Sustainability beyond furniture
It is becoming increasingly more of a demand from clients and consumers that the products and services they are buying into are sustainable or come from a sustainable source. From paints, furniture, and the manufacturing processes, sustainability is an interior design trend that is not slowing down. We wanted to have a look at the future of decorating and design and have a look into some upcoming innovative materials.
Mycelium
Mycelium is a blend of interwoven thread-like hyphae that constitute the vegetative part of mushrooms. The material is produced by adding fungal mycelium to an organic substrate (e.g. sawdust or straw). The way in which the material utilises the vegative part of the fungi enables the material to feed on low-grade agricultural waste, which would otherwise be burned or composted, which helps to return the carbon into the atmosphere. There are several other beneficial properties to the material. It is biodegradable, non-toxic, and provides good insulation, which has got experts wondering whether mycelium can be the future of insulating and fireproofing buildings. Currently, the material is mainly used as a substitute for plastic and leather which has been experimented with using products such as stools, lights, and packaging as it can be custom-made in molds.
Clay
Clay has been around for centuries and is one of the oldest building materials we know of and just like everything else eventually, it comes back around. With the use of cutting edge technology, a simple material like clay can be used to create complete homes. Mario Cucinella architects created the concept in collaboration with 3D printing company WASP to create a low-carbon 3D printed house. Printed in Massa Lombarda, the house is made up of 350 layers of stacked printed clay which is arranged in undulating layers that ensure that the structure is stable but also provides a thermal barrier. This concept has the potential to have huge beneficial impacts on the environment with the housing modules being built within 200 hours while consuming an average of six kilowatts of energy and reducing typical construction waste almost entirely said the construction team. So who knows, this may just be the future of housing.
Algae
Algae has been experimented with for years due its many different uses that have been found, the natural, biodegradable material has been used to make bioplastics and well as furniture when mixed with paper pulp, successfully created by Jonas Edvard and Nikolaj Steenfatt. In more recent times Frama have created seaweed curtains in collaboration with Natural Materials Studio. The designer hand-casts the fabrics in wooden frames, in which they hang to dry for "a few days" before being cut out of the frames. The fabric is completely biodegradable. in just three months if put into contact with soil and bacteria. Eventually, Hvillum hopes the materials will come into everyday use, but she believes there still needs to be more research into these kinds of fabrics before commercialised standards can be set for them.
Carbon-capturing concrete
With concrete being one of the worlds biggest emitters of carbon dioxide, there has to be a more sustainable way of using the material if we are to carry on using it in the quantity that we do. Carbon-capturing concrete is a concept that a few brands are looking into to help reduce the negative impact it has on our planet. One company, Carbicrete has developed a method of capturing carbon within the concrete. By replacing the cement content in the concrete with steel slag, which when injected with co2 forms limestone. Another way concrete it being looked into is by Carbon Craft Design which mixes carbon emissions collected from factories with cement or marble to create decorative patterned tiles. These simple methods of reducing the amount of carbon dioxide produced or used can have massive impacts in the future and with more and more companies adopting these methods and testing new ways of working, concrete can become a lot more sustainable.