K+BB Green

May 16 Green Pipeline: Eco-friendly k&b tips and products from around the web

KitchAnn Style discusses a U.S. Postal Service pilot program that allows consumers to recycle small electronic appliances through the mail for free.

Kitchen-exchange discovers LED recessed lights.

Sphere Trending asks "Is Wood Paneling Making a Comeback?" and "Is Wheat the New Wood?"

Apartment Therapy Re-Nest considers the eco-benefits of trash compactors.

The Kitchen Designer touts GreenGuard-certified Cambria quartz countertops (photo below).

—Ellen Sturm Niz, K+BB Web Content Manager

Turning Tragedy Into a Green Opportunity

A little more than a year ago, the small town of Greensburg, KS, was almost completely destroyed by a powerful F6 tornado. With 95 percent of the town destroyed, residents and officials vowed to rebuild and to rebuild green—turning tragedy into an opportunity to potentially be the greenest town in the country.

Last month on Earth Day, Greensburg GreenTown—a nonprofit organization established to provide the town's residents with the resources, information and support they need to rebuild as a model green community—hosted Derek Kirkpatrick, North American manager of Caroma, and Jackie Burton, the company's public relations representative, to show them the town's progress. Caroma had previously donated 200 high-efficiency, dual-flush toilets to help the town realize its mission. Kirkpatrick was so inspired by Greensburg's efforts that he donated another 200 toilets. Now, those 400 Caroma dual-flush fixtures will help the residents save is excess of 10 million gallons of water a year—plus save some money, too. [Photo: At the distribution site for the dual-flush toilets, Caroma USA's manager Derek Kirkpatrick (center) visits with Ron Shank, Dennis McKinney and GreenTown's Daniel Wallach and Alanna Goodman.]

Let's Truly Define What Green Design Means

Imagine yourself in your studio, when a customer who is interested in green design comes in; they know your company is progressive in its design practices and has been recognized in your community as doing the right thing. They ask you one question and it has to be responded to appropriately to build rapport. The question is, "what is green design and what are you doing to incorporate it into your projects?"

I’ve held discussions with many people about green. I’ve attended seminars on green and am waiting to find out my results on an exam I took to get certified as a green builder. I have had dinner with sales reps. of companies who manufacture green products. I have talked with designers who have been practicing green design long before it was popular. And the one thing I have concluded from all these conversations is that the experts all differ with their opinions on what defines green design/ build practices.

Is green design using and specifying green material? Is green design adhering to a strict set of guidelines and scoring systems while building? Is it implementing recycling programs on our jobsites? Is it improving indoor air quality while renovating? Is it all of these or none of these? I would really like to know what the consensus is from a group of practicing professionals.

Here is a challenge. Can 12 or more bloggers, including those of you who are linked to our site, answer the question and provide the practices and trends they see that legitimately define green design. Common examples of green washing count and duplicate examples are useful because it will help establish what is working in the design/ build community.

The best way to get something done is to start. So let's get this dialog going!

What About Reclaimed Wood Countertops?

With the returning popularity of wood countertops, some people are considering using reclaimed wood to follow sustainable design principles. I recently received an email from Shannon Benton at Craft-Art about the eight new reclaimed wood countertop options the company is offering. Craft-Art is recycling wood from old mills, barns, river bottoms, pickle vats and swamps from the 1800s and 1900s for this new series. The wood options include Antique Heart Pine, Sinker Cypress, Antique White Oak, Pickle Vat Redwood (photo below), Barn Red Oak, Barn White Oak, American Chestnut and Tobacco Barn Beech. “We want to help build environmentally friendly homes," said Ken Williamson, founder and CEO of the Craft-Art Company, Inc. "Wood is a renewable resource and we use a number of different wood species for our custom countertops. Our latest offering, though, is to reuse and preserve this beautiful resource by creating custom wood countertops from reclaimed wood sources." (Continue reading after the photo.)

In addition, Shannon shared with me that while Craft-Art will order Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified wood if the consumer requests it, the woodmakers at the company feel that reclaimed wood is much more plentiful and affordable. Formed in 1993, the FSC was created to change the dialogue about and the practice of sustainable forestry worldwide. The FSC standards represent the world’s strongest system for guiding forest management toward sustainable outcomes and have now been applied in more than 57 countries around the world. FSC certifies forests that meet their standards, as well as products that flow from certified forests to the marketplace. Products bearing the FSC logo are available around the world from a variety of mills, manufacturers and distributors. In addition, many retailers in the United States also stock FSC products, including The Home Depot and Lowe’s Home Improvement Centers.

What do you think? Is reclaimed wood more plentiful and affordable than FSC-certified wood? Do you know of other companies offering reclaimed wood countertops? Can you share your opinions on or experiences with using reclaimed wood countertops? Please leave a "comment" below!

—Ellen Sturm Niz, K+BB Web Content Manager

May 2 Green Pipeline: Eco-friendly k&b tips and products from around the web

Inhabitat profiles FreeGreen, a new business that provides a selection of green home designs free to the masses.

The Kitchen Designer discusses moving away from bottled water and towards water filtration.

Sphere Trending features the sustainable sophistication of SURevolution and the quiet greenness of Syndecrete.

TreeHugger discusses the launch of The Natural Standard by the Natural Products Association.

Apartment Therapy Re-Nest features Eleek lighting.

—Ellen Sturm Niz, K+BB Web Content Manager

Finding Innovation at K/BIS

April is a busy month for the kitchen and bath industry. In addition to the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show (K/BIS), designers have clients who are excited about the commencement of their spring projects. We spend a considerable amount of time getting our businesses ready for the time we're away at K/BIS and most of us have little time to do anything but work when we get back home. I know I’ve spent the last couple of weeks catching up on all the housekeeping that was left undone while at the show. Even with all the time spent working before and after, this year's show was worth the price of admission. In addition to the many vendors that we expected to find, there were plenty of great educational opportunities to participate in. The NKBA sponsored several new venues that allowed designers on the floor to get CEU credits. I was never far from the Center Stage presentations. There were several speakers who captivated their audiences and provided us with plenty of relevant information to incorporate into our own designs.

Green Dilemma of the Month

Welcome to the second installment of KBBgreen's "Green Dilemma of the Month." Each month we are posting a green question from a K&B designer so design pros and other green experts can weigh in with their opinions and answers via the blog's "comments" button at the end of the post.

This month's question is:

"You want to start building green, but you have a client who loves his McMansion. Can a kitchen still be green if it has a large footprint?"

Please leave your comment below! (And if you have a green design question you would like us to pose in the coming months, please email it to us at KBBeditor@gmail.com.

—Ellen Sturm Niz, K+BB Editor

Welcome to the second installment of KBBgreen's "Green Dilemma of the Month." Each month we are posting a green question from a K&B designer so design pros and other green experts can weigh in with their opinions and answers via the blog's "comments" button at the end of the post.

This month's question is:

"You want to start building green, but you have a client who loves his McMansion. Can a kitchen still be green if it has a large footprint?"

Please leave your comment below! (And if you have a green design question you would like us to pose in the coming months, please email it to us at KBBeditor@gmail.com.

—Ellen Sturm Niz, K+BB Editor

What Are You Doing to Celebrate Earth Day?

First celebrated in 1970 in the United States, today people around the world are participating in Earth Day 2008. We've come a long way since then in terms of educating people about environmental issues and making strides to change our planet for the better, but there is still much more work to be done. To find out more about Earth Day 2008 and what you can do to help the environment, check out the EPA's Earth Day page or EarthDay.gov. Or visit the Earth Day Network, a group founded by the original organizers of Earth Day that promotes environmental citizenship and year-round progressive action worldwide.

Thanks to increased awareness about the environment, not only can today's kitchen and bath designers contribute to the green movement in their personal lives, but in their professional lives as well. The green trend couldn't have been more obvious at K/BIS 2008, where nearly every booth touted some environmentally friendly aspect of its business practices, manufacturing or final product. Some of our blogging friends have highlighted some green products recently seen at K/BIS:

Kitchens.com features Sea Stones hardware.

The Kitchen Designer reveals her picks of green products at the show.

Sphere Trending discusses the green buzz at K/BIS.

How are you celebrating Earth Day 2008? Tell us what you're doing, either personally or professionally, by using the "Comments" feature at the end of this post. We hope KBBGreen can be a forum for K&B designers and others to share their green building experiences and inspire each other to live and design sustainably.

Happy Earth Day!

—Ellen Sturm Niz, K+BB Web Content Manager