Furnishing in Eco-Friendly style: the home is becoming greener

What is eco-sustainable furnishing?

Furnishing in an eco-friendly, eco-sustainable style means choosing furniture created using natural and ecological materials, the only exception being recycled materials. The idea is to create an interior design that is not only eco-sustainable, but will also last a lifetime, or can be disposed of easily without polluting. A way to protect both human beings and the planet by reducing the environmental impact and improving air quality within the home which is sometimes more polluted than the air outside because of the chemical agents given off by furniture and building materials.

A growing trend, including in the building sector

According to the study by BIS Research – Global Construction Sustainable Materials Market – Analysis & Forecast, 2017–2026: “The sustainable construction materials market can be categorized by product type into structural products, interior products, exterior products, and building systems. Structural products dominated the global sustainable construction materials market, with a share of approximately 61.2% by volume and 63.0% by value in 2016. The market size of this sector was valued at $110.25 billion in 2016 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 11.5% between 2017 and 2026.”

Materials for eco-friendly furnishings

The choice of materials is fundamental because the more they are processed and not natural, the more polluting agents they release and the more energy is required to manufacture them.

New or recycled natural materials, such as wood, bamboo, glass, bio-bricks, stone, regenerated plastic, water-based paints and natural adhesives are the preferred materials of the major designer brands that support recycling and the circular economy. They produce recycled and recyclable furniture combined with low-energy impact appliances. Normally, they are made by craftsmen on-site to reduce transport-related pollution.

The design firms that use natural and recycled materials are a guarantee of furnishings that are not only sustainable, but also high-quality.

Innovation and sustainability: Maria Vittoria 18 in Turin

For the Maria Vittoria 18 real estate initiative in Turin, it was decided to pair innovation and sustainability.

Innovation

Maria Vittoria 18 is part of the Home Easy Rent® project, the first totally on-line rental system developed by Morning Capital in conjunction with Tecma Solutions. The system makes it possible to remotely configure your home, from furniture to accessories, and through to the signing of the lease.

Also available is the Morning Care® My Living app, a digital assistant service to provide support for daily tasks, from malfunctioning of household devices to technical work, scheduling service, car rental, babysitting and delivery receipt. Together with the amenities (gym, lounge bar and wellness area) which can be scheduled in total independence using the app.

Sustainability

The pieces chosen to furnish the kitchen of this project were supplied by Green Pea, whose motto is: “Design, Beauty and Respect for the Planet”. The materials are 100% green and are paired with energy-saving appliances.

The best is yet to come

However, respecting the planet and implementing sustainability criteria means going beyond the question of what materials are used in order to reach the ideal equilibrium between product and technology. The next evolution-oriented frontier in the world of interiors will be making passive components “intelligent” as they are manufactured through the use of self-automated smart tags that can register the memory of the origin of the element, including information about the installer and all the essential information that are useful in the event maintenance is required: blockchain applied to industry.

If needed, the app user can dialogue with the passive element in which the specific, analytical data are found, to activate the point-of-contact required totally automatically, without involving third parties in the chain. The disintermediation of parties in the maintenance process eliminates a series of factors that are negative for the environment: vehicle use, energy absorption, time of the manpower involved and recovery of materials.

Article by: Interimmobili Agency studies office