A Green Kitchen
When Holly and George Stone bought their house in Clarksville in 1990 they didn’t conceive doing any remodeling because at the time it almost felt too big. But over the years, one particular problem gnawed away at Holly. “The pantry was on the other side of the kitchen and you had to go through two doors to get to it,” she says. The small room was conceived as a 1980’s version of a butler’s pantry. There was a good-sized sink, storage, and a small window that looked out towards the swimming pool they added in 2001. In 2002 the family began hatching an idea about removing the wall that separated the pantry from the rest of the kitchen. They met with designers and ended up with a set of plans they liked but they still needed to find the right builder. The homeowners have always been interested in earth friendly design- the summer camp they run in Maine uses solar-heated hot water. A web search took them to a site that listed green builders and the family put in a call to Tabor Design Build in Rockville. “They told us they wanted to do a kitchen remodel but that it had to be as eco-friendly as possible,” says Peggy A. Card, a design consultant with Tabor. The designer and builder were already eco-savvy but this project would put everybody to the test of how-green-can-you-be?
The good news was the plans were already complete. “We brought the designers a pretty much finished design,” says Stone. The green nuances begin in what used to be the butler’s pantry in the form of a plant sink sitting under the newly installed bay window, the only alteration of the room’s footprint. The drain was already in place from the existing sink but the concept took some explaining. “We had to get the plumber to weigh in on it, the designer, the tile guy and the carpenter,” says Stone. “They were all saying they’d never seen anything like it.” The result was an oversized sink mounted into a space that would traditionally hold a window seat. The sink was finished in tile made from recycled glass. “It was like building a shower floor on top of base cabinets,” says Card, “but it can also be lifted out in case a new owner would prefer a window seat,” she says. The hardwood floor in the kitchen was changed to slate but the homeowners intend to reuse the lumber for a future basement project. The new stone floor is warmed by an electric radiant heating system and regulated by two programmable thermostats. The slate supplier was selected from a short list of eco-friendly rock quarries.
The family’s children actually picked out the flooring, a selection that had an unexpected design inspiration. “The kids picked the slate and it wasn’t till afterward that we noticed the same stone was used in the living room fireplace and on a retaining wall out by the pool,” says Stone. Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) approved plywood was used as a sub-floor in the kitchen and all the paints, stains, and finishes feature low VOCs (volatile organic compounds). The custom-made, FSC approved, maple and cherry cabinets came from a local supplier to reduce burning hydrocarbons on the trip to the job site. New windows in the room are all Energy Star rated as are the appliances. Insulation around the new windows is made from recycled blue jeans as opposed to fiberglass batt which is made using petroleum. Countertops are IceStone – which is recycled glass. Marble remnants were used in the room’s baking center. The sinks are made from recycled aluminum, a pick that unintentionally slowed the job down.
“The timing was driving everybody crazy,” says Stone, “these are all small manufacturers who are not mass producing their products.” Identifying the green materials was part of the challenge, getting them onsite and on time became another. “Some of the products took longer than we wanted to wait,” says Card. One element that’s proven to be a huge hit is the Rais wood stove that serves as the room’s main heat source. “We had to move the table back from the stove it produces so much heat,” says Stone. Perhaps surprising, burning wood is considered green especially if the wood is gathered as opposed to purchased. LED’s provide light to the warm and cozy kitchen as the new windows illuminate the space with day light. The kitchen project took five months to finish during which the family cooked in the basement and eventually escaped to Maine while the crew did the final punch-list items. The net result is a green kitchen that everybody loves. “The overall feeling is a warm and friendly place,” says Card. “It’s my dream come true,” says Stone, “it’s a big family kitchen that’s bright, airy, and efficient,” she says. “There’s so many people out there who have no idea that a pretty kitchen can also be completely green.” Text and images originally appeared in the Kitchen/Bath Guide 2009 issue of Chesapeake Home Magazine.
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