Green Design

In my Seattle interior design practice, I like to share the importance and benefits of building green. I saw this article on the website of Central WA Homebuilders. 

Here are 10 reasons for Green

1. More Money in the Piggy Bank.  A built green home typically saves $ on operating costs due to efficient energy use, natural daylighting and upfront construction costs.
2. Less ‘New’ Odors and Better Indoor Air. Using low VOC and low toxic interior paints and finishes reduces toxins and improves indoor air quality.  Paints like Benjamin Moore’s Natura and Aura are my favorite choices.
3. Saves Old Growth Forests. Rapidly remewable materials like bamboo, cork, and strawboard can be harvested in a sustainable way. Plastic lumber made from recycled plastic jugs can be used for decking.
4. Happier Salmon. Water conservation using drought resistant plants and porous pavers are both techniques. Erosion control benefits salmon habitats.
5. More Couch Potato Time. Maintenance is minimized with durable materials like decking made of plastic and materials like stone, tile or slate.
6. Reduced Breezes inside the Home. The impact of outside elements is reduced using caulking to seal windows and doorframes.
7. Healthier Yard with Homegrown Topsoil. Topsoil removed for grading can be saved and reapplied for a better soil compositoin.
8. Reduces Dependence on Fossil Fuels.  Local materials reduce transportation costs and the inclusion of pedestrian access to mass transit decrease auto use.
9. Less Trash. Built Green projects recycle large amoutns of scrap materials as well as include recycled content into the building.
10. Promotes Businesses Committed to Green. The supporting member companies go the extra effort and work with one another demonstating committment to a green, healthy home.

Tags: design, green, home, indoor air quality, recycle, Seattle
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In this post I am pleased to share a local company familiar to my firm, Faith Sheridan Interior Design, Seattle, WA. Teragren is my first choice for bamboo application in my projects and my experience is totally positive. (as is my clients) An exciting addition to the expansive product line, bamboo countertops, adds even greater diversity to the possible applications in design solutions.

Bamboo Counter

Teragren is a U.S.-based manufacturer of fine bamboo flooring, panels, veneer and parquet butcher block located in Bainbridge, WA. Teragren is also a company on a mission.  The company defines success as not only high-quality products and excellent customer service but also environmentally and socially responsible manufacturing and business practices.

From the moment the company was founded in 1994, it committed to developing and manufacturing beautiful bamboo products.Bamboo flooring was a scant segment of the U.S. flooring market when avid environmentalists Ann and David Knight saw the need for environmentally sound building products. They co-founded the company they would eventually name Teragren.

In 2006, Teragren was named by Inc. magazine as one of “The Green 50″ companies that are setting the standard for environmentally friendly business, and as one of the top 10 local “Greentrepreneurs” by Seattle Metropolitan magazine. In addition, in August 2007, Teragren was named one of Inc. magazine’s 5,000 fastest growing companies in America.

U.S.-based Teragren is in a unique position because it develops and manufactures their own products. This allows quality control from harvest to distribution and provides you the highest quality bamboo flooring, trim, panels and veneer in the marketplace, as well as convenient documentation, tech support and custom orders.

Tags: bamboo, Green Design, Teragren
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In this green design business profile, I salute Carol Sorensen-Baumgartel of American Clay.  I met Carol in early 2006 in Seattle at the Home Show. Carol is the VP of Marketing/Co-founder of American Clay Enterprises, Inc.  Carol studied painting and ceramics, earning a BFA in Ceramics from the University of Denver. In 1980, she entered the world of Interior Design and was President of the ASID New Mexico chapter (1991-93). Specializing in interior finishes for commercial builders, residential builders and architects, putting elements together to highlight the physical aspects of a building – and won some interior awards for model homes in the process.

The impetus to the creation of American Clay arose from the health issues which plagued her son, Croft Elsaesser (now CEO and president) as he practiced his profession of Faux Finisher. The physical illnesses –headaches, skin rashes, breathing difficulties–created by the materials he had been using to create magnificent surfaces for his customers were worrisome. Finding natural alternatives to the paints, sealers and acrylic/gypsum wall finishes became paramount to continuing in his profession.

American Clay Natural Earth Plasters bring the appealing finishes of Nature to your Home, Office, School, Business, anywhere you want to add healthful beauty to your interior walls and ceilings. Manufactured in and using materials from the United States, American Clay uses natural clays, recycled and reclaimed aggregates, and vibrant natural pigments in each of  three beautiful finishes.

Ecohaus in Seattle shares details about American Clay. My project, Casa Montecito, utilized American Clay entirely for the nearly 7,000 square feet.

Tags: American Clay plaster, design, green, home, natural, walls
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Created as a more functional and operationally superior alternative to traditional white boards and dry-erase wallcoverings for office environments, Tabrasa offers abundant opportunities in homes too. Imagine using it in the mudroom or laundry area.  Tots to teenagers finally can draw on their walls without a disaster or a time out! See the illustration of the product here. 

Tabrasa^TM is water based paint that transforms any smooth surface into a seamless, high-performance dry-erase writing surface.   Discover all the options and applications for this amazing product and consider how you could adapt it in your home.

Instead of sticking notes around your home office, choose one of four colors and post schedules, creative ideas or brainstorming concepts on the wall.  Use a strip of wall space in your kitchen and post the weekly menu. 

Let me know how you might adapt this product in your home.

Tags: home, paint, Wallcovering, white board
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Watch a video about Squak Mountain.

Recently I met Amee Quiriconi at the Green Peer table lunch I attend monthly with other Seattle designers.  But I was already familiar with her unique countertop product as I used it in the  shared bathroom of  the Seattle Street of Dreams 2006 home I designed, Casa Montecito.

From graduate school paper to reality, the story of how Squak Mountain Stone™ came to be is an exciting story.  Working to complete her masters degree in 2003, she prepared an economics paper  requiring  the students to develop a product or service that would could benefit their local economy. Specifically,  find something in their community that is purchased from someone outside of that community and then develop a “substitute” for that item that could be made  and sold within the local economy.

Employing her knowledge in engineering, construction and research, Amee created a unique new product called Squak Mountain Stone™.

Vanity counter in Latte

Amee started with paper that couldn’t be recycled because it was crosscut by shredders, then added portland cement, crushed glass and coal fly ash from an electric plant in her home state of Washington. After stirring, grinding and polishing samples for 18 months, she hit upon a way to make the hand-cast slabs rock hard. “It’s a recycled material that replaces real stones that have to be quarried out of mountains.”  Squak Mountain Stone resembles soapstone or limestones. Learn more about it here.

Closeup view of Squak Mountain

Tags: countertop, Green Design, Squak Mountain Stone
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