Being from Oregon, we don't often associate politics with being environmental (discounting the extremists, etc.), we just think it's a good idea. I hope both political liberals and conservatives will practice "recycle, reuse, reduce". Many actions we can take are the simple or small ones, that ultimately add up.
Green elements of this kitchen remodel:
- Reusing the cabinets doors - the boxes are terrible, but the doors are in great shape. If we did not reuse them, we would donate them to the Rebuilding Center (see below)
- Adding 1 inch rigid foam insulation behind all cabinets - increases the R-value by 4.5, and adds one inch depth to the counter tops
- Replacing the old aluminum windows with energy star (Lo-E) ones
- We are keeping the soffits - insulating all of these
- Adding 12 inches of cellulose insulation to the attic, once the lighting is complete
- All the plywood I have bought is from Shur-way (see resources on the side bar). Beyond having really good prices and being very nice people, the materials are over-runs, slightly damaged, etc. If we buy these kinds of materials, they don't get land-filled.
- Install Energy Star appliances where we can
- And the biggest of all - we are recycling (remodeling) an older house
Once the kitchen is done, I have been considering adding solar to the house (it already has a passive design) to start that electric meter running backwards...
Resources:
- A good website for green info is Green Home Building.
- The Rebuilding Center - these are great people. I think it should be tourist stop for people visting Portland.
- http://www.energytrust.org/
1 comment:
Hi, Great article and I think most people forget about the energy conservation side when designing a new kitchen. Hopefully this article will remind people to look very closely at the environmental impact of their design.
John Stevens
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