Ecological and environmental awareness is implemented through a personal attitude of respect for the world around us. The idea of living with zero impact seems unattainable and unachievable, often because we do not have the instruments or knowledge to reach the target.

Changing your lifestyle and consumption habits is an effective first step towards a real sustainable change for the environment, but what else can you do to be even greener?

Even your own home, apartment or villa, is at the core of this change. We can live in our home and implement changes by making conscious and ethical choices that are important, ranging from bio-architecture to green furnishings, looking for interior solutions with a low environmental impact and combining energy efficiency, to live in a sustainable way.

Today this means making important life choices, which also apply to your home.

The principles of Eco Design

The concept of eco design is always strictly relevant and implies developing a product that respects the environment with the aim of eliminating the impact that said product could have on the environment, thanks to a smart design. A set of axioms that were developed by architect William McDonough at the beginning of the second millennium, in a model of design principles necessary for sustainability, known as the Bill of Rights for the Planet.

Bio architecture, from Scandinavia spreading to the entire world

Taking the ethical principles of smart design to bio-architecture is a short step. Eco-sustainable architecture is the result of the tradition of northern European countries that spread to the rest of the world and places the creation of low environmental impact buildings, which are as energy-efficient as possible, at the centre of the creation of each project. Houses built according to bio-architecture use solar energy, materials with a low impact on nature, such as wood, and blend into the surrounding environment according to a concept of perfect balance.

Sustainable decor, a forward-looking snapshot of today

Even furnishing choices can make the difference, in a trend towards sustainable and conscious purchases, which makes materials and manufacturers who work with an eco-friendly approach the preferential choice. Interior furnishings and finishes, including coverings and flooring, are long-lasting elements and they are not all the same. Attention to ecological awareness leads many manufacturers in every sector to highlight the green choices in the production of their products. Santamargherita is a company that has always paid attention to the environment and sustainable construction. Indeed, Santamargherita agglomerates are Greenguard Gold certified, the world standard that represents the highest guarantee concerning volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emissions and, therefore, of the quality of the air we breathe indoors.

Low environmental impact energy

The energy aspect for the operation and heating of your home is also at the centre of an environmentally sustainable way of life. From choosing appliances with energy class A +++, offering high efficiency to minimise the environmental impact thanks to the more efficient use of electricity, up to the installation of photovoltaic systems to produce clean and renewable energy, making your home autonomous, economic and ecological. Indeed, solar panels transform the sun’s energy into electricity that can be used in your home. There are also heating solutions that reduce the environmental impact, such as radiant panel heating, condensing or biomass boilers and heat pump systems.

To make your home Eco-Friendly it is therefore important, on the one hand, to independently gather information about all the news and green companies in the construction, energy and furniture sectors, and, on the other, to rely on professionals who have the same green philosophy and are able to provide the best advice based on how your home is built.