Going Green Inside Your Home With Floors, Tiles And Timber

Green your home by following those green interior design tips and advice from our sustainability expert.

Choosing a sustainable building system and natural, reclaimed or recycled materials is really only half the story when it comes to creating a home that's energy efficient and economical to run.

It's important to match the green credentials of a building's fabric on the inside too. You can do that by taking a complementary approach to kitting out some of your interiors.

Here's a rundown of some of the main elements to consider when you come to redecorate your new home.Here we look at some key areas of green interior design in a series that starts with floors, takes you through walls and into kitchens touching on green heating and bathrooms.

1. Floors

When creating a healthy interior it pays to start with the basics - namely the walls and floors.

There's a plethora of natural and eco-friendly floor finishes available from wool carpets to sustainable timber - each with its own benefits. It's also important to consider what lies beneath.

Many self builders choose to install underfloor heating to complement renewable energy sources.With an operating (or 'flow') temperature of around 35 degrees Celsius 'wet' underfloor heating (UFH) works well with systems such as ground source heat pumps.

That's because these renewables offer best efficiency at low temperatures and are therefore not well matched to conventional radiators (which need a flow temperature of around 65 degrees Celsius). Underfloor heating is easiest to install into a new-build - retrofit is possible but disruptive.

2. Tiles

Here it's a good idea to choose hardwearing, natural options. It's best to tile the whole floor before any fixtures or furniture are installed - this will allow you to make layout changes in future, such as switching a breakfast bar with an island unit without retiling the whole floor or having to patch in bits of exposed screed.

It's a good idea to use a flexible adhesive and grout to minimise the risk of cracking, especially if you're installing underfloor heating. The general rule of thumb with UFH is the harder the finish the better the response, so tiles and natural stone are an excellent choice.

3. Timber

Bamboo can be a good option but always ensure you use regulated sources. Look out for Forrestry Stewardship Council (FSC) accreditations.

Unfortunately supplies of genuinely sustainable bamboo are limited and various lamination processes are used which means that not all floors of this material are diametrically sound (they may swell or shrink).

If you have underfloor heating it's generally best to opt for engineered boards which are less prone to shrinking and warping than solid boards and therefore better able to cope with changing temperatures. Carpet/natural coveringsA lot of options are available here including cork, linoleum, marmoleum, Karndean and wool carpets.

Again there are important considerations to bear in mind if you're fitting UFH - for example, a carpet and underlay must have a combined tog value of less than 2.5 so that they're not over-insulating.

As with the other natural floors mentioned above check the delamination tolerances of the adhesive. In some cases these can be as low at 27 degrees Celsium - around eight degrees lower than the typical operating temperature of underfloor heating.

by: Jane van Velsen

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