159 The case for making more sustainable design choices is clear, both from an environmental perspective and because doing so increasingly makes good business sense as responsible sourcing is rewarded and the old ‘take, make, use and dispose’ model is actively discouraged by regional, national and global regulatory mechanisms. By embracing the principles of the circular economy through intelligent use and reuse of scarce resources, designers can improve their own sustainability profiles while empowering ship owners to achieve their green targets. Similarly, businesses that supply materials and products for interiors can make themselves attractive to their customers and the end users of the items by committing to a low-carbon future. “If suppliers manage to achieve carbon neutrality for themselves and/or their products, this has a direct effect on the Scope 3 emissions of the companies who purchase from them and contributes to minimising their upstream carbon footprint.”1 Designing sustainable products Responsibly sourced materials are the building blocks of any construction-related sustainability initiative. There has never been more information readily available to businesses engaged in specifying materials for projects. The will to make positive change happen is also at an all-time high, with many industry bodies nailing their colours to the mast. “We are working towards moving from a sustainable products approach to a sustainable raw materials approach,” says the Textile Exchange.2 However, while the shift to more sustainable ways of working is still at a relatively early stage, it remains a challenge for designers to sort through the available options to choose the most sustainable for a particular project. Green claims should always be backed up with proof of how suppliers are achieving their promised outcomes. As covered in more detail elsewhere in this report, the A to Z of sustainability standards for materials is long, including ANSI Standards, Cradle to Cradle, Declare, Environmental Product Declaration, FSC Certified, Health Product Declaration, ISO/EN Standards, LEED v4 Material Ingredient Disclosure, PVC Free, VOC content and VOC emissions, and Zero Waste, among others.3 These frameworks, certifications and standards allow design companies to specify materials with confidence that they are likely to meet certain sustainability standards. But even where these ‘stamps of approval’ are not available, there are a few basic principles that can help narrow down the choice of materials to those that will do the least harm. 1 Source: ClimatePartner, Available, Reliable and Comparable 2 Source: Textile Exchange, Biodiversity Insights Report 3 Source: Mindful Materials, Mindful Materials Toolkit The quest for more sustainable products
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