By: Sheryl Danielian
Although many people think that “Green/Sustainable
Design” is just a phase, with the way design and human consciousness is evolving, it seems that this type of mindset and design is here to stay. In the next 20 years materials are likely to not only be more technologically advanced, but also more environmentally friendly.
There are many ways to find out about new materials being used for design, but one avenue is through a company called Material ConneXion®. To quote from their website: “Material ConneXion is the leading global platform for material solutions and innovations” (www.MaterialConnexion.com). They receive all of the new innovative materials and choose the best ones to display in their location.
When you are a member of Material ConneXion (members such as top fashion designers, architects, car and all types of designers) you can consult with the Materials Specialists and view all of the materials in their library as well as get the contact information for the displayed materials. Material ConneXion chooses from thousands of products and picks the best of the best to present to their clients. The main products recently selected are almost all recycled and environmentally friendly materials.
It is designers’ responsibility to create, promote and educate regarding the importance of Sustainable Design. Clients’ preferences remain the same over time - what they wanted in the past they will want in the future – which are products that are innovative, beautiful and interesting. What is changing and what will probably soon become the norm in the future is that clients are starting to ask for products that are responsible and environmentally friendly. If they don’t ask for it, it is still the designer’s responsibility to support the companies that are inventing new materials that are environmentally friendly and promote these products to their clients.
For example, because of technological advances, clients can have products that look just like beautiful stone, but are instead made of recycled materials. This innovation is not only good for the environment not only because of its recycling of used materials, but also because we avoid taking natural stone away from our Earth. This material usually will be more cost effective as well.
New materials are being made with more care about our environment. For instance, there is new tableware products on the market that are made from VerTerra (Material ConneXion Number: MC 6358-01), a biodegradable material made from the fiber of fallen palm leaves. The new products are made from nature, but are from the parts of nature that are not alive, like fallen palm leaves. Here are a few other products that are either presented at Material ConneXion or are products that are new innovative materials.
“Luminoso” http://www.luminoso.at/ – an Austrian company has come up with an innovative material made of natural resin and wood. This product is also called “translucent wood”. This new product can be used as cabinets, floors, countertops and/or backsplashes that are backlit and create a really interesting look or have an image behind the product. See idea below...
These stools are designed using the same type of material by Giancarlo Zema for the Avanzini Group.
Decorative mosaic tiles (also shown by Material Connexion) have also evolved and are now composed of polyester resin with up to 20% mineral fillers and are available in several different patterns. These tiles contain no VOCs (Volatile organic compounds are emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids. VOCs include a variety of chemicals, some of which may have short- and long-term adverse health effects. Concentrations of many VOCs are consistently higher indoors (up to ten times higher) than outdoors) and use a water soluble film to maintain the register of the mosaic that dissolves during installation. These tiles could be applied to counters, floors, walls and cabinets.
A funny material out in the market right now is a solid surface material that is made from recycled counterfeit money or phonebooks. You know someone will definitely want that in their Kitchen in the near future as a countertop! When you think about all of that counterfeit money and phone books that are not being used, it should make people happy that they are actually being recycled into something functional. There are at least two companies that manufacture this type of material; one company is Paperstone (www.paperstoneproducts.com) and the second is Richlite (www.Richlite.com).
Here is an online article that discusses counter materials made from recycled materials. http://www.metrogreenbusiness.com/archive/article.php?issue=39&dept=74. This article discusses new materials that could be used for countertops that are recycled and take the place of natural stones or VOC tiles. For instance, there are materials that look like terrazo that are made from recycled glass (beer bottles, windshields and traffic lights) and set into concrete to create solid slabs. Two companies that make this kind of material are Vetrazzo (www.vetrazzo.com) and EnviroSlab (www.enviroglasproducts.com)
They also discuss a company named IceStone from Brooklyn, NY that creates slabs from concrete and glass where 75% of the product is from recycled materials.
Many will say that Corian has been around too long to be “innovative” or part of the Kitchen of the Future, but I must at least touch upon Corian since it is such an amazing material and can be formed in any way possible as well as being very sustainable. “Corian also has an extensive colour palette, being available in over 120 colors, from neutral hues to intense tones, coupled with its ability to be thermoformed, backlit, routed, carved, sandblasted, etched or dye-sublimated. Corian carries NSF/ANSI 51 certification for food contact and Class 1 fire rating” (http://www.gizmag.com/go/5731/).
If you search online for “kitchen of the future” you will see the amazing design of Architect/Designer Zaha Hadid using Dupont’s Corian material in a very futuristic way. These types of materials can be formed in any organic shape at a price that would probably be half of what it would cost if you had a woodworker or steel designer fabricating this by hand.
Designer Karim Rashid also teamed up with Dupont to design an environmentally friendly living space for the future. This design was unveiled during Milan Design Week 2010. This design is made from a range of new Corian eco materials. It just shows that cabinets and cabinet fascades don’t have to be made of boxes and opaque. The cabinets of the future can be curved and have lattice work made of sustainable materials. 
There are two websites that present innovative designs and materials the first website is www.inhabitat.com. This website discusses and presents innovative designs made with eco friendly materials. Since technology and design evolve so quickly, it will be wise in the future to not refer to this page for knowledge of innovated and sustainable designs but to websites like Inhabit.com who will keep you up to date with fresh and future designs and materials. Another website that is really interesting is www.trendir.com. As with Inhabit.com, Trendir.com presents innovative designs and materials but at the moment does not focus entirely on eco friendly products. This website has more eco friendly products than it did last year and I am sure as time passes it will focus mainly on eco friendly designs, products and materials.
Advances in technology have also helped evolve materials that have been around for hundreds of years and created an advanced type of material. For example, concrete, which has always been an environmental friendly product which is composed of Portland cement, gravel or crushed stone, sand and water is now not only a slab of course material, can now be stained any color possible, have LEDs embedded into it, and the most innovative concrete materials are now “see thru cement” made by companies like LiTraCon™ (www.litracon.hu).
Another company is Sensitile™ (www.sensitile.com) that creates “Terrazzo (lumina)” which is a revolutionary material that diffuses a single point of light into thousands producing a luminous panel. Terrazzo (lumina) combines the durability of concrete with a light source. Light can travel the length of the terrazzo (lumina) slab in any color sent from its source.
These innovative concrete materials can of course be used for flooring, cabinets, countertops and backsplashes. Thanks to LEDs this material can be lit very easily without taking up a lot of space.
Here are some “Fantasy” materials for the future…
· Solid surfaces that clean themselves – either just by adding water to the surface and somehow the chemical reaction between the material and the water cleans the bacteria or just when sunlight or artificial light hits the surface the material cleans itself.
· Solid surfaces that, like solar panels, take in sunlight and help power your kitchen appliances.
· Digital surfaces that can change images and textures by a touch of a keypad so when you are bored with your countertop, floor, cabinets and backsplash, you don’t have to spend all of that money replacing, resurfacing and cost of installation.
· Digital surfaces that can sense your mood and change colors to match your mood.
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