Green Philosophy

by Mary Mosner

Consider your house as being your outer skin - it mediates between us and the world; it is a vital organ that needs nurturing in order to live.? - Bill Hutchins, Helicon Works

We can help guide you towards the conscientious selection of the following items:

Examples of Energy Efficiency -

• Fixtures: We can direct you towards a wide range of water saving bathroom and kitchen fixtures, as well as whole house filtration systems.

• Lighting:

• Heating: Warmly Yours offers energy efficient radiant floor heat.

• Windows : Pella and Marvin both offer fantastic insulating value while still honoring the historic codes of the area neighborhoods.

Examples of Interior Finishes

• Flooring: Specifying such products as Bamboo flooring, Cork, and Marmoleum, can help you add “green value” to your home. We also use a product called “GreenWood” which is an engineered wood product whose entire core is made from recycled, plantation grown, hardwood.

• Tiles: We can steer you towards tiles that use recycled content, as well as companies that use green practices in their manufacturing processes. For example, we frequently use Florida Tile

“Our state-of-the-art manufacturing facility uses the latest technology to reduce our energy usage in making our tiles. Our factory is closed loop, recycling materials and water back into our products. Tiles that can't be sold are donated to charity where they can be used to better underprivileged communities both here and abroad. We allow our customers to send back pallets for re-use, and our cardboard, wood, and plastic packaging is recycled as well. These projects are all part of Florida Tile CARES (Creating A Responsible Environmental Strategy).”

• Countertops: Silestone has recycled content in their countertops, some colors as much as 90%, Eco by Cosentino, Icestone, Alkemi

• Kitchen and Bath Cabinets: UltraCraft was awarded the Environmental Stewardship Program (ESP) Certification by the Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association in 2008. Through their manufacturing processes, they are helping to protect the environment and producing environmentally responsible cabinets. They also use “EVRPanels” environmentally responsible particleboard to construct their cabinet boxes, containing 100% recycled and recovered wood waste or fiver generated from wood residue, including sawdust and shavings. Additionally, this type of particleboard’s emission level is 0.1 pars per million.

Greenworks Cabinetry is also one of the few dedicated green cabinet manufactureres in the United States. They have worked hard to ensure their cabinetry will not only conserve forest resorces, but also improve your indoor air quality. Greenworks’ green credentials are ratified by the fact that tey can contribute to creidt points under the US Green Building Council Cerifcation Program (USGBC-LEED)

Additionally, we partner with local companies like Second Chance and The Loading Dock which take donations of architectural elements such as moldings, panels, as well as kitchen cabinets and appliances for reuse in other projects.