Keen on Green
ore than a decade ago in Atlanta, John Meggs and his wife were expecting their baby daughter. With thoughts of indoor air quality and a new baby to take care of, he wanted to get started painting her bedroom. ¶ Still some years away from the Internet’s total omnipresence, this engineer couldn’t locate any paint products that were free of toxins. ¶ “I started looking at what was on the paint cans that we were going to paint my new baby’s room with, and I was not very pleased,” says Meggs. “Here I am, living in a city of 3 million people, and there’s nowhere I can go and buy a can of paint that’s relatively safe for my new daughter’s room. And so I thought: ‘Well, maybe that needs to change.’” ¶ The temporary fix: He never painted her room. ¶ Years later, when the family relocated, Meggs found a permanent solution: He opened Charlottesville-based Nature Neutral, a pioneering homebuilding supply shop stocked with healthy, eco-friendly wares. Paints are free of VOCs, materials are shipped locally, and products are renewable.
CLEAN LIVING
Kitchens are the most important rooms in the home. It’s where everyone gathers, where the home’s basic functions are performed, where the kids do their homework, where meals are prepared. Bills are paid; email is answered. It’s a high-traffic zone and must flow effortlessly. Add the green component, and it’s healthier, more cost-effective and good for the environment, says Andrew Moore, president of Arlington Designer Homes.
As homes—and kitchens—become greener, and as homeowners become more informed, the demand for green solutions is growing.
But green living, though sensible, is still a lifestyle change, says Moore.
“People who are interested in living smarter, embrace green design not just for the overall savings it can create but for the way in which they can live when they choose green designs,” he says. “You’re paying more up-front, but long-term I’m saving you money.”
An overall shift in greener living, says Moore, is not likely to be mainstream for a few more years.
Installing low-flow plumbing in kitchens and bathrooms doesn’t mean low pressure, he says, “You won’t even notice the difference.”
In the future, all homes will be smaller and more energy-efficient, says Moore. And he’s counting on that day. “We’re building for 20 years from now; this house would be the standard,” he says of a new construction single-family home, the first LEED-certified Gold in Falls Church City.
The modern, open kitchen is outfitted with FSC-certified sustainable wood, the cabinets free of formaldehyde, and the walls are painted with low-VOC so there is no off-gassing. An LED pendant hangs above the granite countertop; the stainless steel dishwasher and refrigerator are Energy Star rated. Additional light pours in from the kitchen’s skylights, allowing the cook to function with natural task lighting.
COOKING GREEN
“The kitchen is the heart of the house. It is the most used and expensive room, so it is the opportunity to build it high-performance—full of comfort, value and desirability,” says architect Marta Layseca, of Arlington-based EnviroHomeDesign.
Green kitchens, like other well-appointed kitchens, must be beautiful, functional and healthy, she says. But they must be one other thing to both builder and homeowner: responsible to the environment.
Many households are already making moves in the right direction, or have been for some time, experts say—composting, installing low-heat LEDs, using water-based paints and stains, and replacing old, energy-sucking appliances with Energy Star applicances. But there is much more to consider, for those interested in going even greener.
In an Arlington “eco-blue Colonial” renovation, Layseca transformed the kitchen into a much more useable space. She reused existing resources and chose renewable materials.
The client wanted the kitchen to be painted a bold red, says Layseca, who worked with her to designate the bamboo butcher block island as its focal point. Layseca found new life in the old kitchen cabinets, repainting them in a no-VOC red. Opposite the kitchen, the living room’s red wall with its fireplace unifies the whole space.
“Color is a very important part of design,” says Layseca. “It’s very driving. That’s why it’s very unique. There’s no right or wrong. It’s like clothes. The way we dress our rooms is very similar. The key is that we have to feel comfortable with the solution that we choose.”
Moving walls or constructing new ones provide the opportunity to more effectively insulate an older home. Adding French doors or moving windows can bring in more light. Correct placement can turn a home into a well-oiled, energy-efficient machine: warmer in winter and cooler in summer. One case-in-point, says Layseca, was the addition of a tiny breakfast nook at the end of a silestone-topped island. Placed near the newly installed glass doors that open onto the home’s deck, a deciduous tree provides shade in summer, and exposure to sun in winter. The result: It’s the coziest spot in the house.
SMART SAVING
If a kitchen (or whole-house) green renovation is not in your home’s future, consider starting with small eco changes, says Bob Bell, appliance specialist at Home Depot in Reston.
Bell says in just the past couple of years, homeowners have become much smarter on energy-efficient appliances.
“Two years ago nobody even looked at saving energy,” agrees Sandy Jones, sales account manager at M&M Appliances in Washington, D.C. “You got a few people who said yeah, yeah Energy Star is good. But now you have people actually looking for those products. They’ll come to us and say, ‘What’s the better thing for me to get?’ And two years ago if it wasn’t Energy Star, it was like ‘OK, we’ll deal with it. Now it’s like: ‘Oh. We’ll pick something else so we can make sure its green.’”
In today’s economic climate, homeowners are not only trying to be more environmentally conscious; they’re also looking to save some serious green.
“People are concerned about energy conservation and saving our natural resources. They always want the smallest electric bill, and perhaps the smallest water bill,” Bell says.
Shopping with rebates and tax credits can lower up-front costs. But over time, says Bell, energy savings can really bring down a home’s operating costs.
“A refrigerator will save at least 66 percent in energy costs,” says Bell. “A typical energy-saving refrigerator will cost probably not much more than $40 to $50 a year to operate. That’s unbelievable.”
Bell offers this cost- and energy-saving tip for dishwashers, which he calculates at about $30 a year to operate. It may seem obvious, but he insists: Don’t run the dishwasher for a handful of plates. Fill it to its fullest capacity, then flip the switch.
“You don’t have to do a dishwasher load seven days a week,” he says. “If it’s only a quarter full on Tuesday, fill it up Wednesday, Thursday. Get it 100-percent full and run it on Friday. Then someone will really see the electric bill go down.”
ECO-CREATIVITY
In his Six Degrees of Separation, whole-house redo in McLean, so-called in part because of the lot’s six-degree slope, Steve Briggs, principal of SAI Contractors, did all green installs, with a twist. The homeowner, an interior design professor at Marymount University, conceived the plans. “She designed a free-standing, very modern, very green addition,” says Briggs. “It’s essentially a custom home in the back.”
The little Broyhill rambler was transformed with an addition, then connected via “a second-story glass bridge,” says Briggs. “We have solar hot water collectors on the roof, and we use that with a radiant floor heat system and all the domestic hot water as well.”
During demolition and renovation of this 2011 CotY award-winning, LEED Silver home, Briggs reused as much as possible. All other materials and appliances that he tore out were donated to Habitat for Humanity and Goodwill. The high-end, ultra-modern Pedini kitchen is outfitted with green faucets, Energy Star appliances and locally sourced hardwood.
A few months ago, Clifford Hodson, owner of Kitchen Depot, moved into his Reston split-level, promptly gutting the entire home. He ripped out walls and donated cabinets and flooring. He recycled and moved the home’s original windows, dropping a picture window into a newly light-filled kitchen wall above the sink. Hodson has taken the green kitchen a few steps further: Sea green recycled glass subway tiles line the walls, the cabinets are CARB-certified, and light granite countertops offer premium workspace. Hodson saves on labor costs because he can hire his painters for fewer hours: No-VOC paints are bolder, and the paint goes on quicker and dries faster than traditional paints. A recycled onyx pendant hangs above the island that is equal parts task and ambient lighting.
The overall look is one of chef-chic and calm orderliness. And, like a good green steward, a few responsible decisions will ensure his family’s health for many years to come. Isn’t that what it’s all about?
(September 2011)