As “green” design goes mainstream, I’m finding limitless information about the movement, the philosophy and, recently, about the concepts and products that will help us create eco-friendly spaces.

While the reasoning and the philosophy would be hard to deny, the actual steps we as kitchen and bath designers can take are not always so clear. In the past, it seems it has been a matter of seeking out information from commercial and whole-house green standards and attempting to apply them to the spaces on which we focus.
No more!

In a year when a film about global warming has won an Academy Award, my biggest challenge in writing this column has been to cull the available information to a manageable amount. With that in mind, we’ll limit this column to the kitchen and plan for another column on the bath. With so much to cover, we’ll look at some of the helpful steps a kitchen designer can take – and, following an example from An Inconvenient Truth, we’ll suggest Websites you can access for further information (see story below).

To begin, let’s look at the meaning of “green.” While there’s no single definition, environmentally considerate or green design is outlined by some people in terms of the three R’s – Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. To those, I might add a fourth R – Rethink.

In the kitchen, this asks us to reduce use and waste of space and resources, as well as unhealthy pollutants; to reuse the space and the elements of it, and to recycle products and materials. What can we do to accomplish this? Although it’s not an all-or-nothing proposition, there are many things we can do, each one a step toward a healthier environment, and resulting in the lowest negative impact.

What follows are a few “first steps” we all can take.

REDUCE

In the kitchen, where bigger has definitely been considered better, talking smaller space is a pretty hard sell. Before you stop reading, consider our ability to design within an existing space rather than adding on, and to create flexibility and efficiency in a space so that the kitchen may serve multiple functions. Sarah Susanka has certainly taught us not only to design smaller, but to design with more detail so that our spaces are fully utilized.

Specifying or recommending appliances that reduce energy use has been simplified by the yellow-and-black energy label, useful in comparing models – and specifically by the “Energy Star” rating, which requires a higher efficiency for a given appliance. As for cooking appliances, gas is more efficient in that the heat doesn’t have to travel to cook the food, but it contains by-products that can pollute the indoor air if not properly vented. On the other hand, induction, at last growing in popularity, is the most efficient of the electric cooktops.

For ovens, the size of the cavity and the time needed to cook affect the energy used, so when possible, planning a smaller oven, perhaps with some form of speed cooking (convection, microwave or other) could focus use of the larger oven on only those times when it’s truly necessary.

Beyond the appliance selection, we can influence energy savings through better design, such as planning a pantry or other separation between the refrigerator and the oven in a tall wall.

While the kitchen isn’t always the greatest drain on resources in the home, there are things we can do to save time, energy and water – and reduce related greenhouse gasses in the process. Energy Star-rated dishwashers use significantly less water, and less energy to heat hot water than traditional dishwashers or washing by hand. Converting clients from the embedded tradition of pre-rinsing dishes in the sink (25 gallons in five minutes) to just scraping, or when holding dishes, if necessary, using a rinse cycle on the dishwasher (one gallon) could be a hard sell, but many customers will be willing to give it a shot once they know they’ll save on their water bill in the long run. Similarly, water-efficient aerators on, or built into, faucets can reduce water use by 25%.