It’s easy being green these days. More and more manufacturers offer environmentally friendly products, and consumers are increasingly conscious of the need to build or remodel their homes with features that conserve energy and resources.
Media coverage has helped spur the green movement. We read about homes that feature wood reclaimed from old buildings and solar systems for heating and cooling. We’re admonished to buy energy-saving appliances, use funny-looking fluorescent light bulbs and recycle plastics.
Janice Stone Thomas, a Sacramento interior designer who is known for her innovative interiors and fabulous kitchens, is among those who are compiling information about green furnishings and building materials, which she then recommends to her clients.
In the early stages of a project, Stone Thomas researches factors that go into designing a green home and earning LEED points, she says. (The LEED rating system was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, wherein points are given for using renewable or sustainable building materials and products.) “I find the information fascinating,” Stone Thomas says. “It has really opened my eyes.”
Green designs incorporate such options as the siting on a lot, roof overhangs, energy-efficient windows and the use of indigenous materials. “It’s always nice to use things that are native to the area and bring the local environment inside the home,” says Stone Thomas. She’s currently considering stone and granite from nearby quarries.
Stone Thomas also favors reclaimed woods. “I love the look of older things, and wood that looks used and distressed,” she says. Carlisle Flooring (wideplankflooring. com/antique-wood-floors.aspx) offers antique pine recovered from floors of old factories and textile mills in New England and along the East Coast. “It has to be transported, but we’re not destroying trees,” says Stone Thomas. She is partial to Carlisle’s Antique Chestnut collection, suggesting random plank widths to get maximum yield from the wood.
According to Megan Sprague of Carlisle Wide Plank Floors, “The American Chestnut tree is extinct and can only be recovered from old buildings, farmhouses and barns. It won’t be around forever.”
Other notable materials include bamboo floors, considered green because the wood is sustainable and fast growing. Fabrics made from bamboo also are available for draperies and upholstery. Beams from old warehouses and barns give a rustic look to rooms.
When selecting products, Stone Thomas seeks furnishings that do not affect indoor air quality. “Many are not formaldehyde-free,” she notes.
For walls, Stone Thomas recommends American Clay plasters (AmericanClay.com). “It’s natural clay from New Mexico that gives a warm texture to the walls.” The high-end material is more expensive than drywall and paint, but, since the colors are in the plaster, there’s no need to paint again, and handprints or colored marker “art” can be repaired easily.
Clay is offered in different textures from smooth to rough, and Stone Thomas likes the various effects. She says, “It feels like the room kind of hugs you.”
While homeowners can choose from a number of green products for their homes, many energy efficient features are required, says John Caulfield, president of Landmark Endeavors Inc. in Granite Bay (LEIcustomhomes.com). “We cannot meet Title 24 requirements if we don’t include such energy-saving features as low-E windows,” he says. “We are building green houses because they’re mandated.”
Caulfield encourages clients to install energy-efficient features such as upgraded, two-stage furnaces that initially use 20 percent of the power, and then switch to full power if necessary to further increase the temperature. Tankless water heaters save energy by heating water only when it’s needed. He says, “Some clients attempt to lower the amount of chemicals used in building their home with such things as low VOC paints and carpets.”
He likes the look of faux wood beams. “They help save our natural resources because we’re not cutting down trees.”
There are two types of green, Caulfield says. “One form of green building is through the use of features and products that help homes use little or no energy. Another form of green building takes into account the type of products used in a home. They can be reclaimed products or those created by using recycled materials.”
Going green is the way to lighten the impact on our eco-system and still have beautiful homes.
