Go Green

A green approach to remodeling is about many things but it’s almost always about increasing the value of your home.

It’s about the environment and it’s about beauty. Often, it’s about your wallet as you make changes with a view to increasing efficiency and savings. It’s about materials and design, and it’s about your family’s health.

Michael Nash Design, Build & Homes is dedicated to helping people remodel with green in mind. When it comes to your home, green should mean better and never mean compromise.

Some of our “Go Green” approaches

• Green cabinetry – the use of materials such as bamboo for cabinetry and using bamboo or cork flooring. (See: Why bamboo?)
• Concrete or quartz counter tops.
• VOC free (Volcanic Organic Compound) and Formaldehyde free flooring and cabinetry products. (What does this mean to me?)
• Paint, stain and others. Also non-allergenic products (especially important for children).
• We use specific Land field for getting ride on trash. Recycle good lumber.
• We use heavier and more efficient insulation to ensure homes are air tight. We can use sealed combustion water heaters and HVAC units (Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning ) for greater efficiency and air flow. Use of Low-E, Smart-Sun, Double and triple pane door and window glasses because they have higher insulation factors and tighter seal gaskets contribute to efficiency and energy savings.
• Keeping moisture away from the foundation with interior or exterior sump pumps, French drains, run offs, and/or water proof walls.
• Better insulated attics, attic fans and ridge beams and soffit vents are all ways of conserving energy.
• Thicker wall framing plus filling in holes and cavities ( such as outlets and baseboards, chases, etc.) are other methods we use to go green.
• Use of Energy-star appliances is a way of contributing greater effectiveness and energy savings.
• Formaldehyde free plywood and lumber has been a main part of our purchases because it contributes to a healthier environment in your home.
• Better use of daylight and the positioning of windows and doors toward the south side, not blocked by trees and other obstacles, are contributing factors we use in our designs to converse energy.
• Use of Xenon under cabinet lights.

Reason & Responsibility -”Going Green”

Today, the word green is almost interchangeable with the word health. They are significantly tied together – our personal health, the health of the planet, and the approaches we take to ensure a future we can call “green.”
There are important reasons for going green and various ways to do so as we look ahead responsibly:

Indoor Air Quality

Indoor air pollutants are a silent threat, often two to five times higher than outdoor pollutant levels. There is growing concern about the harmful effects of formaldehyde vapors, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs – vaporous compounds), Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs), and Heavy Metals. These harmful irritants are found in traditional solvent based finishing materials.
Low Emitting Materials
When formaldehyde is present in the air at or above 0.1 ppm, acute health effects can occur including watery eyes, burning sensations in the eyes, nose and throat, nausea, coughing, chest tightness, wheezing, skin rashes, or even more severe ailments if neglected.

Responsibility

Partnerships with third-party Green accrediting organizations are critical. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) ensures accountability regarding a manufacturer’s commitment to environmentally responsible forestry practice. The FSC is, “… an independent, non-governmental, not-for-profit organization established to promote the responsible management of the world’s forests.”

Why Use Bamboo?

It’s increasingly popular to use bamboo as an alternative to traditional woods for such things as cabinets and floors. There are good reasons for this.

Bamboo has several outstanding qualities as a material. When it is harvested it doesn’t have the impact on the world’s declining forests that traditional woods do. It is also known for its rapid regenerating quality. Bamboo is also durable and often more stable than more conventional woods.

Characteristics of Bamboo

• Grows in seas or forests
• Intricate root systems
• Rapid regeneration
• Tree like appearance
• Grows to maturity in less than 4 years
• Grows to heights of 60′ to 80′and 12″ to 14″ in diameter
• Harvested in forest/seas of southern China

Reasons for Bamboo

• A green product that when harvested, is not effecting the world’s already dwindling timber resources
• An environmentally friendly, abundant and renewable resource
• Uses an adhesive that contains no formaldehyde
• Dimensionally stable and superior to most traditional woods
• Outstanding durability in machining and finishing
• Qualifies for LEED credits – maximum 5 LEED points (LEED: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)