Spec Book Pro Blog

Merida Meridian Carpets

Gretchen at Inhabitat describes carpet that eliminates the synthetic fibers and adhesives used in carpeting that out-gas harmful fumes for weeks after installation.

Link: Inhabitat

If you're one of the growing number of consumers concerned about the effects of VOC's on indoor air quality, you may already know that carpet is a prime suspect.

Thankfully, stylish rug-maker, Merida Meridian, will have none of that. Natural fiber carpets are the healthiest and most eco-friendly way to keep your floors feet-friendly and Merida is a leader in both design and technical innovation. The 30-year-old company offers perhaps the most diverse collection of 100% natural fiber floor coverings on the market. Their Central Park design was even selected to be part of the permanent Architecture and Design Collection at the Museum of Modern Art.

+ www.meridameridian.com

MDF

Inhabit describes a new look for medium density fiberboard by Interlam.

Link: Inhabitat

Through multiple layers of innovation, Interlam - an architectural surfacing company - is adding some serious sex appeal to one of the more banal materials we call upon for everyday construction: Medium Density Fiberboard. The ever humble MDF is a strong, cheap, and easily workable alternative to solid wood planks or plywood sheets, although it is a bit heavier and dustier. Interlam, and its collection of sister/brother/parent companies have improved MDF four fold.

First, they've made it 30% stronger than typical MDF.

Second, they've made it green – by replacing the typical formaldehyde binders with new eco-friendly resins and using only the wood waste from other product manufacturing.

Third, they've quite literally made it green, and blue, and red, and a couple other colors by dying the wood chips before they are compressed with the same 100% organic dyes used for fabric to give the material integral color. How does it get better than this?

Their fourth innovation is to use a digitally controlled router to cut more than fifty 3-dimensional patterns. Not only can they router a single piece of integrally colored MDF, but they can sandwich together different colored layers and router through them for a multi-tone pattern. If that still doesn't excite you, they can add metallic finishes, custom paint or stains, and various patina techniques.

Material ConneXion

Link: MoCo Loco: Material ConneXion.

Material ConneXion
Books: Dec 4, 2005

This one is for the designers, decorators and architects (and possibly ardent design fans). Material ConneXion is a well illustrated resource book full of new materials, some applied. I've seen catalogs and sample books of materials with the usual rendered 3D drawings of the material "in situ". ConneXion goes further, it shows the real thing by real designers using materials in unthought of, creative ways; from Charles Worthen's sculptures made entirely of silicone caulking to Royal Tichelaar's glass and ceramic Droptiles. I don't want to mislead, the book is mostly raw materials and technical info, punctuated with examples of applied materials. The exhaustive list of materials is well illustrated and presented in seven different categories from Carbon-based to Polymers. Hardcover, 288 pages, $80.00 at Amazon.

+ Material ConneXion at Amazon

Plyboo

Source: Inhabitat

Plyboo, just as it sounds, is laminated bamboo plywood. Stronger and more durable than most hardwoods, yet super lightweight and inexpensive, ply bamboo is an ideal material for flooring, walls, and furniture.

The term "Plyboo" was coined and trademarked Smith and Fong Company the leading producer of bamboo plywood. Founded in 1989 Smith & Fong are continuously working to improve and expand upon their Bamboo products. Happily for DIYers, they don't just make wholesale products for the construction industry. For those handy folks out there interested in making their own designs, Bamboo plywood is readily available to consumers in standard plywood sizes.

Another company forging the way in bamboo products is the more recently established Silkroad, by K&M Bamboo Products. Along with their standard Bamboo plywood, they also offer Bamboo veneer.

Links:
+ Plyboo.com
+ Silkroad

Poppycotton

Source: Inhabitat

Melissa Cotton Womack, of How-To-Make-a-Terrarium fame, has just launched a new business of recycling vintage textiles into lovely home accessories such as pillows, wall hangings, and lampshades.

+ Poppycotton

Six Industry Products First to Receive 'Cradle to Cradle' Certification

Source: GreenBiz.com

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Oct. 13, 2005 - McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC) has announced six products as the first to qualify for Cradle to Cradle certification.

MBDC's new program evaluates and certifies the quality of products based on Cradle to Cradle Design principles by measuring their positive effects upon the environment, human health, and social equity.

Named today as the first products to qualify under the rigorous evaluation system, are:

• Haworth Corporation -- Zody chair
• Hycrete Technologies, Inc. - Hycrete concrete additive
• Pendleton Woolen Mills -- Classic Wool Flannel seating fabric
• Steelcase - Think chair
• Victor Innovatex -- Eco Intelligent Polyester, seating, and panel fabric

These are the first of many firms who have engaged MBDC to evaluate their products for potential certification, which aims to help companies design and manufacture the highest quality products. Dr. Michael Braungart said, "Cradle to Cradle is real, not just a good idea. It supports the triple top line, improving revenues, the environment and equity -- and it's fun!"

MBDC's Cradle to Cradle certification process examines products at many levels to ensure they meet key standards for ecologically-effective design. Basic certification levels include Biological Nutrient or Technical Nutrient -- both of which are evaluated in terms of human and ecological health, intended for simple products -- and Platinum, Gold, or Silver which are evaluated to meet additional standards including energy, water and social criteria. The strict MBDC certification processes provide corporations proof and validation of their products' quality, performance, and ecological intelligence, all of which are designed to enhance a product's market value.

MBDC's ecologically intelligent certification process is modeled on the promise of the "next industrial revolution" championed by McDonough and Braungart and articulated in their book, Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. It advocates a paradigm change in corporate thinking and widespread application of the ecologically intelligent design concepts found in nature.

Bamboo: Holding the World Together

Source: Treehugger: Bamboo: Holding the World Together

The ecological wondergrass's versatility lends itself well to our notion of modern sustainable lifestyles, and we're glad to see that it's use is continuing to spread. Several months ago, we reported on Bambus, a German project to capture 1000 uses for bamboo in pictures, and we're happy to report that they're moving right along. Added to the sizable list they had started are a bevy of bamboo projects and products, from structural to artistic to whimsical to silly. The gamut runs from beer (?!) to briefcases to scaffolding to flashlights, hammocks to machine oil to mouse pads to race cars. Is there anything bamboo can't do? We daresay no! So raise a glass of bamboo beer and toast the grass the holds the world together. ::Bambus

Maplex

Source: Inhabitat

Maplex is a next-generation building material made from 100% pressed wood fibers, with no binding agents. The lack of chemical binding agents makes the material completely biodegradable and recyclable.

Manufacturing company Weidmann has been producing Maplex for electrical insulation since 1877, with little fanfare. I guess they've recently discovered that this remarkable material might have other, more design-oriented applications as well, especially now that sustainable materials are taking off.

Maplex is super versatile, can be shaped using a variety of processes, and readily accepts paints, dyes, stains and many adhesives. The material is, in fact, so adaptable that it has been an inspiration for designers Erika Hanson and Emiliano Godoy, who have both developed a whole series of unique products around it.

For more information on Maplex, see the Weidman website >

Blik: A Truly Sticky App

Link: Business 2.0 :: Magazine Article :: What Works :: A Truly Sticky App.

Flora was driving down Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice, Calif., when he noticed several newly opened boutiques. He glanced at the letters in the shop windows. “It hit me like a rush,” he says. “Thin film like the kind used for signage would be ideal for our wall.”

Flora drove home, giddy over the possibilities of decorating with computer-etched graphic film. After drawing shapes and patterns on a PC, he and Neils decided to market removable wall decals as building blocks of affordable interior design. They spent $1,000 on prototypes, and a few months later made a $4,000 down payment on a film-cutting machine. They named their product Blik because the word sounded catchy. (Later they learned that it means “glance” in Dutch.)

Friends were skeptical: Many said they would never put stickers on their walls. But the duo was vindicated when Los Angeles magazine mentioned Blik in its October 2002 design issue. Orders started rolling in as soon as the magazine hit newsstands, and within a year the decals -- which cost about $40 for a set covering one wall -- were selling at Design Within Reach and Seattle’s Velocity Art and Design. Mattel hired Blik to create an inspiring environment for the company’s 500 designers, pointing the way to opportunities beyond consumer applications. Flora and Neils were soon decorating walls at the headquarters of Warner Bros. Online and the hot advertising agency 86 the Onions. They also developed custom designs for a Gap Kids promotion, for the W hotel gift shop in New York, and as souvenirs for a Yayoi Kusama exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution. In May 2004, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition showcased the company’s flower-power collection. “They’re perfect for commitment-phobes,” says Emily Sinclair, a producer of the show.

Privately held Blik’s revenue reached $500,000 in 2004, according to Flora, who hopes to double that by 2006. The company is working with the estates of Keith Haring and of Charles and Ray Eames to develop designs based on well-known art, and it now makes small decals for glassware and dinnerware. “We hope to inspire creativity in lots of people,” Flora says. He reminds entrepreneurs to appreciate a blank slate. “You don’t have to look far for great ideas,” he says. “You can work with what’s around you.”

Soybean Yarn

Source: Inhabitat.

Perhaps you thought there wasn't one more thing that could be made out of soy. It's in everything; your breakfast cereal, your face cream, your meatless meat. It's taken on a reputation as a modern miracle. If you were concerned that this chameleon substance might get played out, you can now find it in a new guise: clothing.

Soybean protein is spun into yarn that is purported to be incredibly soft, fluid and durable. The "eco-friendly luxury textile" is being manufactured largely in Asia, where by-products from tofu production can be liquefied and turned into long fibers that behave like their less vegetably couterparts, taking dyes vibrantly and holding their color through washing. The fiber is available to a consumer market both as yarn and in clothing, including "ethical" silks. It doesn't seem to have infiltrated the mainstream apparel market yet, but given the popularity of soymilk, it's only a matter of time.


SPF Textiles