If refurbishing a home wasn't complicated enough, we now have to choose our materials with greater care and attention. You could see this as a limitation, but for me it’s an opportunity to create a style that embodies the philosophies of sustainability.
  Luckily, there are ever more interesting materials to choose from as I found out when designing the Eco home exhibition at the Geffrye Museum in East London. It struck me that when designing eco homes there are masculine and feminine sides to consider.

The “masculine” focuses on the technical aspects involved in making it more efficient and practical things like new boilers, water efficient toilets and A-rated appliances.
By contrast there is a “feminine” element involved in creating a beautiful and nurturing home. Think fabrics, furniture and dressings.

You could see this as the struggle between form versus function - and for once these two need to find a balance in sustainable building design; to create a home that is both efficient and a great place to live. Kitchen work surfaces and wall paints are both good examples of sustainable interior design materials where form and function come together to create the perfect solution - being durable and good-looking.

As a general rule materials should be:
• Technology-led, allowing a low energy (and carbon) lifestyle, being either produced with low levels of energy or helping to cut energy use in the home, such as insulation.
• From sustainable renewable sources. Think wood, wool, and cork
• Have low toxin levels. Why would we knowingly put poisons into our family home?
• Made from recycled or recyclable materials.
• And of course, any materials on show should be beautiful, allowing us to create exciting visual and textural contrasts.

With these thoughts in mind, I have been working on a palette of materials with good environmental credentials and eco chic style at the fore. Here’s a selection of some of the exciting materials I’ve chosen for my eco refurb:

• We’re cladding a section of the front façade in long vertical lengths of Sweet chestnut (about 15 cm wide). This is locally-sourced in Sussex and comes in short strips, which are beautifully finger-jointed together. In time it weathers to a soft silver sheen and requires no additional protective coatings, so it’s very low maintenance. www.in-wood.co.uk
• Insulative render. To supplement the cavity wall insulation, I'm wrapping the house in an innovative lightweight white render coat improving the u value of its fabric by 25%, helping to keep it cosy and warm. www.thermilate.com
• FSC floors - it's important that my floors have come from a sustainable source and of course that they look great. These 22 cm wide engineered oak boards (perfect for under floor heating) are wire-brushed, then coated in a white oil and a grey finishing coat to bring out the oaks grain create a textured matt finish. I went to visit Reeve Flooring’s factory recently and was really impressed with their hand finishing skills and relatively low costs   www.reeveflooring.com
• Glass stone work surfaces, known as Resilica, are made from 85% crushed recycled glass in a solvent-free resin.  We’ve specified a mixture of blues and turquoise coloured glass fragments with small mirrored flecks to give it a jewel-like sparkle. I love Eight Inch’s work and their surfaces (made locally to me) are just incredible. www.eightinch.co.uk
• Natural paints by Earthborn are a breath of fresh air in the home, as they contain no volatile organic compounds. VOC’s are the solvents used in conventional paints and give them that freshly-painted smell, but can also contribute to breathing difficulties. Earthborn clay paints use natural oils as solvents allowing walls to breathe and will also soak in excess moisture (great for bedrooms) preventing damp and mould. www.earthbornpaints.co.uk
• Our bathroom floor will have natural slate tiles cut from UK quarries. These require no firing and minimal levels of transport when compared to European, South American or Far East versions. The silver green tiles we’re specifying have a wonderful grain and texture to them, adding real character to our bathroom. www.kirkstone.com

Ok, so it's going to take a little more time to plan a comprehensive selection of sustainable materials, but if it's an Eco home that you're after, that decision making process should follow right through from the exterior fabric of your home down to the smallest details. If these materials are chosen with care, it means your home can be both efficient and beautiful - the ultimate eco chic goal.

Find out further info at www.oliverheath.com Heath Design Ltd