?Touch wood?, says the good luck wish. The latest edition of Salon de la Maison, which closed yesterday, seems to fare better and better, with dozens of thousands visitors confirming the growing interest of Mauritians in home design. On the other side, exhibitors come with innovations either to tailor the demand or fill new niches. After the arrival of new look kitchens, domestic swimming pools, the last trendy products seem to obey to the conjugated needs to be economical and ?green?: solar heaters, no water waste gardening devices and, from now on, synthetic lamination.

?Reasonable cost housing is a challenge nowadays. At the same time, we need quality products. It is what I am trying to propose to customers?, says Didier Lagesse, who is launching Ecodeck, a firm specialized in recycled wood and plastic products. Among them, one is made of sawdust and granulated plastic, which gives extremely durable, highly water-resistant and anti-slip surface. ?Traditional wood working tools can shape it easily. It has all the qualities of the natural item, while being competitive in price as, say, Balao wood.?

Energy saving

Very commonly used in South Africa for the decking around swimming pools, but also fitting for chairs, floors and other uses, it is advantageous in terms of low maintenance requirements : ?No splinters, no termites, recyclable material.? And, at a time when there is more and more concern for global warming issues, it is good to know that this type of products produce about 250 times less Carbon dioxide than classic plastic products.

Green is the tone for the modern living. The president of Mauritius Association of Architects, Francis Wong, recently pointed out: ?Buildings and related industries are responsible for 50% of carbon dioxide emission, the main contributor to global warming. Architects are conscious of that and work to find sustainable means of construction.?

Renewable energy sources in building are thus essential. And when economic factors favour the recourse to these sources as in the case of water heaters, there is no hesitation. ?My turnover has increased by 50% these last three years?, says Gérard Cupidon, manager of Solartech, another exhibitor at Pailles that has been selling water heaters since 1980.

Fluorescent and similar energy saving lamps are also in the mood. As testifies Yasin Mossodea, director of Mydzine, an interior design consultancy. ?People?s expectations for economic lighting are more and more pressing. Even the more demanding, who ask for creativity, are also keen on low consumption lights.?

So, slowly but surely, green concepts are being introduced in the house. Yet we still have to catch up with Réunion island in that field and mere fully green houses are lacking from our landscape. Obviously, there is still much room for improvement. But the tendency is there. And the response from customers is promising.