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Once a month, I meet with Seattle interior designers around the topic ‘green design’. Since my practice is residential I read about trends and products of interest to my clients. For readers of my weekly enewsletter, I include green resources and tips. When I read an article about new products featuring design elements that embrace the total of green principles I decided to share the information. My readers are interested in furnishings for children and teens so this example serves as a double score.:-D

The mainstream conversation about sustainability emphasizes the traditional values of longevity and durability in the field of eco-products. Trend expert Eva Barth-Gillhaus from Meerbusch in North Rhine-Westphalia believes the greater attention being paid to sustainability has already changed people’s perceptions.

Sustainable furniture for children implies it must also be flexible enough to adapt to a child’s needs as they grow older. A perfect example is the ‘Growing Table’ by designer Olaf Schroeder. Both table and chair are suitable for toddlers and can be made gradually taller in increments of 10 centimetres by inserting the extra leg elements available. “This extends the lifecycle of the product by up to eight or ten years,” Schroeder says.

Growing Table for toddler

Growing Table preteen

When you need an expert to quickly send you a solution to a , try Fast Solutions.

Tags: furnishings for children and teens, Green Design, Seattle interior designer, sustainable furniture
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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.

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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Watch a video about Squak Mountain.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUlDIMtmeJs[/youtube]

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™.

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.

Tags: countertop, Green Design, Squak Mountain Stone
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I discovered Paperstone in early 2006 as I began my design of Casa Montecito for the 2006 Seattle Street of Dreams. I loved the touch of the product and decided to use it in the main floor laundry and catering prep area. One of the goals of this project was to introduce green products that would entice potential users. Hopefully by seeing them used consumers and contractors would be motivated to integrate them into projects. Recently I completed another home that used Paperstone on the perimeter kitchen counters and granite on the islands.

In 2006 Paperstone was selected as a top 10 product by the editors of GreenSpec® and Environmental Building News™. PaperStone Certified is a beautiful and heavy-duty solid surface known for its performance, its warm touch, its contemporary appearance and its environmental sustainability. It is made from 100% post-consumer recycled paper and a proprietary, petroleum-free resin. It is the only solid surface material certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, Smartwood and the Rainforest Alliance. Specifying PaperStone can earn up to five LEED points. PaperStone is durable and is recommended for residential kitchen and bath and commercial uses, indoor and out.

Tags: Green Design, Paperstone Counter
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Roy Hunter, a contractor and environmentalist started Second Use after becoming frustrated with the amount of materials he saw getting thrown away on construction sites. He pooled finances with a few family members and leased an empty 2-acre field in Woodinville, Washington as the site of the first store. The first inventory consisted of salvaged lumber and beams from the demolition of a Fred Meyer store in north Seattle. Second Use has been reclaiming building materials for reuse in the Puget Sound region since 1994.

Second Use Founder Roy Hunter

In 1997, the Seattle store opened in its current location on Second Avenue South in the South Park neighborhood. Second Use has been recognized for ongoing growth and achievement in the community. In 2006, it was a winner of the Seattle Mayor’s Small Business Award. In 2007, it received the Washington State Recycling Association’s “Recycler of the year – business primary” award.

Online Inventory Search

Whether you are a homeowner, business owner, or contractor Second Use can help you find a greener way to approach your next remodel or demolition. If you have a project you’d like to discuss, please contact our field crew. If you have materials you’d like to bring in, see our acceptance policies and/or visit our store. You can also learn more about our salvage services by exploring the links.

I hope you will visit Second Use either online or in person. Try the calculator:

Find out how much re-using materials can save the environment in real world terms:

• Lbs of CO₂ averted
• Days a fluorescent bulb could stay lit
• Miles a SUV could drive

Love your comments, Faith

Tags: environment, Green Design, recycle, remodel, remodeling, resource
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