BY KATHLEEN LYNN | Renovating? You could just rip up the old room and sweep everything into the trash bin. But a growing number of homeowners, architects and builders are trying to reuse or recycle construction materials whenever possible — for reasons both environmental and aesthetic.

Architect Anthony Garrett of the Bilow Garrett Group in Ridgefield Park went this route with the gut renovation of a Hoboken building. Its wooden floor joists, more than a century old, were reclaimed and trucked to Montville Township, to be reused as flooring and exposed beams in a planned mixed-use development.

“It’s dismantling, as opposed to demolition,” Garrett said. “I can’t think of anything more sustainable than that; there’s an embedded energy in that material that we salvage, and we don’t have to cut any more trees down.”

With construction waste making up as much as 25 percent to 50 percent of the junk in landfills, the push to salvage building materials is “gaining a huge amount of momentum,” said Anne Nicklin, executive director of the Building Materials Reuse Association, an Oregon-based trade group.

Reused materials are not just better for the environment; they also can be higher quality, she said.

“You can’t buy old-growth timber at Home Depot, but you can find it in a building that’s coming down,” Nicklin said.

Municipalities, worried about scarce landfill space, are offering cheaper or faster permits for deconstruction, rather than demolition, Nicklin said. And federal agencies offer training to workers on how to salvage building materials. She estimates that 75 percent or more of most buildings can be reused or recycled.

A number of non-profit retail outlets offer a marketplace for old building materials. They include Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore in Mine Hill, Build It Green NYC’s store in Queens, and Connecticut-based Green Demolitions, which has a store in Riverdale occupying space donated by Bograd’s Fine Furniture.

Green Demolitions targets affluent homeowners who decide that their kitchens aren’t quite right, but who feel guilty about dumping cabinets and appliances that are sometimes only a few years old.

It might be hard to believe that homeowners would replace kitchens that are in good shape, but “they want the kitchen they want,” said Green Demolitions founder Steve Feldman. His pitch: By donating the old kitchen to his company, homeowners can save the disposal costs, plus get a tax deduction because Green Demolitions’ profits go to support addiction treatment programs.

“Why throw out something that’s perfectly good and totally usable?” said Alan Asarnow, sales manager at Ulrich Inc. in Ridgewood, a home renovation company that encourages clients to recycle their old kitchens. Many of the kitchens his clients donate are only about 10 years old, he said.

Green Demolitions sold 600 kitchens last year in its three stores; most were donated by homeowners, but about 100 were store displays donated by kitchen remodeling contractors.

“When you think about something being thrown out, sometimes that’s where the opportunity is,” Feldman said. He estimates his company keeps 2 million pounds of debris out of landfills each year.

Those who buy the old kitchens and other materials at Green Demolitions or the ReStores find discounts of 50 to 80 percent.

Stephanie and Vincent Gurnari of Oakland visited the Green Demolitions store recently, looking to add a few cabinets to their existing kitchen, but spotted a full kitchen — including appliances — for just under $6,000.

“We just kind of jumped on the opportunity,” Stephanie Gurnari said. “It was too good of a deal to pass up. … We’ve got champagne tastes, and we wouldn’t have been able to get some of the features we got with the budget we had.”

Of course, this kitchen was built for someone else’s home, so the Gurnaris are going to have to be a bit creative about fitting it into their space. But Vincent Gurnari, a teacher, used to work in a cabinet shop, and they have some handy relatives, so they’re pretty confident about making it work.

“Kitchens are modular. They’re boxes,” Feldman said. Green Demolitions usually recommends buying a kitchen that’s a little bigger than your space to provide flexibility.

Reusing or recycling materials can help builders get the environmental stamp of approval known as LEED, for Leadership in Energy and Environmental design. The LEED certification is awarded by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council, which gives builders credit for keeping materials out of landfills.

A decade ago, “the marketplace was unsophisticated in its ability to effectively divert a large amount of materials from the landfill,” said Daniel Topping, an architect with NK Architects in Morristown. But it’s a lot easier these days to find a new home for old materials.

“It’s just a little more legwork,” Topping said.

Because reusing materials requires careful deconstruction of a room or building, it is usually more time-consuming and can be more expensive than simple demolition. But it also doesn’t create the clouds of dust — potentially laden with asbestos or lead paint — created by demolition, Nicklin pointed out.

“There’s a steep learning curve for a lot of contractors,” said Petia Morozov of the architecture firm MADLAB in Montclair, who takes a “surgical” approach to deconstructing a house.

Morozov and her partner, Juan Alcala, worked recently on Alcala’s brother’s home, a ranch house in Township of Boonton that was taken down to the foundation and rebuilt. They reused a lot of the wood and brick, for esthetic as well as environmental reasons. Cypress wood paneling and some flooring from the home’s interior weren’t needed in the new design, but were salvaged and resold, helping to offset the costs of the project.

Homeowner Carlos Alcala said he and his wife, Vicki, were motivated partly by a desire to be green, but also by their feeling that the re-used brick is more attractive, and preserves some of the house’s history. Saving money was also part of the equation.

“When it makes sense, especially from an economic perspective, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t reuse materials,” he said.

From NorthJersey.com E-mail: lynn@northjersey.com

After Hurrican Iniki hit Kauai in 1992, the Kauai House was remodeled. The master bathroom featured painted green and white porcelain tiles and a glass block shower stall. Very early 90s themes. For our bathroom renovation the plan was to expand the bathroom by combining it with a large closet. In doing so we would create a bathing “lanai”  overlooking the Wailua River. The lanai would also be a sitting area for the master bedroom, in a sense creating a very island style “bridge” between the bath and bedroom.

Master Bath Before Remodel

Master Bath Before Remodel

The new bathroom features a lanai with twin tubs. A wall of folding glass doors separate the lanai from the rest of the bathroom and the master bedroom.

Twin tubs on the lanai overlook the Wailua River. The lanai also serves as a sitting area for the master bedroom. Because the lanai is in essence open to the elements, the doors between it and the bed and bath are closed during inclement weather.

The master bath features an antique Chinese Chest converted to a double vanity. The feel is tropical and the look timeless.

To the right of the vanity is a shower with twin shower heads. Tile includes tumbled Ankara on the floor, Ankara brick on wainscot, and a chipped gold Onyx on the walls.

The shower stall with twin shower heads and Ankara and Onyx tile.

More Kauai Before and After posts to follow. Visit the Kauai Remodel Gallery for more great photos of this fantastic project. Design by Trilogy Partners and Azaya Design.

Architectural feats of our day are no less than marvels. But among the most breathtaking spectacles are the practical green buildings that are becoming more and more prevalent in our communities. Efforts for environmentally friendly architecture have resulted in a vast array of simple and affordable building techniques that are adaptable to almost any building type. Ideas like white roofing, organic insulating, and the use of high efficiency windows are a few of the simple moves making a huge impact.

The roof of a Wal-mart store in Chino California

White roofs
As we know, light colors, especially white, reflect heat while dark colors absorb it. Today, white roofs are catching on as an integral part of the green architectural movement, and an attractive alternative to traditional dark toned roofing materials. These cool-roofs can cut household cooling costs by 10% every year, meaning energy bills are slashed and energy use is reduced. Though these roofs may not be ideal for cities that have harsh cold winters, due to increased heating bills, they are perfect for homes that spend more on cooling than heating. Even large international corporations like Walmart are utilizing white roofs to help curb their energy consumption and make their operations more environmentally friendly. It is a relatively affordable and easy to apply tactic.

Recycled Denim Insulation

Organic insulation
Living with old insulation is not only expensive and less efficient, it is also dangerous. Asbestos is a carcinogen that can often be found in old insulation. This toxin can cause a cancer called mesothelioma. Symptoms of mesothelioma often lie dormant for 20-50 years and mesothelioma life expectancy rates are extremely low. One sure way to avoid mesothelioma and to simultaneously reduce energy costs is to use organic insulation. Sheep’s wool and cotton insulation are toxin free and prevent the accumulation of moisture indoors. Not only does this remove harmful toxins, this also reduces the chance of bacteria and mold-related illness. There are many products available including recycled denim insulation, that are affordable, organic, and high performance. Another option is to explore the use of straw bale insulation which is growing in popularity.

High efficiency windows
High efficiency windows by Energy Star and other popular green companies also help to reduce energy costs. These windows use double or even triple glazing techniques and low e-coating to trap heat and to increase coolness respectively. Also, the materials used to frame the windows can reduce heating costs by not conducting heat. Using wood, vinyl, and fiberglass frame windows is preferred over the commonly used aluminum, while it’s also a great idea to insulate the window frames.

To reduce energy waste, to cut energy costs, and to avoid occupant health issues, it is advisable to consider green architectural techniques for your home or business. Using white roofs, installing organic insulation, and upgrading to high efficiency windows are great, affordable, ways to take steps towards a greener and healthier future while combating devastating climate change.

From Talkitech.com by Krista Peterson

By Kelly Minner — Filed under: Featured ,News , LEED, USGBC – Where does your State rank among the USGBC’s Top 10? Comparing LEED-certified commercial and institutional green buildings per capita within the United States the District of Columbia turned in the highest per capita/per person ratio of 25.15 square feet.   Commercial office type and for-profit organization owner type where the most common, as was Chicago and Washington DC for the most represented cities on the list.

Following are the top ten LEED states per capita:

Here are some rather dramatic before and after photographs of the remodel Trilogy and sister company Azaya Design did in Wailua, Kauai last year. The home was reconstructed in 1991 after it was devastated by hurricane Inniki. Since then the kitchen hadn’t been touched. The cabinetry was white melanine. The layout was claustrophobic. The plan was to modernize the kitchen by opening it up to the adjoining living areas including a Tatami Dining area, the Great Room, and the Lanai which faced the river.

Kitchen Before Remodel

Kitchen Before Remodel

We designed the kitchen with help from Kitchenscapes and Green Tea Design, which furnished the very authentic Japanese “tansu” style cabinetry. (Click on any photo for a close up.)

The countertops are a granite aptly called “Fossil.” The kitchen features Dacor Appliances including a 48″ cooktop with downdraft vent and a 48″ refrigerator and double wall ovens with convection.

We opened up the kitchen to the living room and the raised tatami dining area (visible at top of photo.)

An antique table we ordered from Green Tea Designs serves as a prep island. The flooring is Sea Grass from Arizona Tile which has been flamed to raise the grain. The Balinese wall hanging is backlit to accentuate the hand carved features.

Below, the kitchen as viewed from the Tatami Dining area. Lanai to the left. The Lanai serves as a traditional dinging counterpoint to the tatami dining area. The home is a fusion of many cultures including Hawaiian, Japanese, and Balinese.

More Kauai Before and After posts to follow. Visit the Kauai Remodel Gallery for more great photos of this fantastic project. Design by Azaya Design and Trilogy Partners.

Wendy Koch, USA TODAY

USA TODAY

Just how tough is the passive house standard that’s starting to catch on in the United States? I put my own new green house to the test.

My house, nearing completion in Falls Church, Va., wasn’t designed to meet the rigorous passive standard, which focuses solely on energy efficiency, but rather the top rating of a more general program by the U.S. Green Building Council. Yet it has many of the same features of certified passive homes, so I figured: why not try?

After all, my project has high-performance windows by Serious Mate rials, a well-insulated and sealed exterior (we used structural in sulated panels or SIPS) and ultra-efficient appliances and lighting (only LEDs and compact fluorescent lamps.) Really, how hard could it be?

John Semmelhack, a passive house expert in Charlottesville, Va., who runs the Think Little consul ting firm and advised on how to make a Waldorf school meet the passive standard, agreed to do a preliminary analysis of my project for this story. I anxiously awaited his results.

He let me down gently. “While the house is going to be a very energy efficient house, it’s not going to meet the Passive House standard,” he wrote in an e-mail that reported his findings. He explained them in a phone interview.

“The biggest problem by far is your windows,” he said. My house simply has too many of them, and the large south-facing windows don’t capture enough solar energy because of their glazing and less-than-optimal siting. (To get the perfect southern angle, the house would have needed to sit diagnally on the lot, which would look odd.)

Windows absorb more solar power if the glass has a high “solar heat gain coefficient” or SHGC. But since we have a shady lot and the U.S. government’s Energy Star program doesn’t recommend high SHGC windows for the Mid-Atlantic region, we didn’t request such glazing.

The second biggest issue, Semmelhack said, is the home’s geometry. It’s not a simple cube. My L-shaped home opens to a south-facing courtyard, so it’s more spread out than a colonial or a foursquare, which is an easier shape to make energy efficient. Its top floor also overhangs the main level in both the front and back, which looks cool but creates potential thermal breaks.

Semmelhack said the home’s foundation, walls and windows could also have benefited from a bit more insulation, but he said we didn’t miss the mark by much.

He said the Mid-Atlantic is a tricky place to do a passive home, because “we get a little bit of Maine and a little bit of Florida.” Homes certified by the Passive House Institute US, a private Illinois-based group, need to have annual heating or cooling loads be low 4,750 British thermal units per square foot of interior finished space, which is about 10 times less than many regular new homes.

Semmelhack figured my heating load was about twice the passive standard while my cooling load was about 30% higher. My home’s overall energy use was about 20% higher than the standard’s maximum of 38,000 Btu per square foot of interior finished space per year. He said we could opt for a slightly more efficient Rinnai tank less water heater, but the conventional Carrier Infinity heating and cooling system we selected is just fine. “It’s about as good as you can get,” he said, noting its 95% efficiency rating.

The passive standard also requires homes be virtually air tight, limiting the air changes per hour (at 50 pascals) to 0.60, which is a fraction of what the Energy Star program al lows.

I don’t know yet how well my house will fare on this measure, because we haven’t done our final blower door test. But my builder, Arjay West of West Properties, did preliminary checks before enclosing the walls in drywall and tried to address any thermal breaks. Since my house isn’t a simple cube, though, sealing it is more of a challenge. We’ll keep you posted on our progress.

Source: USA Today

Would you like to receive the latest updates and information from the Trilogy Partners blog in your e-mail inbox? If so, subscribe to our blog today and you’ll receive our blog posts right in your inbox. Our posts cover in-depth topics related to sustainable homebuilding, architectural and interior design trends and ideas, as well as the latest news and information from the construction and real estate industries and our work with the Haiti Orphan Rescue Program.

To subscribe, simply enter your e-mail address in the subscription box located on to the right of this post, and then keep an eye out for a subscription confirmation e-mail. The subscription confirmation e-mail will have instructions included to activate your subscription, so be sure to follow those directions. Once your subscription is confirmed and activated, you’ll begin to receive our updates in an e-mail from Google’s Feedburner each time we post new information on the blog. You can read the post in your inbox, or visit our site directly.

Look for this box to the right of this post and enter your e-mail address there to subscribe to our blog!

Subscribing to the Trilogy Partners blog is a great way to keep in touch with all that’s going on with us! We hope you’ll connect with us through our blog!

We at Trilogy Partners were very proud when the kitchen we designed with the assistance of Kathye Conti made the cover of Timber Home Living Magazine. This kitchen had proved quite a challenge indeed. From the beginning we were dealing with a bit of a tight space. Still, we needed to create a kitchen suitable for pros. This kitchen would feature two sinks, Dacor appliances including a 48″ Fridge, 2 dishwashers, microwave, cappuccino  maker, a wall oven and a 36″ Range with convection oven.

Perhaps the biggest challenge however was that during construction we discovered that we had no way to vent the range hood. A downdraft vent would not work with the range oven we had chosen, and venting upward would mean our vent pipe would perfectly bisect a roof valley. This would certainly cause the roof to leak, if not this year, then next. After studying the problem for a week, we decided we really didn’t want to build a chase to hide the vent pipe. We instead came up with a far better, albeit unorthodox, solution.

As the photos show, we left the vent pipe exposed, ran it across the ceiling, and used it as the structure for a hanging pot rack.  A problem had been solved and the solution became one of the highlights of Caleb’s Kitchen.

A solution good enough to make the cover of Timber Home Living magazine.

We didn’t always think this way. A decade or more ago it wouldn’t have occurred to us. But sourcing materials based on point of origin has become an important design decision. The farther away the source of materials, the more energy intensive the shipping process. And if we are indeed to build sustainably, we need to take all environmental impacts into consideration.

A great deal of reclaimed and recycled materials were also used in the home, shipped in from neighboring states and restored on site. In the end, although we might have spent a bit more time shopping materials because we were concerned about more than just appearance, we achieved results that were a win for the client and for the environment as well.

Would you be willing to compromise slightly for the sake of the environment?