Met Eco (continued)
—
MH: For counters, solid stone or products like CaesarStone or Silestone, which are usually 93 percent stone and 7 percent epoxy?
Lenard: One advantage of the composites is that they can be made from scraps of stone that wouldn’t be good for other purposes, so there’s a lot less waste. On the other hand, forming these materials uses a lot of heat. And what happens down the road? Solid stone can be recycled, but recycling stone mixed with adhesive requires a specialized process.
Shaw: Fireclay Tiles makes a countertop product from recycled bottles – it’s called BottleStone. [BottleStone.com] I’ve also been working with a company that makes countertops from recycled polyurethane; they’re molded without any seams.
MH: It’s good to think about what will happen to the materials you’re installing in your house 20 or 30 years from now, but what about all the materials you’re tearing out right now?Gitt: They don’t have to go to a landfill. In a properly managed renovation, more than 80 percent of the materials you remove can be recycled or reused.
Lenard: Facilities that recycle construction materials are opening up across the country. The Construction Materials Recycling Association has a website that lists facilities all over the U.S. [CDRecycling.org]. Patronize them. The thing they all need to survive is volume.
MH: Bamboo or wood?
Freed: Part of the issue with bamboo, although it’s a grass and it grows back quickly, is that most of it is coming from China. So there’s the energy that’s used in transportation. And sometimes they clear-cut the entire forest to get to the bamboo. Which is like chopping down an orange grove to get the oranges. Smith & Fong, which makes Plyboo, is a company I trust.
Shaw: In one house I just did, we explored bamboo versus certified wood, and we ended up with wood, because it’s about the same price but it’s much more durable. If something lasts longer, it saves resources.
MH: Tile or carpet?
Harrison: Anything but carpet!
Gitt: For one thing, if you’re concerned about indoor air quality, most carpets off-gas volatile organic compounds [VOCs] inside the home, and they collect dirt. As a former remodeling contractor, who has torn out old carpet, I can tell you: Old carpet weighs much more than new carpet.
Harrison: Carpeting isn’t always bad. I used wool carpeting with a hair-and-jute pad in a house for a woman with chemical sensitivities. That said, a lot of carpeting has problems. The backing is often PVC or latex, both of which off-gas and can contribute to indoor air-quality problems. Once it’s installed, carpet acts like a sponge, soaking up whatever other pollutants are in the house. And when you’re done with it, it goes to a landfill, because, so far, very little of it can be recycled. But the industry is rapidly changing: Better backings are available, and manufacturers like Interface have instituted their own recycling programs.
Shaw: If you like tile floors, there are so many new lines of recycled tiles that are beautiful and long-lasting.
Lenard: You also have to think about the subfloor. If you’re concerned about reducing formaldehyde emissions, use exterior-grade plywood instead of interior-grade. Because of the way it’s made, exterior-grade emits far less formaldehyde than interior-grade plywood. But it may cost a little more.
Harrison: Whatever kind of flooring you choose, here’s the cheapest thing you can do to improve indoor air quality: Take your shoes off at the door.
MH: Shoes?
Harrison: The toxins carried in on shoes can include lead from paint flaking off buildings, pesticides and residues of petroleum products from streets and garages. In fact, when we design a new entry, we follow the Japanese model and include a bench for removing shoes as well as a place to store the shoes.
Subscribe to ELLE DECOR magazine
MORE REMODELING GUIDE ARTICLES
