Renew • Colorado's Remodeling Magazine

Sustainable interior design isn’t just biodegradable couches and compact fluorescent light bulbs. The budding green design movement also includes antiques and century-old hardwood flooring.

Brian Dunbar, a green building guru at Colorado State University, defines sustainable design as any project “with a concentration on minimizing the consumption of raw materials and a focus on the reuse of existing materials.” The resulting look can be anywhere from classic to ultra-modern, as long as reuse and recycling is the foremost concern.

Homeowners and professionals can get sustainable design ideas from the American Society of Interior Designers’ green residential remodeling guidelines or the U.S. Green Building Council’s project profiles. However, much of the industry is behind the green curve.

Stephen Kohlbeck runs Tilde Design Studio in Denver and is a member of the USGBC. He said sustainability is not yet a focus for the industry or clients, but he nudges clients toward greener ideas.

“Nobody yet has even asked for it,” he said. “They’re not even really aware that they should be conscious about it. … We’re five years out from having it be the norm.”
Bink Owsley, a designer at Craftsmen Builders in Fort Collins, had the opposite experience.

“I was fortunate to work with some clients that considered environmentally sensitive design a driving force in their projects,” Owsley said. “This spurred me to continue to educate myself on ways of lessening the impact of projects.”

Kohlbeck recently helped remodel a home with two kinds of recycled components. He found a headboard and other furniture at La Puerta, a New Mexico company that reuses antique wood that might otherwise be trashed or burned. The salvaged scraps form rustic cabinets, doors, railings, bed frames and more.

The laundry room countertops were also recycled, but look new. They are made from paperstone, a strong, durable surface made of recycled paper or cardboard. Kohlbeck also will incorporate paperstone in a new line of furniture he will debut this year.

He is designing a paperstone tabletop on bronze legs made from 90 percent recycled copper. A line of cabinets will use local, sustainably forested wood. For other pieces in his line, he focused on natural fibers, including cotton, flax, linen and silk.

Likewise, Owsley suggests refinishing or reupholstering furniture, instead of replacing with new items. To take sustainability one step further, she recommends organic fibers, local upholsterers and infinitely recyclable aluminum for handles and knobs.

Similarly, older wood floors can be refinished for a beautiful surface that is even more sustainable than popular new flooring made from sturdy, fast-growing bamboo.

“I cringe when I hear about someone ripping out their shiny golden oak floors … and replacing them with bamboo to make their home more ‘green,’” Owsley said. “I’d recommend refinishing the oak, stain it dark or pickle it or even paint it.”

Lighting is another prime consideration in remodeling. Compact fluorescent light bulbs last longer and use less energy than incandescent bulbs. However, Kohlbeck sees them as a stepping stone to the next green lighting trend.

“LEDs (light-emitting diodes) are about to become a huge light source in buildings,” he said. “To me, they are the best type of showcase and art lighting.”

The bright low-power lights are widely used for traffic lights and other industrial applications, and are popular in under-cabinet accent lighting. Within five years, Kohlberg expects them to expand to the rest of the home as the lighting industry perfects the color and brightness.

Natural lighting is an important component of green design as well. Green building design standards focus on getting daylight into the core of a building, reducing the need for electric lighting while the sun is shining.

Owsley also suggests using sensors for bathroom fans and storage room lighting, eliminating worries about turning off the switch.

Finally, most building materials can be salvaged or recycled. Homeowners should insist on recycling the used furniture, flooring and other components being replaced in a redesign project. Even wall studs can be recut and used for trim or accents. In these small ways, homeowners can help make sustainability the norm in interior design.

“It’s trendy to talk about green design but critical to shift our thinking.” Owsley said. “Green design shouldn’t be a separate category, it should be a cornerstone of all design and building.”

Steve Graham is a freelance writer based in Fort Collins.