Kitchen & Bath Sustainable

Another beautiful morning at McCormick Place! The show is winding down, but there’s still plenty to do and see!

 Couple of things of note:

• Twitter Twits: If you’re not checking out the tweets with the hashtag #KBIS and #KBIS2010, you totally should be!  The chatter will give you some great ideas about what’s happening over here or, if you’re here, some neat things to check out.
• Awesome trend: Bidets.  You read that correctly.  If you’ve followed these pages closely, you know your loyal M.E. is into this Euro-centric trend and has been waiting patiently for advanced and sensible hygiene to reach the U.S. mainstream.  Well, it looks like my wait might be over, for this is the Year of the Bidet at KBIS.  Coway’s got ‘em, Kohler’s got ‘em and, of course, TOTO’s got ‘em.  And @CowayUSA has a presentation that is hilarious and informative.
• New finishes are everywhere; I’ve seen a ton of oil-rubbed bronze and some new distressed takes on that finish.  Lots and lots of matte whites and matte blacks from companies like Webert which is displaying for the first time at KBIS; Webert is the exclusive US partner of Elkay.  The same holds true for hardware; Atlas Homewares has a full collection of sleek transitional hardware in matte white; something Adrienne Morea, president and designer of the Atlas lines said was done to avoid the white hardware from having a “plasticky” look to them.
• Green.  It’s not a trend, it’s the direction of the industry, and you’ll find the mission stated at every booth in some way.  From new, Tier 3 EnergyStar appliances to showerheads which meet the new WaterSense standards for showers, to WAC lighting’s net zero energy factory in China: companies want you to know what they’re doing to help.

This show ushers in a new era of Tweeting for Kitchen & Bath Sustainable; come follow me @KBDNSustainable.

Now to return to New York and  finish up our stellar May issue; more post-show news is forthcoming later this week.  Hope you’ve enjoyed our coverage–leave your thoughts in the comments!

Andrea

Two years early! 

Miele has announced its new G 2002 series dishwashers, like the one at left, are compliant with the EPA’s shiny new Energy Star requirements which are rolling out in 2011.

 According to the company, “Miele’s previous Normal program used only 6.1 gallons of water per load, making the new series 17% more efficient – saving about a gallon per load. In its Economy cycle, the new Miele series only uses 1.2 gallons (for those who want to save even more water and energy).”

Miele’s been taking further steps to reduce its carbon footprint, and the footprint of its products. Check out the company’s sustainability report here.