How to Go Green

By Helene Kay Lindquist, CKD
(From the NKBA's Profiles Magazine)

This is a topic that is near and dear to my heart. Working as a designer has turned me into a rampant environmentalist. Our industry is greatly affected by multiple issues that fit within "green design." Energy use, water conservation, offgassing, recycling, and passive and active solar design principles are just a few of the concerns that designers take into consideration on a daily basis.

Some states like California, Nevada, and New Mexico have codes in place that force designers, architects, and contractors to include green features in their projects. In Southern California, we have severe drought cycles, a unique eco-system, and a huge population that forces us to take water, energy, and environmental issues seriously. We are affected by title 24 legislation that requires our projects to have fluorescent lighting as the first switch available when you go into a kitchen, and legislation that mandates the use of low-flow toilets and showerheads.

The real estate market seems a little schizophrenic with its appetite for bigger and bigger houses with bigger kitchens filled with ever more appliances, and multiple bathrooms equipped with whirlpool tubs, spa shower sets, multiple toilets and loads of appliances that all use more and more of our precious resources. They pay lip service with low-flow toilets and low-flow showerheads? Recently, I was meeting a contractor at a new jobsite to bid out a job and he was late. The reason he gave for being late was that when he drove up in front of the house, he thought it was an apartment building. It was so big, he left and came back. The house was a tract home being constructed by one of the major builders and had over 6,000 square feet of living space.

As designers, we are caught in between a client's wish list and the environmental impact of it all (and at the same time, we want to make it beautiful). The good news is that the building industry and its associated industries such as appliances, cabinets, and hardware, have made huge strides in making their products more "green" through programs such as certified wood, recycled glass countertops and tiles, recycled wood flooring, and low VOC paints. As appliance companies make energy efficiency a top priority, all that's left is to make sure we help educate the consumer and encourage them to make sustainability more of a priority. There's a lot that can be done by continually making green design principles a priority and by offering the client more attractive possibilities.

Here are a few things that I do to address green design issues:

• Work with companies that embrace a green design philosophy.
• Get rid of trash compactors and replace them with recycle bins. The compactors compress garbage so that oxygen can't get to the trash to help it biodegrade.
• Recycle materials, such as cabinets, coming out of projects through organizations like Habitat for Humanity.
• Specify energy-efficient windows and doors.
• Use LED lighting whenever possible.
• Specify washing machines and dishwashers that use less water.
• Encourage clients to invest in new refrigerators with energy-saving features.
• Specify recycled or sustainable materials whenever possible.
• Specify low VOC paints.
• Specify ceiling fans to lessen the need for air conditioning.
• Use passive solar principles as often as possible.
• Keep up to date with resources that embrace green design.
• Use whirlpool tubs that do not require in-line heaters.
• Specify certified wood sources.
• Educate myself and my clients on the latest green design techniques and materials.