Back to School Special: Greening Your Dorm

Early September marks the time of the year when driving along the interstate you see station wagons, vans and cars stuffed to the brim with clothes, books, furniture and gear of college students across the country, heading back to school.  Many will be staying in dorm rooms or renting apartments, and they all have one thing in common: they need lots of stuff.  That's right.  Existing in a space without mom's kitchen supplies or needing to furnish a bare bones apartment with friends can be costly and quite the opposite of eco-friendly.  There's a lot of space to fill, and pressure to have a hip or even simply functional space to entertain and of course, study.  We at 'g' wanted to share some of our best ideas for preparing for the next college semester in the greenest ways possible - if you are a college student or have one in your life (child or grandchild, friend or other family member), read up and consider carefully!

Add personality with accents like vintage lamps and second-hand furniture

We're now at the start of another school year.  Take a minute to think ahead.  At the end of second semester, curbsides will be lined with furniture, appliances, and other dorm decor that students would rather ditch than pack up and take with them.  Dumpsters fill up with items purchased and used for sometimes less than a year - so, why contribute to the waste?  Starting with second-hand items is one of the best ways to green your dorm decor!

Brightly colored vintage glass bottles add a nice decorative flair. Why splurge for new when you can reuse?

First, raid your parents home for anything they might have in the basement of have duplicates of.  Sure, it's trendy to go out and purchase a veggie peeler with the pink enamel handle, but if mom has three in her kitchen utensil drawer, why get a new one?  New things mean new raw materials, and lots of energy going into the manufacturing and packaging.

Next, explore other avenues of cheap (and sometimes free!) second hand items.  Many cities now have a chapter of "freecycle" - a forum where people post items they are giving away free, no strings attached.  You may also have great luck finding functional and unique items at thrift stores and yard sales.  And, go to these places with an open mind.  Find a bookshelf that will suit your needs but hate the finish?  Paint it to suit your own style - you could even come to 'g' to pick up some eco-friendly (and VOC-free) Milk Paint.  Remember to consider the function, and whether or not you really need soemthing, before making the purchase.  We also liked this article that details how to choose used furnishings and decor. Come across a used sofa whose price is right but upholstery isn't?  Cover it with a funky throw blanket.  There are so many creative ways to make your mark with someone else's stuff. 


With a little bit of patience and an eco-savvy flair, your space can be one of a kind and reflect your unique style.  Continuing with your green-sense, at the end of the year before filling the dumpster with your decor, see if you have any classmates who may want to buy any of your belongings or take them off your hand for free.  Some schools have drop-offs to donate used goods to be given to shelters or sold the next fall for the next batch of incoming students...And, if yours doesn't have this service, be a green entrepreneur and start it!

Eco Timber #1 in Consumer Reports!

Consumer Reports Selects EcoTimber - Again - as Overall Top Pick for Honey Solid Woven Bamboo

The August, 2009 and 2010 issues of Consumer Reports has rated EcoTimber Strand Woven Honey #1 in the prefinished solid wood category! The Winner in this category 2 years in a row.

Visit our showroom to see these selections of bamboo and other hardwood flooring that can transform your home or office into a more beautiful, more healthy environment.

Consumer Reports Top-Rated Strand Woven Honey Bamboo floor by EcoTimber

EcoTimber woven bamboo time and again has come in as one of our clients' top picks for an eco-friendly, beautiful and sensible choice for their flooring needs.  Their lifetime residential warranty against construction defects and 27-year warranty against finish wear-through are attractive to some, the fact that the woven bamboo is stronger than most all hardwoods on the market, the environmental sustainability that bamboo represents and environmental values of EcoTimber as a company, the sheer beauty of the EcoTimber Strand Woven Bamboo flooring, and the very reasonable price are some of the many reasons our clients have fallen in love with it.  Stop into your local 'g' showroom today to see the product for yourself!

 
*EcoTimber has a special promotion going on right now, until September 30, 2010 to raise money for the Gulf Coast crisis.  For more information visit http://www.ecotimber.com/

Product Spotlight: Bioshield

Product focus this week is BioShield - http://www.bioshieldpaint.com/

Although we already carry two other types of Zero VOC paints – SafeCoat and MilkPaint – we fell in love with BioShield because of its beautiful colors, rich textures, reasonable cost, and easy application. It is a cousin of American Clay, another wall treatment we represent that is a clay plaster which is troweled on, but BioShield has advantages over American Clay since it can be painted on with a brush and comes premixed.

Bioshield sets itself apart by producing paints, stains, thinners and waxes made primarily from naturally-derived raw materials including citrus peel extracts, essential oils, seed oils, tree resins, inert mineral fillers, tree and bee waxes, lead-free dryers and natural pigments. This combination results in a product with a healthy, mild fragrance rather than the terrible odors of synthetic chemicals most household products exude.

Its colors have a rare depth that really enlivens the painted surface drawing the eye in and enhancing the entire room. We’ve brought in a limited collection of the 50+ pigments they offer, but will do special orders on any of the other colors customers may request.

Bioshield comes in three main categories of products:

1) Waterborne wall finishes and paints that use an extensive collection of 50 pigments, based on earth and ultramarine hues.

2) Natural oils, interior and exterior wood stains, and waxes and finishes for floors and furniture.

3) Cleaners and maintenance products – which have a wonderful fragrance – we haven’t brought these in yet, since we have so many other wonderful cleaners on hand, but this is something we may consider in the future.

BioShield products creates a healthier environment, both inside your home and out. You can feel good about exposing your family to essential oils and bee waxes rather than harsh chemicals. The Earth will also thank you as many of the chemicals used in competitor’s products have devastating effects on the environment and ozone.

BioShield is committed to providing affordably priced products that adhere to high standards of quality, durability, and ecology. We look forward seeing you in the showroom and helping you pick out the right product for your home! In the mean time, please learn more about their website bioshieldpaint.com.

Product Spotlight: Artemis Ceiling Fan

Beautiful Artemis Ceiling Fan in Maple

How to stay cool has become a hot topic as of late, and even though the past day or so have yielded cooler temperatures, we know to never expect a trend. Avoiding the extra energy bill expense of air conditioning and unnecessary burning of fossil fuels makes fans an important part of your summer cooling repertoire. To help, we wanted to tell you more about this ceiling fan.


The Artemis Ceiling Fan by Minka Aire is not only stunning to look at - its cutting edge design with vertical blades is more efficient at circulating air than most other fans.  This fan does a great job at moving air around and instantly makes a room feel cooler.  Designed for optimum efficiency, the controls allow you to reverse the direction of the spinning blades; with the angle of the fan's blades, one direction effectively pushes air down, while the other direction pulls the air up.  Your entire house will be kept more evenly cooled (or heated, come winter) with the power of this fan to appropriately spread temperate air.  There are also 3 speed settings, and a powerful (and dimmable) light under a frosted cover.  


Other positive attributes?  The blades slice through the air making virtually no noise.  This is not your typical clunker of a ceiling fan!  The body design was also sustainably created to produce minimal waste in production - the blades wrap around to form the fan body.  The fan comes with two standard 3.5" and 6" downrods and can be installed in rooms with standard 8' high ceilings, but longer downrods can be purchased for higher ceilings.  If the maple doesn't fit your design tastes,  this fan is also offered in Translucent, Liquid Nickel, Mahogany, Red, Copper Bronze, White and Black.  There are other optional add-ons, such as a remote control to operate it, although they come standard with a control panel you can mount to the wall.  See an installed fan on our projects page.


We agree with the company's chosen quote from John Keats that, "A thing of beauty is a joy forever."  At the 'g' showroom in Mashpee we have the Artemis Ceiling Fan in maple installed in a high ceiling on a 5' downrod and it really is stunning - come into the showroom to see it in action (but not hear it!).  Minka Aire also offers several other ceiling fans that we would be happy to share with you - stop in today! 

Saving Energy At Home

Green Design Center has been authorized as a Weatherization Contractor for Cape Light Compact - making our team eligible to carry out implementation of weatherization improvements on your home as detailed in the Compact's energy audit program. 

Call us to find out how you can get a free audit on your home's energy use, and qualify for up to $2000 worth of improvements such as insulation, air sealing, and lighting.  We'll help arrange for your audit and carry out the recommendations permissible under this program. 

For an more in depth assessment of your home, can also bring in professional energy consultants to conduct diagnostic tests, bringing in new technologies and up-to-date materials that will lower your energy use and costs.  For more information call us or visit our website at www.ggreendesign.com/energysavings

Building Energy Efficient Homes...

At 'g' our philosophy is to create beautiful sustainable homes. And while sometimes it may seem that we are stressing the beautiful part we'd like to also focus on the nitty gritty real sustainable home practices. Of course we want to make sure our clients are using green products throughout their home, from their floors to the countertops and even more importantly the energy efficiency products like insulation. We want to stress how important it is to focus on the skeleton of your home where the real difference lies. Building an energy efficient home is the most effective way of making your home sustainable and "green."  And in addition to practicing sustainable living your energy efficient home will save you money, and make your home more attractive in the housing market.  We also can't help noting that if you incorporate efficiency into your retrofits or new building now, you will likely be eligible for some of the energy efficiency tax incentives and rebates (as of now still available through October 2010).  Of course just knowing that you are reducing your carbon footprint should be enough, but for many people the biggest and most obvious benefit from an energy efficient homes is that you can heat, cool and light your house for less. The second biggest benefit is that you will be living in a much healthier environment that is using proper ventilation and non toxic materials so that the air in you home is cleaner and fresher. For people who may suffer from a weak immune system or are highly prone to allergies, seeking sustainable design is necessary to live in a healthier environment that is more forgiving to their ailments.

There are some key elements to look for when building or remodeling a home; for example:

• properly installed floor and attic insulation
• air barrier details (to create tight barriers that will prevent drafts)
• high performance windows
• window reflector shades and tinted glass
• efficient air distribution (this entails creating open spaces that let good natural ventilation throughout the house, and making sure ducts are installed properly with minimum air leakage)
• efficient lighting (fixtures that earn EnergyStar rating) 
• as well as efficient appliances that also earn the EnergyStar rating

If you want to learn more about home energy efficiency, and building green spaces a great book to check out is "Your Green Home" by Alex Wilson. The book is available at the 'g' store and can serve well as a beginners guide for any  homeowner planning a new home while trying to incorporate benefits of energy efficient and green products. This book goes through an entire house and gives tips on how to build sustainably and efficiently in every space, from your kitchen to your garden.  The book has been used in classrooms, lectures, book clubs and a resource for many builders and architects who want to know more about building homes in the 21st century.  Come in and get your copy today!...and ask about products we offer to help you make you home more energy efficient. 

This weekend @ 'g' - Discovery Days and Tax Incentives!

Today, August 13th, is the 3rd in our series of summer Discovery Days - a great opportunity to learn more about creating a   green building showroom in your own community. 

We are a young and vibrant company with the promise of bringing green building materials, energy saving methods and healthy living options to communities across the country.  If you have been curious to find out more about  and are thinking of creating your own showroom, a Discovery Day is the perfect gathering to get the inside information, speak with Founder Nicole Goldman, meet our informed staff and visit our flagship location on beautiful Cape Cod.  For more information or to make an appointment to join us call Paula at 508.477.7988 or email paula@ggreendesign.com

This event is also being sponsored by the Mass Energy Consumers Alliance - making this event a Green Event powered by renewable energy. http://www.massenergy.org/

Also, don't miss out on your opportunity to purchase your retail or building products tomorrow without paying tax, tomorrow Saturday August 14th!  A penny saved is a penny earned!