'm sorry, but I mean, those standards, I mean, the red list is is pretty much the gold standard. It is it's pretty demanding in terms of the chemicals that it does not want to see anywhere near your product, but then to also have or aligned with Cradle to Cradle, which is perhaps more of a sort of a circular economy approach to things would that be right?

Yeah. So if you think of, like the things I mentioned, a declare label is like a nutrition label for a product. So that will take into account that the chemicals used, as you mentioned, super strict. So to achieve a declare Red List free label is the highest standard out there right now. And we have that on all of those products. And then when you go to Cradle to Cradle, that's just what it says. So cradle the beginning of your product to the beginning of the next product instead of what used to be termed cradle to grave, which was the beginning of the product to the end of the product. In this case, there is no end so that that tanning product has the Cradle to Cradle award. Once you're finished tanning the leather and you have this leftover residue from the tanning product, you can literally you compost it, it can be used as fertilizer, for those same olive trees, you can call posted in your backyard compost, it is not harmful at all. So it's it's pretty exciting stuff. So that deals with kind of the end of life and material health, environmental health through the whole process, that kind of thing. And then the Platinum material health rating is actually a piece of the cradle to cradle. So you could just go for a material health rating, it could be used to kind of scale up to that Cradle to Cradle award. But it is one of the one of the five factors considered and cradle to cradle. So in the plant and the material health rating that's looking at the chemicals at that stage, so making sure that there's no chemicals involved that are considered hazardous or chemicals of concern

that are Is there anything that's less than and taking that approach may seem quite optimistic that it's real innovation within the industry? Is there anything that you're not able to do or that there's certain things that the more traditional craft based sort of the old way of doing things, only that you can only do that way or you you pretty much able to match it by doing this sort of fully eco approach.

You know, when mineral tanned or chromium tanned leathers came along and that's 80 to 90% of our leather in the world is tanned with, with chemicals, basically minerals. That opened up a huge world of accessibility to options from the vegetable tanned leathers before it. So oftentimes people use a combination of the two, just to have a different hand or you know, product at the end of the day. But vegetable Tam products were very limited. And that tanning process, you know, has its own concerns here or there. The nice thing about this, all of tande products that we have, this process is like the best of both worlds. And even better, really, because with edge 10, you're taking something from nature, versus You know what, what I mentioned before this, but this you can have softness, which you can't have with vegetable tanned leather, it's really more firm, like a shoe soul or something, or belt. You can also have color variation, texture variation, all these possibilities that you would have with the with the mineral tan leather, or the chromium tanned leather. Without the chemicals. So there aren't, we're not seeing a lot of, of issues, I think the main thing is jewel to things, you know, it's new. So every time a tannery will make a new product, it's, you know, about finessing it to get the right and results in that again, aesthetically, really. And then getting people on board to understand why it may be a little bit more expensive sometimes, because it's new. And it's small batch. If you think of the first small batch of brewery, you know, microbrews, or whatever, you know, that was, especially in the United States, you know, there was a handful now they're everywhere, you know. So it's, it's just a matter of gaining popularity and understanding. And I think that's probably the biggest challenge is that at the moment,

you do have these there's obviously some degree of scale. Is it purely on? What would be the factors that you identify them? Because you have for example, you supply to say automotive to Marine, which I presume is sort of high end stuff and aviation events like private jet? What are the what are the differences between say that and something that's going into, say, residential, commercial interior usage? How do you? How do you distinguish between those levels of quality or refinement?

Right, I think you know, in many cases, it's about the function that you're needing, especially when you when you break out some of those specific types of markets, the function that you're needing and then the preference. So for instance, in aviation, due to a lot of the requirements on the business aviation side of things, I mean, they, you know, beat up those, there's a lot of use, and they were looking for consistency, so patina, that you would get with a natural leather is probably out of the question. So you're needing something with a little more finished with some pigment in it, it's got to meet some strict testing typically for you know, abrasion or flame retardants or whatever. So there are certain types of products that that are better for that however, I have used on private aviation, as an individual's private aircraft all of the things that we've used in the residential market before again, it was their personal preference and what they were okay with so we can crossover with with any of these markets just fine. It's just really a matter of what is the function you're looking for? What is the look that you're looking for?

durability is an interesting word because it strikes me that leather is perhaps one of the products that rather like wine, ages well and with time almost it develops that path no develops more character in a way so how do you can contrast that with say, the arguments for what's loosely termed eco leather or vegan leathers which as I understand it, without having dug too deeply into it, they are not in fact leathers at all, is that right?

Correct. Oh my gosh, I could talk to you for hours about that, but I won't I promise. vegan leather is not possible. I this is maybe important taste but you cannot be pregnant and not pregnant at the same time. I kind of say the same thing. So in order to be a leather you have to be from an animal. So you can't be vegan and leather at the same time. Most the majority of the products that are out there that are you Using that terminology, it's such a shame, to me, it's just a marketing technique to make people feel like they're making this really great decision, you know, when in actuality they're choosing PVC or polyurethane products. So most, the majority of the products that are out there claiming to be vegan leather are fo products in the past called fo leather, we've also you can also refer to it as vinyl. These products are persistent in the environment, by using something like that it's not going away, you're creating this process, chemicals that are on the red lists that are chemicals of concern. So it's, it's just so not the better decision when it comes to environment and health. Also, what you get with a product like that is you have to replace it more often. So it's not going to wear it over time. So you know, to your point, with a leather lasting so long, and being this heirloom quality product, how often have you heard someone say, Man, I can't wait until I can inherit my grandmother's vinyl couch? Not many, not often do you say? Well, I want that that plastic chair, I can't wait to I have that handed down to me, that will likely never be handed down to you, it will be in a landfill somewhere forever and ever. You know. So as I said, I could speak to that for a long time. But leather lasted Outlast and out wears and it's just so beautiful for a longer period of time, so not only do you get a nice product in the beginning, but as you replace this other product, you're multiple times you're building up this landfill waste again, and causing more chemical processes to happen because you're you know, continue to buy it you continue to have it made all these other products while the leather still sits and the leather has not needed to be replaced. And it's just overall in the life cycle of the of the product. It's really important to look is it a circle or a line? That's the simple way I like to say to my clients, are you looking at a like a timeline? Like here's the beginning here's the end, then what happens at the end? Or are you looking at a circle can this thing be reused? Can it be used for a longer period of time and cutting down the waist.

And in terms of maintenance and and looking after one's leather I noticed that you recently bought out as an anti microbial spray that I guess is is a sort of reaction to or response to what's happening around COVID but in terms of what one could or should be doing to look after one's leather in let's call it in sort of home or or commercial environment in furniture to make sure that it is able to do that to make sure that it can live that nice long life and in the ages. Well Are there any tips? I mean, you guys are experts in this what do you normally recommend?

Sure it the number one thing you can do with your leather is best it just that's the main thing. Yeah. Oh my gosh, I need to dust my plants. But you're right it it will absorb and collect that dust after a period of time and that can kind of cause it to to dry out just like our skin. You know if we never loo foot or use a washcloth or did something in a shower to clean ourselves. Our own skin doesn't look that great after a while so just dusting you know people are we're seeing people get a lot better with patina and natural leathers which is great that's you know, you're speaking our language because we love the natural leathers and the way they patina and age and they become part of your story they become part of your character. You know, if you have a natural leather chair and you spill something on it, yes, you'll see it immediately and just don't just be call and take a deep breath because in a few days you know blot it up and that's great. But it will work its way through the fibers and it will will release its it will mellow and then what you have after that is either you won't even notice it was ever there or it becomes part of the patina but it's so much more mellowed out. I like to use this as an example. I have a client who was we were kind of talking about the same subject one day and maintenance and how people get all worked up over patina. Just live just live in your leather. And he said I have this chair and he has three kids. And he said and I was just my chair. He said you know you can see kind of a spot on the back where I sit from just the oils from his head. You You know, the arms were his hand said that, you know, over the years, he's had it for a long time. He said in one day, my kids were talking. And these are kids that are like college late high school age. And they were kind of fighting over who gets the chair. And he, he asked, Why in the world are you guys fighting over this chairs, just my chair. And the daughter said, Dad, when I see this chair, I see you. And I want this because I want you in my life, you know. And so it was a very touching moment during that unexpectedly during that presentation. But it really says so much about how leather is inherently part of us and can become part of our story. So when you do find that you need to clean a product, there are products that we carry that that you can use, typically a damp rag, mild, soapy water, something simple, it doesn't have to be anything else, that the Eco shield that we've brought on, you're right COVID threw us off for a loop last year. And what we saw was a reaction of like, bleach everywhere, people spraying harmful chemicals, and alcohol based solvent based products that not only are they not good for the leather or anything you're using it on, but they're also not good to be inhaling. I mean, we're all inhaling this stuff. So we took our time and tried to find a safe alternative, a safe product. So the way that eco shield works is it kills mechanically, not chemically, so there are no toxic chemicals within it. It's been deemed rewarded safe for food contact surfaces, it's been used in school districts, it's been used in airports, it's continued continues to work for up to 90 days. So you know, that antibacterial stuff we've been putting on our hands for the last year, like every five minutes, it only works when it's wet. And that's true of so many other things. So that's why I have to reapply it all the time. Because, okay, I touched this thing, let me put this stuff on, okay, that killed that now I go touch another thing, oh, guess what, I gotta use it again, this product, actually, you just apply it once. And then you just reapply it after about 90 days, because over time it will wear off, scratch off, you know, that sort of thing. But it doesn't, it keeps working at the same heightened level by just killing on contact any of these microbes. In fact, it draws it down. So if I were to put it, spray it lightly on my desk, it would draw down the microbes from the air and atmosphere, kill it on contact is pretty cool stuff.

Looking ahead, then to your your projects for for sustainability and education of the next year or two. What do you have in the pipeline? what's coming next?

Well, you know, we're looking at every aspect of what we do internally at our headquarters from and we've created a conservation team at the headquarters to get all of the departments involved and looking at what are we doing and how can we be doing it better. And so that's, that's kind of fun, we do have an onsite garden at our headquarters and we grow food, it's all employee driven. We grow grow food and supply, you know, not only the people within the office as they need it, but if people within the community are you know, in trouble and they need they need some little extra help we have we have that availability there. We're also looking at Malta several several different things with within our headquarters that I'm excited about. We're also always looking at reducing waste, we don't have a lot of waste at our headquarters, even when we cut samples and there's a little waste or trim or hide. We we sell that for pennies on the dollar to people who will make something from it. But we're you know, we're kind of looking at that process. And hopefully we'll have something maybe exciting to share before the end of the year, hopefully sooner rather than later. We also are working with all of our tanneries again to understand the certifications and awards and the measures that they're taking because there's a lot and there's they should be proud of them. It's pretty cool. So we're gathering that information. And I know that we are having like I said before a couple of new products made through the olive tanning process and also looking at what other you know, how can we continue to grow and push that envelope to lead the way within the tanning industry and also within our you know the building industry. History in general design architecture, how can we make decisions that will make a larger impact more quickly than just me having my little compost here at home? I mean, that's great, right? But if we can detect this on a larger scale, we could we could really create the difference that needs to happen.

Well, it's great stuff. I look forward to seeing developments over the next few years, no doubt. So to follow along, obviously, Oren giles.com will link in the show notes, in terms of putting out publications, people getting in touch, what's the best route in?

Well, I would say, if you're interested, you know, if you're interested in our bags, and accessories, by all means, go to mooreandgiles.com. If you're looking for more information about our leather hides, in general, as a designer, you can go there and go to the top of the screen and click leather for designers, or you can go to more and styles.com forward slash leather. And, you know, people are more than welcome to reach out to me just like you did, Matt and ask any questions you like, about leather in general or, you know, sustainability, what, what we're doing, what we're aware of, and then I can also put people in touch with the representative for their area if they're, if they're within the industry.

Good on you. Well, I mean, thank you so much. It's been a real pleasure.

sustainable interior material - maize veneer

Turning heirloom maize into a sustainable interiors material - TOTOMOXTLE

What makes a sustainable fabric or material?

Specifying healthy materials in an interiors fit-out is an essential component of creation of green buildings, with special focus on flooring, wall coverings and furniture.

For us, a sustainable materials or ‘green’ procurement strategy incorporates thinking from the fields of sustainability, biophilic design and healthy interiors to ensure that the materials going into a space are non-toxic, do not off-gas over time and will therefore not have a negative impact on Indoor Air Quality (a human angle) whilst also minimizing damage to the planet in the process.

Considerations include ‘circularity’ (where does it come from and where does it go at the end of its life), ‘upcycling’ (for example yarn made of ocean plastics), and ‘bio-based’ options such as ‘marine-based’ or ‘plant-based’ materials. There are then sustainably sourced classics such as bamboo, wood, cork and rubber that remain central components of this philosophy.

Inevitably, there are often some hard choices to be made in any discussion around sustainable fabrics and materials. Humans always have a tangible impact on our environment with buildings, there is no way around that, we can however aim to do less harm in the process, at the very least!

In this regard, we council factoring in extraction, production and transportation in any true analysis of a healthy building material to get to a true Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).

A sustainable interiors material made of Mexican corn

Totomoxtle is a project by London-based Mexican designer Fernando Laposse using the husks of heirloom Mexican corn.

Laposse is known for experimenting with the loofah fruit and cochineal insects so is clearly pushing the boundaries of what is possible in sustainable interiors materials!

His maize husk project caught our eye with its purples, reds and cream colour palette, a far cry from the now dominant beige corn used in industrial tortillas, this is all about heirloom corn at the base of Mexico’s gastronomic heritage.

In this sense, industrial corn production, especially that destined for corn syrup, has a lot to answer for. Heirloom maize is in fact a heterogeneous product!

How sustainable is this innovative material?

Laposse goes deep into the sustainability theme here as there is a regenerative agriculture angle at play restoring traditional farming practices as a way to drive revenues to struggling farming communities.

The merciless pressures of big agriculture have driven standardized uniformity via pesticide use and imported GMO corn seeds that have left artisanal maize varieties neglected. Profits for local indigenous farmers growing heritage crops has dropped at the same time.

Since 2016, Tototmoxtle has operated in partnership with the community of Tonahuixtla, a small village of Mixtec farmers and herders in the state of Puebla, reintroducing native seeds as a first step towards restoring some semblance of traditional agriculture crops.

The veneer remains a niche product that has not yet found large-scale distribution so is more of a statement of intent showing what is possible.

Having a social mission behind a material that is inherently sustainable looks to be the Holy Grail for the coming years, we hope to see many more such products coming to market that help support communities while giving back to the land, not just taking from it.

Contact us to discuss your sustainable interiors project.

Marine-based Circular Economy materials

How can we use sustainably sourced marine materials in our homes, offices and buildings in order to reduce their environmental impact and boost their wellbeing benefits?

Our sister company BioBlu specialises in sustainable yachting, including yacht interiors., see here for more detail or read on if your interest is in wellness real estate and healthy interiors.

NATURE’S WELLNESS BENEFITS

Modern technology combined with a renewed appreciation for the genius of nature mean that we now understand far more than ever before about the air-purifying, anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-odour, self-cleaning and sound-absorbing qualities of certain materials.

By selecting each one for its unique characteristics we create sustainable interiors with added wellness benefits for occupants.

ORGANIC PLANT-BASED MATERIALS

We work with Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) wood, organic cotton bed sheets, coconut fibre mattresses (see image above!), cork tiles, palm leaf wallpapers, eco-rubber gym flooring, acoustic wool and corn husk wall vinyls, amongst other things!

MARINE BIO MATERIALS

From spirulina health supplements to Thalassotherapy sea sessions , the eco-friendly health benefits of seaweed, algae and kelp are by now well established. Today they can be found in high-end mattresses, hydrating facial serums and even compostable food containers. Sustainably sourced seashells can also be used as inlays in wall panels or table tops for a distinctive bio aesthetic.

TEXTILES FROM OCEAN PLASTIC

When replacing indoor or outdoor furniture fabrics, we advocate for the use of high-quality Circular Economy textiles derived from upcyled ocean-plastic. A number of big players exist in the market already, from Repreve to Seaqual, OceanWorks and OceanBalance.

SOURCING & RECYCLING METALS

Aluminium can be endlessly recycled in an energy-efficient manner. Stainless steel is fully recyclable, highly durable and retains value at the end of each life cycle. Materials with a closed-loop like these require no further natural resources from the earth provided care is taken to ensure they are suitably recycled.

healthy materials & plant-based leather

healthy materials such as plant-based leather are ideal for wellness interiors and better for the planet too

We advise HR departments and project teams on healthy materials for real estate development and workplace interiors. One recent discovery is Deserttex made of cactus plants..

Healthy materials for healthy interiors

A number of innovative products and materials now exist in the marketplace that promise to contribute to a wellness interior, be it in a home, office or hotel bedroom. This is an evolution of a previous shift towards sustainable, natural materials - now we have a human-centric component as well as the material being planet-friendly.

The Covid crisis has only served to bring all of this into the public's attention as there is now a far greater appreciation of hygiene and the concept of Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) nowadays, especially with the rise of the Well Building Standard and other healthy building certification systems.

Healthy materials - an alternative to leather in cactus plants

Desserto positions itself as a plant-based alternative to leather, leveraging its positive environmental impact and comparing that with the damage done to the planet both directly and indirectly by the leather tanning industry. So how does the end product, cactus leather, stand up to scrutiny?

Soft to the touch yet durable and hard-wearing, this cruelty-free fabric has no toxic chemicals, phthalates or PVC, it is semi biodegradable and well suited to the fashion, luxury goods and - of most interest for our wellness interior projects - furniture sectors.

wellness interiors and plant-based materials

The primary issue with the leather industry is chromium-tanning, the dominant form of leather tanning that sadly makes use of a nasty mix of chromium salts.

Cactus on the other hand is known for its CO2 sequestering capacity, it absorbs CO2 whilst in the ground and Desserto only harvest mature leaves every 6-8 months, meaning multiple harvests from the same USDA certified organic plants grown in Mexico.

Interestingly, half of their harvest is for food production while the other half is destined to become plant-based leather.

material durability for application in furniture

Where a leather alternative is required, such as when a client has a particular vegan / cruelty-free philosophy for example, many interior designers might reach for the synthetic PU leather sample pack but in doing so they are immediately introducing the risk of off-gases and toxins, whilst also guaranteeing a product that will regrade steadily over time.

The Desserto cactus leather has no formaldehyde or toxins yet remains hard-wearing and durable, low maintenance and easy to clean with a damp cloth. Even in high-use commercial spaces such as a hotel lobby or workplace lounge area, the cactus leather remains suitable for furniture applications whilst boosting a project’s environmental credentials and doing no harm to the planet.

Sustainable luxury material Deserttex

Deserttex is the group’s high-end sustainable luxury furnishing material that has already been applied with success to the automotive industry. Here we see scope for integrating it into luxury workplace interiors as well as green yacht interiors for example. Again, the same fundamental principles apply, the cactus plant requires almost no irrigation and no herbicides or pesticides are used while it is growing in the fields in Mexico

To enquire about out advisory services contact us here

wellness flooring & paints in interior design

Examples of healthy materials for flooring, wall paint and curtains to create a wellness interior concept

What role does flooring play in a healthy interior?

Flooring is one of the key product categories in this healthy interior trend, for obvious reasons. Western cultures, unlike say Russia or Japan, typically have less strict social rules around wearing outdoor shoes indoors, meaning dirt and bacteria from the streets have an easier time making their way into a residential carpet for example.

For more on this subject see our dedicated page here.

Air-purifying carpets?

The Desso Airmaster carpet tile by US giant Tarkett is a perfect example of what is happening in the commercial office market today in terms of air-purifying flooring. Why office interiors and not say gym flooring, hotel flooring or yacht interiors you may well ask?

Offices are primarily places of work, staff are first and foremost there to be productive and staffing costs are invariably a business's largest overhead, therefore anything that can move the needle of productivity, even if by just 3-5% for example, represents a tangible value-add for corporations, well worth a corporate HQ carpet upgrade in other words!

Sustainability first, health benefits second

Importantly, the Airmaster is first and foremost a sustainably made product with a highly respectable Cradle to Cradle certification and an EcoBase backing as standard. In terms of its functional benefits to users, it captures and retains fine dust particles, in some tests proving to be up to 20 times more effective than smooth flooring solutions. This makes it especially relevant for allergy sufferers.

Finally, it has low Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) emission properties with minimal PM10 particles - despite the name 'organic', VOCs are the bad guys as they are mildly toxic. Taken together, this makes the Desso Airmaster a viable contender for a yacht refit carpet option.

Toxin-free flooring

Milliken's Breathe range of flooring is GreenGuard certified for its low chemical emissions, made of natural or recycled fibres from plastic bottles and has a plant-based water repellency component that is fluorine-free.

Milliken have ensured that the carpet is completely VOC-free. We'd love to see the Breathe range deployed in a yacht interior for just these reasons.

Anti-bacterial & eco-friendly floors or walls

Active Surfaces by the Iris Ceramica Group in Italy go perhaps one step further with their ceramic porcelain wall or flooring tiles that come packed with anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-pollution and anti-odour properties.

To achieve this, natural or artificial (e.g. LED) light and humidity present in the air contribute to eliminating 99.99% of bacteria and contagious viruses that settle on the tiles.

What's more, these ceramic tiles are 100% recyclable and most are produced with more than 40% recycled content in zero emission factories. The tiles are certified by ISO 10678, ISO 27447 and ISO 27448.

Indoor paints with air-purifying qualities

Healthy wall paints are another high-growth sector we have our eye on, with brands such as Gush from Singapore bringing out a product called Cair that actively attacks airborne pollutants with catalytic reactions that break down VOCs such as formaldehyde and odours into harmless by-products such as H20 and O2.

It is anti-moulding, making it suitable for bathrooms or spa rooms, as well as anti-bacterial - in other words it eliminates 99.9% of infection-causing bacteria such as E. Coli, according to Gair.

Gush focus on a purely residential market with an at present limited product range while, closer to home here in Europe, Airlite from Italy have more products on the market already and offer indoor, outdoor and primer solutions, giving them more of an in-road into the architectural and industrial paint sectors.

Again here, the paint claims anti-bacterial, anti-mould and anti-odour properties. Airlite products are also non-toxin, VOC-free, some have air cleaning properties and are produced using 100% renewable energy.

Healthy materials for curtains

Swiss company HeiQ has produced a curtain fabric that IKEA has bought for wide-spread distribution throughout its network under the product name 'Gunrid'.  The HeiQ Fresh AIR is a mineral-based technology uses transmitted ultraviolet (UVA) light from the sun to convert VOCs into harmless CO2 and O2, just like the Gush Cair mentioned above.

contact us to discuss your interior consultancy requirements 

Healthy materials in sustainable interiors

What are healthy materials vs sustainable materials? How can buildings and interiors integrate circular materials to reduce environmental impact?

We advise teams on the selection of materials for real estate development and interiors projects, typically as part of a wider sustainability plan or ESG strategy for example. Contact us to find out more.

What are healthy materials?

A number of innovative products and materials now exist in the marketplace that promise added wellness benefits, be it in a home, office or hotel. This is in a sense an evolution of a previous shift towards sustainable, natural materials.

The Covid crisis has only served to bring all of this into the mainstream public's attention as there is now a far greater appreciation of hygiene and the concept of Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) nowadays, especially with the rise of the Well Building Standard.

sustainable interior flooring Zandur

The ‘Green & Healthy Places’ podcast series takes a deep-dive into the role of sustainability, wellbeing and community in real estate and hospitality.

Here we discuss sustainable interior flooring with Robert McKee of Zandur in the USA.

This episode we're with Robert McKee, the dynamic founder of Zandur sustainable flooring based in Virginia, USA that supplies hospitals, offices, gyms and residential spaces around the world. Flooring plays a fundamental part in creating a healthy indoor environment, particularly indoor air quality, now more than ever designers and architects need to be thinking about cleaning and hygiene, which is where Zandur comes in...

Sustainable interiors & healthy flooring material

Welcome to episode 15 of the Green & Healthy Places podcast in which we discuss sustainability and wellness in real estate and hospitality. This episode we’re with Robert McKee, the dynamic founder of Zandur sustainable flooring based in Virginia, USA that supplies hospitals, offices, gyms and residential spaces around the world.

Designing a healthy indoor environment

Flooring plays a fundamental part in creating a healthy indoor environment, particularly indoor air quality, now more than ever designers and architects need to be thinking about cleaning and hygiene, which is where Zandur comes in…

Robert talks us through the world of healthy product certifications, the many benefits of using cork as a raw material, why you do NOT want natural rubber in your floor covering but rather vulcanized rubber, the life cycle of flooring and the role of maintenance over a possible 30 years, as well as Zandur’s innovative approach to design that draws inspiration from craftsmen of the early 1900’s.

If you like this type of content please consider subscribing and you can of course find Zandur USA or a local distributor at zandur.com

GUEST: ROBERT MCKEE / Founder, Zandur / www.zandur.com

HOST: MATT MORLEY / www.biofilico. com / www.biofit.io / www.bioblu.org

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A full transcription follows, courtesy of Otter.ai:

Matt Morley

Welcome to Episode 15 of the Green and Healthy Places podcast, in which we discuss sustainability and wellness in real estate and hospitality. I'm your host, Matt Morley, founder of BioBlu sustainability, Biofilico wellness interiors and Biofit nature gyms.

This episode, we're with Robert McKee, the dynamic founder of Zandur sustainable flooring based in Virginia, USA, supplying hospitals, offices, gyms, and residential spaces around the world. Flooring plays a fundamental part in creating a healthy indoor environment, particularly as it relates to indoor air quality. Now more than ever, designers and architects are thinking about cleaning and hygiene, which is right in Sandur's ballpark.

Robert talks us through the world of healthy product certifications, the many benefits of using cork as a raw material, why you do not want natural rubber in your floor covering but rather vulcanised rubber, the lifecycle of flooring and the role of maintenance over what can be 30 years, as well as Zandur's really innovative approach to design that draws on inspiration often from craftsmen in the early 1900s. If you like this type of content, please consider subscribing. And you can of course find Zandur and the local distributors listed on their website zandur.com

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Robert, thank you so much for joining us today. You founded the company back in 2004. Could you give us quick introduction to what Zandur flooring looks like today as a business, your products and, so on?

Robert McKee

Well, sure, and I appreciate it, thank you for taking the time to speak with me. A little bit about the company, we did start in 2004. The objective from the beginning has always been to focus on sustainable commercial products, the floor covering portion of construction and really with a focus of not selling something sustainable products that really perform or outperformed other products in the industry that weren't necessarily sustainable, and also meeting those same price points.

Our interest has never been to profit off of sustainability. It's always just to be sustainable. Because it's the right thing to do. And my family history goes back into the cork industry - cork flooring in fact. Sustainability was not something that people even talked about, you know, back in my grandfather's era. But it's always been something that we have had in our product line. And everything we've sold has had that sustainability story before it became popular. So it's something we just continue with.

Matt Morley

I think that really comes through in your current communications online that it is a fundamental piece of what you do rather than an afterthought that you've sort of tacked on at the end. It looks like you've built the business around that philosophy or that it's just it's just part of how you see the world, I think that there is a clear difference now in companies that really have a deep value system behind them like yours and that was very much the initial insight that led me to contacting you. I came across you primarily from the sport and fitness flooring and cork flooring, but you do others you do commercial flooring as well. Right?

Robert McKee

Correct. So basically just getting back real quick to what what you've mentioned and kind of where we come from, there's a lot of temptation always for companies to go out and sell products just to sell products, for instance, you know, we have plenty of opportunities to go and sell vinyl based products, things of that nature. And it's something from the beginning we've always made the point of focusing on sustainability. We're not going to enter into having non-sustainable products, competing with the big guys, yes they do have their sustainable lines but also their non sustainable lines. And to me it kind of defeats the whole purpose, either we're all in on sustainability or we're not.

But getting back to the products that we have. The first flagship product is something that we introduced way back when, it's a product made of cork and rubber combined. We've just recently made some significant improvements to that, it has great cleanability, which is obviously really important these days, chemical resistance, slip resistance, all those sorts of things. Then we have our solid rubber product, which is kind of the go-to heavy duty type of floor covering product for hospitals, airports, things of that nature. And then we have our solid cork flooring product, which has certain applications in commercial use, as well as a lot of residential use as well.

Matt Morley

So then, from an architect or an interior designer or design and build team perspective, how do they select one of these different materials and what that sort of pros and cons do they each have? I know you big on healthy product declaration certifications, right? The idea of a Declare label, from the the International Living future Institute and the Red List.

Robert McKee

So we've always been completely transparent about our products. Again, it goes back to the history of my family being involved in this business. It's just kind of how we're wired. And you can see that we participate in is these transparency programmes. The challenge is the cost for a small company, which can be a certain barrier to entry, whether intentional or not, so we try to pick and choose what's going to be most important, what's really going to tell the story about our product to the clients because ultimately, that's what we're trying to do - easily convey the sustainability story of our product in a completely honest way. That's what everyone else is looking for too. It gets pretty challenging, I think both on the supply side, and the specifications side, for people to really understand even what they're looking at. And I find that with designers or architects that have been doing this for a long time, even they get confused sometimes.

Matt Morley

Yeah, I think we end up we were looking for a quick and reliable route through in terms of digesting that information. And often Yeah, I can declare label or a cradle to cradle certificate, it's just but you know, once that's there, because of the integrity behind those systems, when a when a product comes out with that you can just rely on it. 100% I think that's they're going to be increasingly important. I think as, as the green building systems above start to require those individual product, green building products to align with their systems, because then you sort of you need everything to join up quite a bit like a Tetris puzzle. One of the things I wanted to ask you about was, and it's a big theme right now, for obvious reasons - indoor air quality.

Robert McKee

In a basic sense, floor covering can have a negative effect on air quality. What you're looking for, in the floor covering itself as a material would be something that has a neutral effect - that has no negative effect on air quality. However, if you look at certain types of floor covering, if you look at soft surfaces, how cleanable are they because that's when you can start to obviously have a negative effect on air quality. So it's not necessarily the material itself. But it is what can get into the material. You know, dirt, dust, all those sorts of things that you know allergens, things of that nature, which can can be contained in the floor covering itself. Then as I said specifically in soft surfaces. Now if you get into products, PVC products, things of that nature, certainly off gassing is something that is is important to pay attention to. And, again, it's something that, you know, in the formulation of our products, we make sure that there is nothing that is going to cause any unsafe off gassing of any chemicals, allergens. And it's always been one of those things that I've liked about pork in general, as a raw material is that it has a completely neutral effect on environments as far as there's no off gassing with cork, there's no negative implications whatsoever. On the residential side, it's something that oftentimes has been used in the past for people that have certain allergies, and then we can talk about the cleanability of a product. If you look at a solid surface of rubber flooring versus let's say, recycled rubber flooring or something like that, the cleanability level of a solid balkanized surface is extremely important to indoor air quality and just health in general - it is a very cleanable surface.

Matt Morley

That's an interesting one, because that comes up a lot with with my gym designs, where I'll often I'll see these terms banded around quite loosely like eco rubber flooring tiles, and vulcanised rubber tiles. What's the difference there? Is all rubber sustainable? Or is eco rubber more sustainable than recycled rubber? Can you help us unpick those?

Robert McKee

So yeah, this is one of the challenges that a company like ours fights against. Because there's been so much marketing that's not necessarily straightforward. All rubber is vulcanised as vulcanization is the process of curing the rubber through heat and pressure but then you have what a lot of people refer to as recycled rubber flooring, or crumb rubber flooring. And then there is vulcanised rubber flooring. The reason we call it vulcanised is that it is a completely sealed. The vulcanization is the last process in the manufacturing of our material. So it leaves a completely sealed impenetrable surface. If you look at recycled rubber flooring, the rubber chips are vulcanised. But the last process in fact, is actually they grind up those chips, then they put typically a urethane glue with them, and then they cure them. So it's not the final process of recycled rubber flooring, or crumb rubber is not vulcanization, it's actually just glueing those chips back together. And that's why as a result, you end up with a surface that has a lot of pores in it and holes in it, you have to put finishes on top of that. You have off gassing because you have you know some of those components being the recycled rubber sometimes or not. Not great. You don't know what the contents are.

Matt Morley

Then one of your big innovations was combining rubber with cork in flooring. So how does that how does that process work? How do you blend or combine the two into one solid substance for your floors.

Robert McKee

So I can't claim to be the the ultimate inventor of that product that was actually invented way back in the early 1900s. It's a product that I discovered probably 15 or so years ago. It was not being produced. It was not being used. And I thought it was a phenomenal idea to take basically all the great properties of cork - sustainability, great acoustical properties, great comfort properties, and mix those properties with the those of rubber - phenomenal durability, a lot of options for colour too. And as a result, we've Over time develop this product, which takes the best of both worlds.

Matt Morley

When I think of cork, I guess, I think of Spain, Portugal. What about rubber? Where are you sourcing that element from?

Robert McKee

So floor covering in general, is not made from natural rubber. In fact, you really don't want natural rubber in your floorcovering for a variety of reasons. And this is one of the misconceptions that we don't go out and sell that are products made with natural rubber, because it's not. The reason you don't want natural rubber in your product is because you have a very strong odour from natural rubber, which most people have smelled from erasers or whatever the case may be. That odour is from a protein that is active in natural rubber, and can also cause allergies as well. Latex allergies - that's from natural rubber. So you certainly don't want that in the healthcare situation. natural rubber has very inconsistent colouring. So colour consistency is difficult, which is obviously important for design. It also has very poor ageing characteristics. If you've seen a dry, rotted tire in the past on a bike, or something like that, that's from natural rubber. So long and short of it is natural rubber is one of the coolest raw materials out there. But it's not great for using in floorcovering. So what we use, we'll use a small amount of natural rubber, which will add some slip resistance characteristics, things of that nature, but the bulk of rubber is a byproduct of the petroleum industry. Basically, it's a waste that's generated, which we can thankfully use to generate, you know, this resin that has these great properties. And the nice thing about rubber is that it's easily recyclable into a variety of different things after its use. And, you know, it's does not have bad chemical properties, anything of that nature.

Matt Morley

We're seeing more and more attention paid to this concept of circularity, right. So where does your flooring go in 10 years time, or however long a lifecycle of your flooring might be? And then is it safely recycled after that?

Robert McKee

So with lifecycle there's two things that I always look at which is, how long is the product going to last and how much energy has to be put into that product while it is in service meaning what is your maintenance regime going to be. If you have to be constantly painting a finish to keep it looking clean... And you know, we talked about the recycled rubber flooring and that's one of those things maybe the life cycle life time of the floor is similar but the amount of energy that has to be put into maintain that with all the finishes which have to be manufactured which have off gassing as they're applied you know your labour cost there is far more than the material ever will be. As we continue to develop our products and in general with with solid vulcanised rubber flooring, it's a fairly low maintenance product and you know it's it's, it's great for for that you know not having to use finishes not having to use waxes, things of that nature. But getting back to the actual life span of the product. It's it will last for decades. You know if you if you want rubber to last for 30 years, as long as you maintain it properly. It's gonna last that long now the colours will probably fall out of fashion in that period of time. So what can you do with it? Well, you can do a couple things. Number one, you can instal floor on top of it. And the nice thing about rubber, particularly our cork rubber is it has phenomenal acoustical properties. So if you instal something on top of it, you're going to get the benefit of the existing floor covering for the acoustical reasons. Or it can be removed and it can be recycled in the recycling process for that is basically grinding it back up into chips, and we use chips or rubber in our product, to make different different patterns and designs, things of that nature. In fact, all of our factory waste, we use that same process, we grind up the waste, and then we use that as colour chips in our top layer or the back end.

Matt Morley

You mentioned how there's obviously to a degree, certain colours or or looks that might be popular for a number of years, are there any constraints that you come across in terms of balancing aesthetics with your sustainable values?

Robert McKee

Well, so by by nature, I guess I would say I'm more of the designer slash Innovator of products, and I really enjoy the challenges of coming up with different things with new things 90% of which never get out of my lab. But that's kind of the fun of it. And with cork there are huge challenges. There are challenges and how the raw material reacts once it's installed, if people have used style cork flooring in the past, for instance, a lot of people have had issues with it, for dimensional stability reasons, things of that nature, which we've overcome through a variety of different innovations, but also with colours. You know, people want colours, and with cork, you've got brown, brown, and brown, those are your those are your colours. So how do you take those and make changes and you know, through the baking process, we get different tones of brown from basically a light tan to a black, and then go back and start to mix those things used to you know, traditional woodworking techniques to to laminate things together, do cross cuts, re laminate them and really come up with some pretty neat patterns. And you know, a lot of a lot of my development and innovation comes from looking at what was done in the past and going through archives of factories and looking at the materials they made back in the early 1900s and finding some really cool things and kind of bringing things back out. And that's what we did with work flooring was was literally going through, you know, the basements of a factory that we worked with and finding some things that they did in the past and, and bringing those those patterns back out with a modern twist.

Matt Morley

It's it's, it's funny, isn't it, but in so many different aspects of our lives Now it can feel like in a way, rediscovering how things were done, not prior to the Industrial Revolution, but certainly plus or minus 100 years ago or more. There was just a simplicity to how certain things were done back then. And I think there's this appreciation now for for that slightly more natural touch, and I wasn't expecting it to come from you, but I get totally on it, which is just great to see.

Robert McKee

I've always thought we tend to as a society overcomplicate so many things when a lot of times you just stop look back and see what was done in the past and you know you can put put technology apply technology to something that was done but uh you know, you can really really learn some pretty cool things from from past history, which is maybe you've been buried but not not gone forever.

Matt Morley

Okay, so let's let's look at gym design because it's one of my favourite subjects. You've got three sustainable gym flooring ranges - sustain sport, flexsport, and praxis cork, what are the sort of pros and cons or how would would someone go about deciding which might be more applicable? If it's a big bodybuilding gym, you might suggest one material versus if it's a group class Fitness Studio, you might suggest a different material?

Robert McKee

There's two very distinct groups of products, I would say. One would be the Praxis solid cork. And then the other would be the sustain cork rubber or the flex solid rubber. The solid cork product is a great material for light fitness areas where you're doing a lot of floor exercises, yoga studios, things of that nature, that that product has been very well received. You know, anytime you're on the floor doing those exercises, having a product like cork, which is a very good insulator, it's going to feel warm to the touch versus if you put have a vinyl type of a product things that something like that. There's no insulation, so you're going to get the cool temperature of the typically the concrete slab that's underneath of that so cork is really nice for that obviously has great resilience to it, great acoustical properties, cork is not something that you're going to want to put in a place where you're using heavy free weights, it it is not going to resist that type of abuse. So it certainly has its place. And as I said, I would say like fitness areas where gym users are not going to be dropping heavy loads on them, that works. Then you get into the rubber products, the sustain is kind of my go to product for fitness flooring Because it has the 65% cork in it, it has tremendous acoustical properties, it has tremendous sustainability properties, great slip resistance. It has phenomenal durability, the list goes on and on, exciting about these the sustain, and also the flex product is we now have all of our products. In those two lines, all colours are available in two different thicknesses for the sports range being six millimetre or nine millimetre thickness. And what we do is we actually laminate the top layer to a recycled rubber backing, which now we're bringing in more recycled content. The nice thing about the recycled rubber backing is this on the backside so we don't have to worry about the content of that recycled rubber, which is a concern what's on the top side. And it produces a once again a great acoustical and product that's that's, you know it's going to protect yourself for when you're dropping weights, things of that nature. Navigating to heavy, heavy free weights, you can actually instal underlayment underneath of our products, so you can build up to told me 12 millimetres thick, even thicker than that 15 millimetres people have done. But it's also a good idea if you're if you're gonna be dropping heavy things to put a good drop off mat on Because ultimately, the biggest concern with heavy weights is damage to the sub floor not necessarily to the flooring material. So that's something you have to pay attention to. Yeah, I

Matt Morley

often certainly in the sort of my plans run laying out a gym floor, for example, go with the cork underneath, but then or the cork rubber underneath. And then in the strength area, especially now with sort of the trend for sort of CrossFit type stuff where Yeah, they tend to pick up a barbell and not necessarily put it down too delicately having a nice big thick, sort of extra layer, if you like to sitting on top of the of the base layer around that strength, that strength zone within the gym seems that seems to take care of it. So what have you got what's coming up? What's in the pipeline, it sounds like you're you're moving at 100 miles an hour and you've got your full of ideas. I'm guessing you've got more innovations coming what's what's in the future, if you can give us a sense of that? Well, we

Robert McKee

do it we've got a really a product that I'm really excited about coming out at some point in time this year. COVID has not helped us or anyone else as far as advancing innovation particularly. But it's a it's a it's a product made out of solid rubber. It's a roll product, which will be that will be available in titles and roles has more of a terrazzo type of look to it. Much more subtle colour, tone on tone type of a situation with the design of it and a bunch of new colours. A lot more exciting things about it as well, which will be coming out with some point time.

Matt Morley

Very cool. Well listen, I'm a huge fan. It's been it's been great to get some pick up on some of your energy and ideas that I saw I appreciate that zando.com will will link in the in the show notes in terms of someone contacting you, is it better to go via their headquarters in the US? I know you then have sort of local distributors or representatives in each country.

Robert McKee

Yeah, if you look at our website, you can you can email us directly through that and someone will get back to you with their local salesperson or we also list our different international sales people as well.

Marine-based eco materials on yachts

This article was written for and first appeared on the BioBlu website here

Why use marine-based materials in an eco-friendly green yacht?

For us, there is a happy synergy in using materials sustainably sourced from the sea in a green yacht, what better way to align the interests of owner and ocean? So what are we talking about when we say "marine materials"?

A lot of attention is focused at the moment on seaweed and algae but we might also include eco materials that contain upcycled ocean plastic for a circular economy angle, or fish leathers as a byproduct from the fishing industry for example. More on each of these below.

See here for more information on our sustainability advisory services for green yachts and here for our eco materials consultancy.

 Marine algae decorative wall tiles

Ecolurian are an exciting Dutch eco materials company pushing the concept of using algae in wall tiles, a product we consider to be ideal for a decorative wall display aboard a green luxury yacht as it immediately creates a talking point whilst also adding sustainable credentials to the interiors.

Made from kelp algae sourced in the Pacific Ocean, one of the fastest growing species in the world meaning it is reassuringly sustainable eco material, the tiles are made using eco glue and a bamboo base. Each one has its own patina making it very wabi-sabi, as the Japanese would say!

  

Luxury organic mattresses onboard green yachts

We have had the pleasure to meet the founder of Coco-Mat natural mattresses, and to visit their headquarters in Athens, Greece. We also sleep on Coco-Mat bedding every night so have in a sense been product testing for the past few years.

A Coco-Mat mattress is truly a beautiful thing, despite being hidden beneath sheets and perhaps an additional mattress protector. The eco materials used include natural rubber, seaweed and coconut fibre - no metal, no springs for an unbeatable night's sleep onboard an eco-friendly yacht designed for wellness.

Biodegradable food containers for green yacht pantries

It is still relatively early days on this one but the sheer number of experimental projects happening at the moment suggest we are getting close to what could be a revolution in our thinking of how to store food onboard a green yacht or indeed any luxury yacht looking to improve its eco-friendly operations policies.

Already seaweed-based Notpla capsules filled with water or Lucozade are replacing plastic water bottles at running events. Already more open-mind food product brands are adopting plant-based plastic alternatives for their packaging.

Of course, taking reusable bags, or canvas bags for grocery shopping and refusing to accept single-use plastic bags even in markets, should be second nature for green yacht crews with a conscious.

Fish leather as a sustainable luxury eco material

A number of innovative companies such as Nordic Fish Leather produce exotic leathers from cod, wolffish and salmon, although we see this as more suitable for a handbag than a sofa on a green yacht interior. Nonetheless, such examples suggest further innovation in this space will yield more materials for a wider range of uses.

Stingray leather is another option, far more durable and hard wearing than fish leather meaning it can be used to clad bespoke furniture pieces such as side tables or chests of drawers.

Marine-based bathroom amenities for eco yachts

One final area in which we might look to integrate the health benefits of algae and seaweed is in a green yacht guest suite bathroom. We have written about this previously in greater detail here. Our tips for brands to consider include the likes of One Ocean Beauty and OSEA Malibu in the US as well as Haeckels in the UK. It's an easy switch so why aren't more yacht charter crews considering it?

Sustainable Materials in Buildings: Wellness Design Consultants

Sustainable textiles & fruit-based bio fabrics

sustainable textiles made from recycled materials and fruit byproducts

A Range of Innovative Fabrics Made from Byproducts of Banana, Pineapple, Apple, and Mango Production Suggest Nature-Based Solutions Have a Bright Future!

In the quest for sustainable building materials, the fashion industry has turned to nature, creating innovative fabrics from the byproducts of banana, pineapple, apple, and mango production. These sustainable materials offer a promising alternative to traditional construction materials, reducing waste and promoting a circular economy.

By utilizing fruit byproducts, these fabrics significantly lower the environmental impact of the fashion industry. Traditional materials often come with a high carbon footprint, but these fruit-based textiles offer a more sustainable choice. The production process of these fabrics supports sustainable agriculture, ensuring that the byproducts of fruit production are not wasted but repurposed into valuable materials.

Moreover, these innovative fabrics contribute to energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions, aligning with the goals of sustainable construction. As the construction industry continues to seek out sustainable building materials, the use of fruit byproducts in fabric production stands out as a forward-thinking solution.

This approach not only supports the environment but also enhances the quality and sustainability of the materials used in various construction projects.

A range of innovative fabrics made from byproducts of banana, pineapple, apple and mango production suggest nature-based solutions have a bright future!

A healthy material? The problem with the mass market leather industry and its carbon emissions

Creating high-end interiors often means specifying elements of leather, such as furniture coverings, bedheads, and so on.

Clients are unlikely to understand the full impact of leather on the environment and nor should we expect them to - the emphasis is on sustainability minded professionals to raise awareness of this theme, presenting innovative alternatives of equal or better quality, as and when appropriate.

As the range and diversity of such bio-based circular economy materials increases, so the mass market leather industry can be, we hope, gradually phased out, leaving leather to play a longer-term role in the luxury industry, thereby reducing the depletion of natural resources.

Poor indoor air quality from cheap vinyl fabrics

Besides the fundamental question of the long-term viability of ‘big farming' and our relationship with the cattle / beef industry in particular, leather tanning can involve hundreds of chemicals including toxins and heavy metals that stop it from decomposing.

These chemicals then off-gas from the leather over the first 1-2 years of its life lowering the indoor air quality around it.

So-called eco leathers or faux leathers are essentially PVC vinyl based and may look OK on day one but will gradually degrade over time as they are used, whereas high quality leather arguably looks better and better as time passes!

Swiss backpack brand QWSTION is known for combining design and functionality with sustainability. Since 2008 the design studio has been developing versatile carry solutions for everyday use – with an understated look and a low environmental footprint.

"We're delighted to present Bananatex®: the world's first technical fabric made purely from banana plants which are organically cultivated in the Philippine highlands. We've invested three years of research, testing and development to create a truly sustainable material that has our DNA woven into it, and offers an answer to questions we've been asking ourselves since day one."

QWSTION bags are designed and developed in Zurich, and manufactured in Asia and the EU according to highest ethical standards.

www.qwstion.com

www.bananatex.info

www.lauschsicht.com

Bananatex

Sustainable textile 1 - Bananatex

Waterproof and made in the Philippines**, Bananatex** relies on a natural ecosystem of sustainable forestry, it involves no chemical treatments along the way and is a natural fibre made from the abaca plant, essentially a variant of the banana plant but one that is farmed for its fibres rather than its fruit.

Bananatex also contributes to sustainability by absorbing carbon dioxide during its lifecycle.

The abaca trees are grown with no fertilizers or pesticides, it eventually converts into a fine yard (after several years of experimentation and research by the QWSTION team).

The output is a high-end material as shown in the Bananatex bag that could, if the owner chose to, leave it to decompose on the farm and turn it back into fertilizer for the abaca trees in a perfect example of circularity.

Pinatex

sustainable textile 2 - Pinatex

We first heard about the Pinatex waste pineapple leaf fibre textile made by Ananas Anam several years ago when it was being tentatively used in some experimental fashion items, already through this natural fibre alternative to leather was causing ripples within the sustainable design community.

Inspired by the Cradle to Cradle concept of circularity, Pinatex is made from a byproduct of the fruit industry, no animals were harmed in its production, we can at least be sure of that, and rural farming communities were given a financial boost in the process via this extra source of income.

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Orange Fiber

sustainable textile 3 - Orange Fiber

These silk-like fabrics made from citrus fruit byproduct in Catania, Sicily by Orange Fiber can be blended with other materials as needed but the citrus textile itself emerges soft to the touch and extremely lightweight, making it unsuitable for furniture but ideal for fashion..

Already the fabric has been picked up by H&M and Salvatore Ferragamo.

Recycled plastic is another innovative material that complements the sustainable approach of Orange Fiber.

More than 700,000 tons of citrus waste are produced in Italy on an annual basis with few if any alternatives available other than disposal so we applaud the Orange Fiber team for their work.

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Appleskin

sustainable textile 4 - Appleskin by Frumat

Another Italian brand, this time from Bolzano in the north and Florence in Tuscany, Frumat’s ‘AppleSkin’ contains around 25% apple waste recovered from the fruit juice industry, making it vegan and of course cruelty-free too.

By producing sustainable material that transforms food waste into a raw material that can be put to a myriad of uses, products like this surely have a bright future.

The challenge perhaps is to see how many of them can make the transition into the furniture textile space vs those that exclusively serve the fashion sector.

Similarly, the use of recycled steel in construction projects offers significant environmental benefits, such as reducing carbon emissions and saving energy, while maintaining material quality.

to enquire about our expertise in specifying healthy building materials and interior fabrics, contact us here

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Upcycled ocean-plastic fabrics in eco yacht interiors

this article first appeared in my BioBlu website here

How eco yacht designers can lead the way

There is fundamental change afoot in the yacht industry as awareness increases of the overall environmental footprint of the refit yards, ship builders and of course yachts combined all have.

As a sense of collective responsibility  in the face of climate change grows ever stronger, so will the demand for more eco-friendly alternatives for engine power, boat building materials, interior fit-out materials and even onboard operations.

Upcycled ocean-fabrics have a small but important role to play in this process, alongside natural and sustainably sourced fabrics such as organic cotton. The added value in an ocean-fabric based material though is that it has effectively already made a valuable contribution to cleaning the seas.

That journey from ocean plastic to yacht furniture upholstery may not have been straightforward but it is now very much a possibility, meaning the emphasis is on eco yacht designers and eco yacht brands in general to support such initiatives. Here's how...

Ocean clean-ups removing plastic from the oceans 

It is now easier than ever for businesses in the yacht industry to make a give back to Non-Governmental Organizations playing their part in cleaning and protecting the ocean in response to the estimated 12 million tonnes of plastic dumped into the oceans each year. Read that again.

Yes, that means each and every year. What's more, only around 9% of all plastic ever produced has been recycled, with a total of 400 million tonnes of plastic being produced globally each year according to the Seaqual Initiative (see below).

Examples of NGOs supporting ocean clean-ups include The Ocean Cleanup , PlasticBank and the ReSea project, amongst many others doing invaluable work in the sector.

Making the journey from ocean plastic to yarn

The Seaqual Initiative is based near Girona, Spain and acts as a loose community that connects ocean clean-ups around the world with waste management and recycling industries to transform marine litter into Upcycled Marine Plastic, which in turn can be used by manufacturers in their own fabrics, yarns or products.

In this sense at least, the Seaqual Initiative may not yet be on the radar of most eco yacht designers, and perhaps understandably so but their work represents a fundamental link in the often lengthy chain of organizations involved in this process.

Just imagine that PET water bottles may only be around 5-10% of the waste collected by fishermen, and even beach clean-ups only reach 40% of PET bottles, meaning the rest still needs to be sorted and dealt with in a responsible manner.

Manufacturing Upcycled Marine Plastic fabrics for interiors

UK manufacturer Camira's Oceanic range picks up the baton from the Seaqual Initiative's post-consumer recycled plastic yarn and turning it into a contemporary recycled polyester with a purpose. Each metre of the Oceanic fabric is made from 100% post-consumer recycled polyester including 50% Seaqual yarn, the equivalent of 26 plastic bottles per metre. 

The fabric is Certified to OEKO-TEX Standard 100 and Certified to Indoor Advantage™ "Gold", coming in a range of colourways with a natural inspiration, ideal for the onboard interior fit-out of an eco yacht.

BioBlu sees great potential in specifying Oceanic upholstery and others like it in an eco yacht interiors new build or refit project as a way to add a degree of Circularity, giving new life onboard an eco yacht to what was once discarded plastic waste destined to pollute our seas for many hundreds of years.

To find out more about BioBlu's interior consultancy services and our expertise in sustainable, healthy materials, contact Matt or Paolo at info @ bioblu.org or via the contact form here.

Designer Gym Flooring Selection: An Eco Gym Perspective — Biofilico Wellness Interiors

Zandur flooring looking mighty fine with a nature mural, wood rowers and leather sandbags

10 Tips on Gym Flooring and fitness centre flooring by a Gym Designer

1. GYM design budget and commercial gym FLOORING PRICES

First up, pricing of gym floors. For some it may come as a surprise that gym flooring is so expensive however this is also one of the most important decisions in the gym design process, bar none.

In terms of tangible numbers then, how much is enough for a gym flooring budget? We recommend allowing GB£60 per m2 -GB£80 per m2, in order to tick as many of the boxes outlined below there are simply no shortcuts.

Yes there are cheaper gym floor options out there such as rolls (rather than tiles) of Made In China ‘rubber' gym flooring that does not come with any kind of product declaration and almost certainly contains a multitude of VOCs and other chemical contaminants.

Many gyms will make some sacrifices, for example in sustainability terms, in order to economize with gym flooring closer to £30 per m2 especially if they have a large lifting zone or free weight areas where weights will be dropped frequently.

Colour options will be extremely limited however as mentioned, the flooring will not meet our own standards for wellbeing interiors / healthy interiors due to its affects on indoor air quality.

Hotel gym design tends to come with a different set of constraints, see our dedicate page here.

2. gym design and ACOUSTICS / NOISE REDUCTION

Depending on the chosen heating, cooling and ventilation system for a gym, there may be temperature considerations to factor into a gym flooring choice.

For example, underfloor heating systems in cooler parts of the UK or Scandinavia may come with certain requirements around what can be laid directly on top of them. It is worth checking with the supplier if an underlay beneath the gym flooring is recommended on this basis.

As long as the gym flooring has modest to good heat conductivity, there shouldn’t be an issue here.

Why might an underlay be useful? Let’s take an example from an urban environment such as a gym located on the first floor of an office building with ground-floor retail below and offices above.

Heavy loads dropped onto a thin 5mm laminate flooring tile laid directly onto the inherited flooring is likely to send the sound of clanging metal pretty efficiently in all directions, causing noise pollution that can come back to bite the gym owner.

Better to layer in an acoustic underlay made of dense eco-friendly and non-toxic fabric, ideally at least 2-3cm thick. This not only helps with noise reduction by absorbing and dampening the sound of heavy weights and equipment but also adds comfort underfoot. This is especially important in a home gym space where protecting domestic flooring and reducing noise for other household members is crucial. Yes, it is a modest extra expense but you won’t regret it. Gym users will thank you for the added comfort underfoot as well.

If you opt for a denser, hard surface such as wood or bamboo flooring, clearly there will need to be some areas of the gym such as around the squat racks where a more heavy-duty rubber tile will be required on top of the wood or bamboo to protect it, this in turn has an impact on the overall aesthetics of the space too.

Gym design budgets could therefore potentially include an underlay, the main flooring tile or rolls, as well as additional tiles on top on the heavy lifting area.

3. gym design and THE ROLE OF different gym flooring types for user comfort

We are fans of natural materials such as solid wood floorboards, whether salvaged from old train tracks for example, or sourced from sustainable forests within the region.

They provide a natural solution that does not give off harmful airborne toxins and they look great but, and this is a big BUT for a gym, they are unlikely to encourage much interaction with the floor by clients once the gym opens.

This is where training style and gym design inter-lap and is often the hardest part to communicate to an architect studio or interior design studio in charge of a gym design project.

If the training concept behind the gym involves an element of natural fitness or ‘functional training’ then one way to facilitate that type of activity is to install a flooring tile with a softer feel such as a vulcanized, non-toxic rubber that is not going to prevent a gym user from attempting a forward roll for example, or a cat crawl on all fours. For home gyms, durable and stylish home gym flooring options, like non-slip rubber flooring, are ideal as they support heavy-duty use while ensuring safety and comfort.

When did gyms stop becoming about agility, physical movement and play anyway?

The connection between flooring choice and the type of movements a gym user will feel comfortable performing in the gym may appear a subtle point but in fact it has a significant psychological impact on the end user experience.

Softer flooring solutions encourage more experimental movement by a gym user, harder flooring solutions do the opposite, from our gym designer perspective this is an undeniable fact. Softer flooring can still support heavy equipment while promoting a variety of movements.

Of note is that a classic gymnasium flooring material is in fact a spring floor, offering unparalleled bounce for gymnasts - however this is not much use for every other type of gym, except perhaps natural movement training!

4. GYM FLOORING AND INDOOR AIR QUALITY

Until early 2020 very few people were talking about indoor air quality in gyms but Covid changed that and we are unlikely to forget what we have learnt. In a way this is a good thing. More awareness of harmful VOCs in our furniture and flooring means more support for natural materials such as bamboo, cork and rubber, sustainably sourced please.

Clearly we want to stay away from installing anything with harmful toxins such as formaldehyde but we also need to control what is brought in from outside, especially in dense urban environments such as a city centre. Wearing the same shoes on the streets as you train in is going to have immediate consequences on the indoor air quality inside the gym, there is simple no escaping that. Additionally, using a pH neutral cleaner is crucial to maintain indoor air quality and avoid introducing harmful chemicals.

We now recommend additional attention be paid to the HVAC filters in a gym to ensure they are high grade, preferably MERV 13 or above, unless there is the option for natural ventilation in an indoor-outdoor space. Failing that though, we need the mechanical engineer on the project to be one step ahead with the ventilation rates to ensure a steady changeover of the indoor air throughout the day, even with our preferred option of eco-cork / rubber flooring tiles on the gym floor!

In terms of specifics, we want a gym floor that contains no PVC, phthalates or halogens and we really must insist on it being Red List** chemical free**

Other references might include a material that exceeds California IAQ (CHPS) indoor air quality standards (the gold standard for such things in many respects).

Many suppliers are now joining the dots between their products and green building systems like LEED or healthy building systems like WELL by illustrating where their products score points in each of the respective score cards. every manufacturer with a conscience and an eye on the future should be doing this!

5. sustainability & gym flooring

We would highlight cork and eco-rubber as top choices for sustainability, either as separate solutions or indeed in a cork-rubber blend as in our favourite Zandur tiles that combine both in one innovative solution.

We could also highlight bamboo flooring and solid wood planks but when we take into consideration all of the points mentioned in this article, cork and eco-rubber stand out as our first choices.

For a full Life Cycle Assessment approach to choosing a gym floor we now consider not just where the raw materials come from but also where they will go at the end of their life, in a decade from now say. some suppliers now offer take-back recycling programs that provides additional peace of mind for the gym owner. A small detail perhaps but details count in this game. Avoid adding to landfill waste that future generations will have to tackle eventually; instead select a fully recyclable material for your gym floor.

6. GYM FLOOR DURABILITY & IMPACT

Durability is a key factor as most gyms are going to have metal weights being lifted, carried, and dropped by gym users who have just exerted maximum effort in their last rep. The flooring needs to withstand the impact of heavy weights to ensure durability and safety. These things happen so as gym designers we have to plan to accommodate them.

Dumbbells and barbells frequently get dropped so we are looking for a solution that is especially hard-wearing in the strength zone in particular. And there should always be a strength zone! Additional rubber tiles on top of the gym floor will do the job, providing around 30mm of protection.

For barbell areas, there are Olympic lifting platforms that will fit in / around a power rack. Here again, it is worth investing in high quality solutions that will be able to resist even heavier weight drops, here we can be talking about 150kg-200kg in any serious gym, possible being dropped from overhead height, so count on at least 2 metres drop height.

For stretching areas, functional training zones (with sandbags, ropes, etc.) and cardio zones a lighter, softer material of 5-10mm can be useful but strength areas require a solid 20-30mm rubber tile system that is basically bombproof. This is especially important for home gyms where high-impact weight training and Olympic lifting are common. Rubber floor tiles provide soundproof and shock-absorbing benefits, making them ideal for home gym settings.

Anything less is going to cause you headaches in the long run, maybe not on day one, maybe not on day 365 but eventually the tiles will start to become a health & safety risk if they do not fit together perfectly. As gym designers, we have seen this happen too many times not to mention it here!

The one other caveat is strength machine areas (as opposed to free weights and barbell zones) as the static machines remove most of these risks from the equation completely, nothing is hitting the floor unexpectedly in this training zone. Yes there is considerable load placed on the flooring but it is a steady, constant load rather than an actual ‘impact’.

Regular cleaning with a damp mop is essential to maintain the durability of the flooring and ensure it remains safe and hygienic for all users.

7. THE AESTHETICS OF GYM FLOORING

Have you ever noticed that most gym designs specify flooring options that all look more or less the same?

We can identify a number of groups in this sense, for example CrossFit gym designs and budget gym designs around the world almost universally feature solid black or black speckled rubber tiles. Why?

They are fundamentally a cheap option, readily available from any number of gym equipment suppliers, they are functional and will likely last 3-5 years without any issues… nobody ever complained about this type of flooring, ever!

If we move into the realms of boutique gym design standards and even more so with premium or luxury gym design standards facilities such as resort gyms however, a number of different options emerge, not least natural cork tiles or an eco-friendly cork-rubber mix, sustainable FSC wood, eco bamboo flooring, even wood-effect LVT tiles for a cheaper but no less sustainable solution.

High-end rubber tile solutions from the likes of Pavigym come in a wide range of colours ensuring complete aesthetic integration into each specific site, this is another one of our preferred flooring options as a hotel gym designer.

Gym locations with limited natural light for example may do well to opt for a brighter colour rather than the standard dark black. We are fans of a terracotta colour in certain facilities as well as a Zandur leafy green for natural fitness training areas. After a certain price point the choice becomes vast, giving the gym designer plenty of room for creativity.

8. HYGIENE & GYM FLOORING - A NEW FRONTIER

Manufacturers are now producing detailed cleaning guides to ensure that hygiene standards can be higher than ever without putting the flooring tiles at risk, in part this is thanks to the material’s resistance to chemicals or disinfectants.

Equally porosity is key here as we do not want sweat or other liquids to penetrate the surface of the flooring tile.

A high quality virgin rubber tile will ensure that no odours linger around at the end of the day, the surface can be wiped clean and sanitized professionally, and also will not absorb any spillages of water bottles, protein shakes and the like.

Already the terms micro-bacterial and anti-fungal are appearing with increasing regularity in marketing materials but with good reason so be sure to select a gym flooring tile that performs well in both aspects.

We are fans of athletic turf tracks used for sled pulls such as those produced by Sprint Tracks in the Netherlands. Sprint tracks are custom made and can be created in 4 weeks in any combination of colors. However, the Polyethylene plastic used to make it is a concern from an indoor air quality perspective as well as from a single-use plastic perspective as this type of materials appears to be non-recyclable, thereby contributing to the world’s growing plastic problem.

Any manufacturers of athletic turf that is non harmful to People and Planet are invited to contact us to make our lives as gym designers easier!

9. gym design and eco-friendly installation

It may sound obvious but being able to not only install your own floor tiles but also remove them, move them around or replace them at a future date gives you that extra bit of flexibility should circumstances change in the future, or your gym needs evolve.

Typically a good option is an interlocking tile system with connector plates on the underside of the tiles. A pack of 4 x 50cm2 tiles would therefore give you 1m2 of flooring that can be lined up with the next square metre and so on.

Ramped edges and corner sections ensure there are no health and safety risks with sharp differences in height between zones, for example between the entrance and the main gym training area.

Be sure to specify no-VOC adhesives or backing so that no off-gasses are introduced into the gym space during the fit-out process that would damage the indoor air quality.

10. gym design and health & safety concerns

Last but not least, if it needed saying, your gym flooring tiles should meet all relevant fire and smoke standards.

For Biofit gym designs we are usually working with European and North American standards; opting for cheaper Chinese solutions in particular can expose a gym owner to risk in this sense so it is always worth checking twice before proceeding with a purchase.

By way of an example, Zandur Sustain Sport gym flooring has slip resistance that surpasses that of most safety flooring and exceeds UL and ADA recommendations, meets all North American and European standards for fire and smoke, and it STILL manages to exceed California IAQ (CHPS) indoor air quality. Beat that if you can!

For more information about our gym design services see here or contact us via email here

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Further Reading

• We Design Recharge Rooms, Restorative Spaces & Wellness Rooms

• Biophilic Design Consultant

• Sustainable Interior Flooring Zandur

• Hero Corporate Offices

• Best Examples Of Biophilic Design In Learning Environments

• Designing A Hotel Gym

• Biophilic Design And Wellbeing Interiors- An Evolutionary Perspective

• Hotel Gym Design - A Consultant's View

• Healthy Building & Wellbeing Real Estate Consultants

• Indoor Air Quality In Gyms

• Design Consultants For Leisure Spaces, Wellness Facilities & Gyms

• An Introduction To Biophilic Design - Nature, Wellbeing And Sustainability

• Biophilic Design In Gyms & Spas

• Wellness Interior Design Consultants

• What Is A Healthy Building Material?

• Benefits Of Active Design In The Workplace

• What Is Wellness Design In A Healthy Buildings And Wellbeing Interior Strategy

• Organic Interior Design: Connecting Nature & Interior Design

• Restorative Recharge Room Designers

• Biophilic Design Consultant & Interior Designers

• Best Examples Of Biophilic Design In Offices

• A Guide To Workplace Wellbeing Design

• Sustainable Boutique Hotel Brands UK

• The Best New Green & Healthy Office Buildings In Barcelona, Spain

• Designing A Hotel Gym or Resort Fitness Facilities

Organic Construction Materials and Their Benefits — Biofilico Wellness Interiors

Organic building materials are a new-age remedy for battling the environmental pollution to whom we are exposed all the time.

The amount of energy that is used daily, and the contamination created in the process of using man-made construction materials is astounding and terrifying at the same time. The construction industry is increasingly recognizing the potential of organic building materials to transform its practices. There is a noticeable shift from traditional building materials like concrete and steel to more environmentally-friendly options in sustainable architecture and design. Harmful chemicals used in growing all the time, lead to many people becoming sick or allergic.

Hence the need for eco friendly building materials as the alternative, and if you want to know what eco friendly construction materials we refer to and what are their benefits, be sure to read the rest of the blog.

Features of natural building materials

The eco building materials, also known as organic building materials, are grown from seeds and their main feature is to absorb carbon dioxide while they grow. Unlike synthetic materials, organic materials are sustainable, require less energy to produce, and have a lower impact on the environment. After harvesting, their special property is to isolate the greenhouse gas, instead of releasing it into the atmosphere.

The usage of natural building materials leads to healthier buildings thanks to their ability to “breathe” by absorbing and giving off moisture for a healthy indoor environment. Materials such as wood, straw, cellulose, bamboo, natural plants, oils, and waxes are used to create more energy-efficient buildings that are solid and safe, but at the same time, better for the environment.

Given the fact that the emphasis is on the energy efficiency and sustainability, it is no wonder that eco-friendly building materials are meant to pave the way to a more natural approach in construction, and here are some of them.

Straw bale - old is new again

Why did we say that?

Well, the thing with straw bale as an eco friendly material, is that was used a long time ago, and now this technique is reintroduced and updated for the 21st century. 

Straw bales are made from the waste of the agricultural industry, as lumber substitutes, with an ability to isolate carbon.

Homes made from straw bales have thicker walls than it might seem at first, offering a great insulation and fire resistance, matching your favorite aesthetic at the same time. Straw bale homes keep warm in the winter, and cooler in the summer, which is makes them a great choice at all times. 

Rammed earth - one of the oldest eco building techniques

Earth construction has been known for ages, so it is wonder it is still used today, given it is one of the most durable construction techniques. 

The practical features of the rammed earth are their use as a thermal storage, which allows the sun to warm it during the day, and then slowly release that warmth in the evenings. 

This low-carbon technique functions in a way where soil and binder are placed in layers, and are pressured afterwards, allowing it to create a hard and durable surface, that is now often seen in luxury homes with dramatic and durable walls that resemble sedimentary rock. 

Bamboo sustainable building material - an alternative for wood

Not only that bamboo resembles wood aesthetically, but it also belongs to the grass family, meaning it can regenerate fairly quickly in comparison to trees. Bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants on the planet, with an ability to grow up to three meters per day, depending on the type. 

Bamboo might just be the perfect alternative for wood, and it's not just the speedy growth rate that makes it so. Since we are talking about eco building materials for construction purposes, bamboo can be harvested up to every 3 years, while that period being very prolonged in case of trees, going up to 25-50 years in case of some species. 

Bamboo is a perfect sustainable alternative even when it comes to applications - it can be used for tiles, flooring, lumber, decking and countertops. So, not only does it help forest regenerate thanks to its' rise in popularity, but also enables you to be creative and use it however you want.

Mycelium -  futuristic mushroom insulation

Even though it sounds as something that comes straight from a sci-fi movie, among the organic building materials known as biocomposites (products derived from plants, bacteria, animals and fungi), mycelium is a champion when it comes to bioplastics that can be used in construction purposes. 

Mycelium is mushroom-based organic building material that can be used in creating construction materials stronger than concrete, more insulated than fiberglass and completely disposable. 

Mycelium comprises the root structure of fungi and mushrooms, and can be encouraged to grow in the composite of other natural materials such as ground up straws or molds. They can also be air-dried to create lightweight, but very strong bricks or other shapes. 

Green living roofs in the core of biophilic design

As you know, the base of biophilic design is comprised of plants, and green living roofs are another proof how applicable biophilic design is in terms of sustainability and organic building materials. 

These vegetated roofs consist of a waterproof membrane, growing medium (soil), and vegetation overlying a traditional roof. This might be a perfect example how biophilic design works when it comes to sustainable architecture and construction. 

The benefits of green roofs are many, but some of the most important ones are their durability, obvious energy efficiency and improved air quality, noise reduction and water retention.

Tree bark as a sustainable material

Sustainable forestry is all the rage now, and we couldn't be happier about it!

New practices involve using tree bark as a sort of organic building material. In its' essence, bark is a highly durable, attractive, economical, and it goes without saying - sustainable option for siding and shingling. 

In case of sustainable construction, the bark used comes only from the trees that are already cut, for usually it's tossed away as debris, burned or used to make mulch. 

Siding made from bark can last 75 up to 100 years, without any regular maintenance required, painting or sealants, which also means there is no chemical runoff. After it's removed from the trees, bark is kiln dried - sterilized against fungus and pests. 

This sterilization technique involves no pesticides or any other harmful chemicals, but also, it will never warp or shrink upon installation. 

We could say that the future of sustainable organic building materials is secured, or it gets more so at an amazing rate. With just a little ingenuity, planning and mainly use of the organic building materials available to us - it will be possible to construct buildings with a very high sustainability index exceeding couple of hundred years, and Biofilico will be there to support it.