Kitchen & Bath Sustainable » green economy

Neat Product Alert: GE, LEDs, Other Acronyms

admin — Tue, 26 May 2009 14:55:15 +0000

LED luminaires are the next big thing; clean light that beats the pants off compact fluorescents for longevity. GE, the company that made the soon-to-be-outlawed incandescent what it is today, is innovating as fast as it can and is garnering some serious recognition for its efforts.

Everything you ever wanted to know about GE’s advancements in the world of light emitting diodes, after the jump.

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Greensburg Second Anniversary Weekend

admin — Sat, 02 May 2009 16:33:33 +0000

We interrupt this regularly scheduled K/BIS to update a story I hope you’ve been following as much as I have.

Remember Greensburg, KS? Remember how an F5 tornado 1.7 miles wide flattened 90% of the structures in town on Friday, May 5, 2007? With virtually nothing left standing in Greensburg but the grain elevator, the New York Times reported on May 7, 2007 that the town of approximately 1,500 would have to be completely rebuilt.

Seven days later, there was already talk of rebuilding, and the town leaders were beginning to envision emerging from the tragedy.

July brought the exciting news that Greensburg was literally going to become a Green burg, and the sustainable building folks rejoiced. The goal: LEED Platinum, the first-ever city to aim for the rating. Zero-energy commercial buildings, houses and schools. Wind power, solar power, energy efficient everything. mong some donors to the reemerging town are names familiar to us in the k&b world like Caroma, Evolve and on the architectural/building side, companies such as Dryvit and PF Waterworks.

And after one year had passed, the Discovery’s Planet Green channel announced that a new reality program called simply ‘Greensburg’, which had been in planning stages shortly after the LEED announcement, would follow the town’s journey from grisly scene to lean and green.

Now, it’s the two-year anniversary of the tornado, the bustling town is well into its restructuring and is holding their annual celebration to mark the event. Not only that, Planet Green renewed the town’s series for a second season; the season premiere is this Monday, May 4… it’s worth a look, for sure. Check out details and local air times at Planet Green.

Important themes here for green building and design in general, and a landmark achievement all around for everyone involved; it’s the making of lemonade from organic lemons, to be sure. I’ll be back with more K/BIS coverage later today.

Stay green, America!

(To see the New York Times’ extensive coverage of the tornado and the rebuilding of Greensburg, click here).

Georgia On Everyone’s Minds

admin — Fri, 01 May 2009 20:02:37 +0000

For months there’s been speculation that this year’s K/BIS was going to pale in comparison with shows in years passed. Rumors dispelled! It may not be the heyday of a few years ago, but the showfloors are populated, booths are crowded and reps are wheelin’ and dealin’.

Former Governor Mike Huckabee spoke to that very point at the opening keynote address this morning when he said, “No recession lasts forever,” and current NKBA president Suzie Williford agreed, thanking those in attendance (a near-capacity crowd in the GWCC’s auditorium) for having “the courage to invest in the industry and in your business’ future.”

OK, OK, enough cheerleading. Here’s the skinny on the good, green products which are (happily) everywhere.

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March Madness

admin — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:47:09 +0000

This year’s Marchin’ right along! We’re marching to the beat of a different drummer this year!… OK, enough with the March puns, and down to some green housekeeping. Let’s get caught up with some good green news.

First, a convenient slideshow–TreeHugger shows you what the new Prez is going to help you buy, via tax credits in the new stimulus package.

Nick Grohe of Hansgrohe addresses low-flow, aeration and the various green benefits water products can provide in this handy-dandy Q&A.

The USGBC has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (doesn’t that sound peaceful?) with BREEAM, Green Star, Green Building Council Australia and the UK Green Building Council to get the beginnings of a standard metric of CO2 emissions assessment in new home and building construction started. Read it here.

Cabinets, Cabinets, Cabinets!

admin — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 13:51:49 +0000

It’s that kind of Monday: the jobs report is bad, the NAHB and NAR are reporting that everything everywhere is down, so let’s cheer ourselves up with some good news about some great green products.

Snaidero Greens Up, Christopher Peacock Cabinetry Gets Smart and Merillat and Quality Think About Tomorrow…

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Stimulating the Green Economy

admin — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 18:28:14 +0000

Stimulating any part of the economy right now would be good, but it’s refreshing to see green-collar jobs are not getting lost in the financial meltdown two-step we’re witnessing.

To wit, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (Don’t get the agency’s e-updates? Sign up here. Are you on Twitter? They’re at @usepanews) sent out this rather reassuring press release yesterday:

Stimulus Plan Will Create Sustainable Jobs That Will Protect Public Health

Contact: Enesta Jones, 202-564-7873 / jones.enesta@epa.gov

(Washington, D.C. – Feb. 19, 2009) The economic recovery plan signed by President Obama will create 3 to 4 million quality, sustainable jobs with many protecting our country’s public health and our environment.

   “Through the President’s stimulus package, green initiatives will play a significant role in powering economic recovery,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “EPA’s portion of the plan will create good, sustainable jobs that help produce cleaner drinking water, purer air, environmentally friendly urban and rural re-development, and reduced greenhouse gases. This is a perfect example of economic growth and environmental protection working hand in hand to the benefit of all Americans.”

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Green Barometers, Thermometers, Tripometers Say Sustainability’s Good To Go

admin — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 13:38:02 +0000

If you’re anything like me, you probably have a stash of change somewhere in case of a vending machine emergency. (I never know when I might require peanut M&Ms.) I don’t know if it’s the economy, or if it’s because of the transition in government, or the frantic tone of the news agencies, or the fact that my bank keeps changing names, but I find myself looking at the housing numbers reports and breaking into my emergency vending machine fund more and more often these days.

So any news from the USGBC, which is made up of a bunch of generally bright and cheery folks, is good news and the latest from them is the greatest: a flurry of recently released reports seem to confirm that no matter what ups and downs occur in the building sector, green is going to be a driving force in the overall recovery. Terrific! We’ll all have jobs, and I can save my change for New York City parking meters.

Read on here for the better news. (PDF format)

Green Wish List, 2009

admin — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 20:35:08 +0000

As the year comes to a close, and K&B Sustainable celebrates six months of life, it seems appropriate to take a look back as we prioritize for ‘09. What did we learn in 2008 that will shape 2009? What goals did we set that we did not accomplish and why did we fail to achieve them? What kind of green presence will we see at IBS and K/BIS in the new year? What am I going to do with this Richlite ball I got at the Greenbuild?

These questions and more have defined my work for 2008, and the search for answers (especially about this great ball of Richlite) will be the driving force for 2009.

K&B Sustainable’s Green Wish List, 2009

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New on the Blogroll

admin — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 04:11:08 +0000

Check out the newest addition to the blogroll: the Green Collar Jobs Blog, a really great site featuring green job boards, links to green career books, event notices and more. Check out their links section by scrolling down and looking on the righthand side of the homepage.

Looking Past Wall Street to Greenbuild 2008

admin — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 19:43:28 +0000

This letter from Rick Fedrizzi, CEO of the United States Green Building Council, just came into my inbox and I thought it was well worth sharing–a little green pep talk for a long Friday afternoon.

On a sidenote: Greenbuild’s coming up and I’ll be representing Kitchen & Bath Design News this year. It’s the first time we’re covering the show and I know it’ll be a sustainability crash course. Are any of you headed to Boston for the event? What are you most looking forward to? What should I be looking forward to? Let me know your thoughts on the letter, Greenbuild, and whatever else is going on in your neck of the woods in the comments.

Dear USGBC Constituents:

In recent weeks, a wave of fear and pessimism propagated by the world financial crisis has stolen the headlines, gripped the nation, and challenged our movement. In conversation after conversation, people are asking what will happen to the green building movement if our community is plunged into a recession.

And I have an answer for them. The greed that led the world economy into crisis will not defeat our commitment to good work. Fear will not dominate our agenda. And our commitment to change - even in the face of so great a challenge - will not waver.

Change doesn’t wait on Washington. And it doesn’t depend on Wall Street. Change comes from within. The green building movement has been demonstrating that fact for more than 15 years. Before there was a single government green building policy, before the business community stood up and took notice, before there was a LEED - there was you. Thousands upon thousands of committed individuals dedicated to doing better by doing good. You’ve built this movement. You’re building sustainable communities. And every single one of us has a contribution to make towards pulling our country out of this crisis.

We cannot lose sight of our mission. It is within reach.

How? It’s time for the green building movement to deploy the expertise and capacity we’ve built in new construction to green what we’ve already got. Ninety-nine percent of achieving our mission is wrapped up in our existing homes and buildings. It will save money. It will save energy. It will help save our climate. And directly relevant to today’s economic environment, it will create good, green, local jobs. As just one example, USGBC estimates that a 100% commitment to greening existing commercial buildings alone would create more than 1.5 million new opportunities for employment for out of work Americans.

In four weeks, we will meet together at Greenbuild. And when you get to Boston, we will celebrate everything that your individual commitments have accomplished so far. We’ll enjoy the fellowship of more than 20,000 friends and colleagues who share our vision for a sustainable future. And we will keep moving forward, together. I’ll see you there.

With gratitude,

S. Rick Fedrizzi
CEO, President and Founding Chair,
USGBC