Make Your Next Home Renovation Eco-Friendly
The Sustainable Home Remodel
THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO CREATING A HEALTHIER, ECO-FRIENDLY HOME
Sustainability and wellness design are getting major traction in our industry and we’re bringing our clients, colleagues and vendors onboard. Designing with a health-first approach for our body, mind and earth is one of our core principles and we continue to refine our design offerings as the industry and product offerings evolve.
Key Takeaways:
Planning for Responsible Demolition
Designing Eco-Friendly and Health-Conscious Interiors
Sourcing Non-Toxic Materials & Furnishing
Sustainable design begins with education and aligning goals with your design and build team - to create a built environment that is sustainable and creates a positive impact on the health of the planet and human life.
So, how exactly can we be sustainable in interior design? To keep things simple and easy - my team and I have three categories that we look at during every project:
Project Start & Demolition Phase : Renovating Responsibly
Design & Construction Phase : Passive Design for Responsible Energy & Water Use
Sustainable Sourcing: Health-conscious choices for interior materials
Let’s dive into these three categories to understand how you and your design team can bring sustainability into your design choices.
‘Sustainability’ and ‘wellness’ are no longer buzz words in the design industry - they are our core principles.
PROJECT START & DEMOLITION PHASE
Renovate Responsibly: Planning for Reuse and Recycling
You finally have your building permit in place, your General Contractor is excited to start, and you are anxious to get things rolling in your renovation. Your GC may have the initial urge to just quickly demo the place, and get to the part where your vision for your new home comes to life.
But did you know that the construction industry is the world’s largest consumer of raw materials, so if renovating responsibly, sustainably, and your family’s health is important to you - this first step is crucial.
Your old kitchen cabinets and bath fixtures can be donated to non-profits. Door hardware, old lighting, even flooring can be reused and recycled. Even old wall paneling and staircase parts can be salvaged.
Working with what you have already is where you should start. Repurposing is the first step towards making sustainable choices.
Limiting your waste during renovations is the first step you can take towards contributing to a sustainable future, minimizing the negative impact to the environment and reducing how much you contribute to a landfill. Here are some organizations in the NY Tri-State area that will take your salvaged items:
Big Reuse - for donating building materials in NYC
Donate your furniture, appliances, materials to Habitat for Humanity
Donate your out-dated kitchen to Renovation Angel, and you may qualify for tax benefits
DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION PHASE
Design and build your home to use energy and water efficiently
Passive design is an important movement in our industry, and many architects are becoming skilled in this area. Passive design choices maximize natural light and heat to reduce energy usage. Air distribution systems and plumbing and lighting systems have to all work efficiently in order to reduce energy and water use.
If you’re building a new home, consider the orientation of your home to reduce solar heat, and position the home away from dominant sun exposure.
Despite the long list of technical specifications, its important that your architect and GC are on board with using sustainable solutions on your project. For our clients, we like to keep things clear and simple, and offer suggestions that are practical to implement. Some of our favorite solutions are listed here:
Eco-Friendly Design Choices for Each Room in Your Home:
Bathroom
Install low-flow faucets & toilets to reduce water use
Use LED light bulbs and install sensors and timers, so that you can control your lights when you are not home. Ever forget to turn off the lights when you’ve left home? I’m guilty of that. I also like to put my outdoor lights on timers so they are on for a limited amount of time.
Incorporate solar panels into your energy plan. Gut home renovations are ideal candidates for exploring a variety of solar panels that are the right fit for your roof style and home location. Read more about the ins and outs of installing solar panels in your home.
Install energy-efficient windows
Install ceiling fans in key rooms to reduce the reliance on air conditioning
If you can, add a skylight! Adding a source of natural light is one of the best design choices you can make.
Invest in insulation to reduce heat loss during cold winter months
Install Low-flow faucets (and turn off the water when you brush your teeth!)
Purchase energy efficient appliances
Install dual pipes and drains to collect water for recycling in your irrigation
Harvest your rainwater (especially useful if your water source isn’t well-water)
Use solar powered outdoor string lights. Read about the options here.
Make room for compost bins in your backyard. Read more about the best bins for your backyard.
As you can see, this list gets quite extensive (and we certainly didn’t cover everything!) which means that as a homeowner, you have a lot of power to make earth-conscious decisions and change the course of your renovation and your health.
Exposing the bad stuff: What to avoid in your home renovation and interior design project
The furniture, fabrics and objects inside your home release harmful chemicals into the air you breathe, through VOCs, particle dust, and chemical degradation. Paint, adhesives, engineered wood all offgas and release particles into the air you breathe.
Asthmagens
Acrylic & Latex Paints
Flame Retardants
Anti-microbial treatments
Finishes & Adhesives
Carcinogens
PVC-based wallcovering and flooring
PFAs: Water and Stain Repellant Coatings
Engineered wood flooring
Adhesives
Endocrine Disruptors
PVC-based wallcovering and flooring
Acrylic & Latex Paints
PFAs: Water and Stain Repellant Coatings
Wall to Wall Carpets
Plastics
Sustainable Sourcing 101
How to choose materials and furnishings with wellness in mind.
Sustainable Sourcing: Choosing materials and furnishings with wellness in mind
“Sustainably made furniture focuses on environmental impact. But it also affects your home environment, specifically your indoor air quality. Materials and chemicals used to construct furniture, like adhesives, paint, and wood preservatives, contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs).” (Architectural Digest, 2023) This category is probably the most challenging because there are many choices but also little transparency. Cost is a huge factor and is often a deterrent to making sustainable choices.
But don’t worry, furniture and lighting makers are getting very serious about sustainable manufacturing, a new report published by Salone del Mobile highlights how companies, like Artemide, are changing their processes to make their products more sustainable and accessible.
We look at a variety of factors when specifying furniture and materials, such as the content of the raw materials, if they can be traced, recycled, are they bio-degradable, or if they cause extensive environmental impact during production, and finally their impact on indoor health quality.
For our renovation projects, here are some of our favorite non-toxic selections:
Natural Stone and Handmade Tiles:
When possible, natural stone for counters, tiling and flooring will be our top choices as they require less energy to produce, are made from natural materials, and have unparalleled natural beauty.
Engineered stone, such as quartz, is another material we try to avoid when possible. Workers who work with this material can be exposed to unsafe conditions and breath in very fine particles that can lead to fatal lung complications such as silicosis, caused by breathing in tiny bits of silica.
Australia is the first country in the world to ban the use of engineered stone. Read more here.
When selecting tiles for bathrooms, mudrooms, kitchens, we think about using natural stone and handmade clay tiles.
Supporting local craftsmen in their art is one of the best ways you can incorporate sustainable design choices into your renovation. We are so inspired to learn about makers, for example, Tiles of Ezra tells a compelling story about the sustainability of craftsmanship, learn more about it here.
You can find beautiful moroccan zellige tile using a traditional technique perfected by master craftsmen over generations, italian terracotta tiles, or classic marble tiles. Some fabricators of handmade tiles to consider for your next project:
FSC-Certified Wood:
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certifies forests to ensure their environments are responsibly managed and meet the highest environmental and social standards. When possible, choose mills that source FSC-certified wood. Many smaller mills also have sustainable flooring even if they haven’t gone through the full certification process, so it’s always good to ask! Companies that offer sustainable flooring, include:
Flooring isn’t the only application for wood in your home - the wood siding on the exterior of your home is another great place to opt for sustainable choices.
Local Artisans and Makers:
Shopping sustainably includes considering the entire life cycle of an item, from how it’s made to how it arrives at your door. Each step of production can add to or reduce your carbon footprint.
- Architectural Digest, “How to Shop for Sustainable Furniture”
Partnering with local workshops is not only good for the local economy, but it also means a lower carbon footprint during transportation and installation. For our projects, we work with local workrooms and installers, local millwork fabricators and local construction partners.
This is especially important to consider when we purchase vintage furniture from Europe or working with a manufacturer whose factory is located far away. The further your item has to travel, the larger the carbon footprint.
In the Hamptons, some of our favorite spots for vintage finds include:
Neo Studio, Sag Harbor
Katie Leede, Sag Harbor
Black Swan Antiques, Sag Harbor
Collette Home, Bridgehampton
Wyeth, Sagaponack
R E Steele Antiques, East Hampton
Gustavo Olivieri, East Hampton
Fabric & Foam with Green Certifications:
Fortunately for designers and consumers there are numerous certifications (over 30 and counting!) that have done the due diligence for us and vetted materials that meet sustainable criteria. The most common ones we look for include:
Oeko-Tex: ensures textiles are free from harmful chemicals
Red List Free
Greenguard Gold: ensures textiles are certified for low chemical emissions
Cradle to Cradle
Besides certifications, we choose fabrics that are naturally easy to clean and anti-microbial, such as wool and mohair. Since durability and cleanability are very important to our clients, we will recommended patterned and darker colored fabrics that can conceal stains, as well as, wool floor coverings that are remarkably easy to clean with just soap and water.
For upholstery pieces, like chairs and sofas, using natural latex foam is a good non-toxic choice to replace the traditional PU Foam which is treated with many harmful chemicals. Fortunately, designers can specify that upholsterers use PU replacement foam, from vendors such as Enkev.
Brands that offer sustainable choices and bring the highest level of craftsmanship to your interior renovation projects
A well-rounded renovation will prioritize restoration, using materials that are certified, contain recycled content, focus on carbon footprint reduction, without sacrificing design and functionality. Here are just two of our many favorites, we will be sharing more of our favorite sustainable brands, stay tuned!
The Hudson Company
Source: The Hudson Company
The Hudson Company is a custom mill specializing in wood flooring, paneling, and beams. Their raw materials come from three primary sources:
Their reclaimed wood comes from historic North American structures, such as barns, factories, farmhouses, and decommissioned NYC rooftop water towers;
Their purpose-cut wood comes from hand-selected trees on private timber stand;
Their specialty timber elements come from primary mills in North America and abroad.
Another flooring company to consider is Vermont Plank Flooring that uses FSC-certified wood.
Callidus Guild
Their paints and plasters are water-based, naturally anti-microbial and anti-fungal, and low VOC. Callidus Guild produce quantities that minimize wastage and offcuts, each of their artists is paid a living wage, receives extensive on-site and in-studio training, and is encouraged to pursue personal practices outside of Callidus Guild.
Healthier Paint Choices: Non Toxic & Eco-friendly
Since paint covers the largest surface in your home, it is important to select a paint that is non-toxic and eco-friendly to improve your indoor air quality. You will want to find one that has zero-VOCs.
Buy Green Seal-11 certified paint.
This certification limits VOCs and other harmful ingredients such as nonylphenol ethoxylates, mercury, lead and carcinogens. It also prohibits use of biocide preservatives that can release formaldehyde into the air.
Opt for low- or no-VOC paints.
Acrylic & Latex Paints
Clare
ProMar 200 Zero VOC by Sherwin Williams
Aura, EcoSpec & Ultra Spec by Benjamin Moore
Ecos Paint
Limewash & Roman Clay
Portola Paints
Ressource Paints
Stay tuned for our guide for choosing non-toxic paints, to be notified when our guide comes out, subscribe to our newsletter below.
More resources for your next renovation:
The Sustainable Home
By Christine Liu, available on Amazon
Christine Liu takes you on a tour through the rooms of your home – the living area, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom – offering tips, tricks and 18 step-by-step projects designed to help you lead a more low-impact lifestyle.
The Sustainable Home: Easy Ways to Live With Nature in Mind
By Ida Magntorn, available on Amazon
Room by room, she offers practical and positive advice to create a greener home, including: Clever ways to eco-boost the kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, living room and laundry.
