Sustainable solutions

From fun flooring to LED lighting and forest-friendly furnishings, a host of sustainable products are making their way on to the market, Selina Denman discovers.

Manufacturers are clued up to the fact that sustainability may never be the number one criterion for designers during the product selection process. But it has already made its way on to the top four or five issues to consider, maintained Lindsey Parnell, president and CEO, Europe, Middle East, India and Africa, for Interface Flor.

"We do not expect designers to buy our carpets just because of sustainability qualifications," he said. "For me, a designer's first and foremost responsibility is the aesthetic requirement, and that has to be satisfied. That's why we have the broadest range of designs in the industry," he noted.

"Sustainable products can't be of inferior quality, and we don't expect people to pay a premium for them. People expect quality, they want the right price and they demand variety. But when all those boxes are ticked, we are actually finding that sustainability is becoming a deal clincher. And that's probably as good as its going to get - but it's good enough."

Furthermore, whilst designers are increasingly prone to promoting sustainable solutions, it is still at the discretion of the client as to whether those solutions are actually implemented - which means that long-term, sustainable solutions are often overshadowed by short-term cost considerations.

"While designers are able to provide recommendations and expertise as guidance, it is the decision of the end client which ultimately drives product selection," maintained Rebecca McIlwraith, director of Our Divan, a recently-established supplier of New Zealand products to the local market.

"We still have the odd client who really couldn't care at all," admitted Ben Corrigan, senior design manager at interior design firm, Bluehaus. "But I do think we are going in the right direction in this market.

The directives that they have put in place are absolutely the right thing to do. However, what we are finding is that we are starting projects with good intent but when it becomes cost prohibitive, we are having to revise some of the designs," he added.

Siddharth Patel, partner at Oceanic Trading, agreed that a willingness on behalf of specifiers, designers and architects is often not enough to guarantee a sustainable end product.

"There are some diligent, sustainable-minded specifiers and architects out there, because they have come from countries where this is already part of their industry so this is second nature to them. They are requesting and they are quite happy to specify but they are not the decision makers on the price side - and there is a price difference," he said.

Next generation LEED

But with LEED 2009, the long-awaited update to the internationally-recognised green certification programme, having passed member ballot last month, the green building movement looks set to enter a new stage in its evolution.

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