March-April - Viva Tysons Magazine

of the distance and energy costs
involved in shipping heavy items
like countertops, though, I’d like to
highlight a very green manufacturer
close to the Tysons area: IceStone of
Brooklyn, New York.
IceStone Durable Surfaces are
made from 100% recycled glass and
cement to create a high performance,
green, durable material. They are
a great, gorgeous choice if you are
searching for an eco-friendly, green
countertop. IceStone surfaces
can also be used for backsplashes,
bathroom vanities, table tops, bar
tops, interior walls, and commercial
flooring applications. Beautiful
shower and bathtub surrounds can
be made as well.
The mixing of non-toxic pigments
and various glass colors and sizes
results in an unusually versatile
color palette. Currently there are 29
available colors, such as desert pearl
(pictured) and a green-flecked style I
love, forest fern.
IceStone surfaces do not contain any
petrochemicals and therefore will
not fade from direct sun exposure.
The fabrication, installation, and
maintenance of IceStone surfaces
follow similar standards used
with natural stone. The price is
comparable to stone countertops,
starting at $100 a square foot.
IceStone has been a leader in going
farther than most companies in
pursuit of sustainability in their
manufacturing and operations. Due
to its high recycled content and rare
“Cradle to Cradle” Gold Certification,
IceStone materials can contribute to
LEED points. Basically I love them,
because they offer the high-style look
of natural stone in a recycled product
with a much lower carbon footprint.
What’s Not So Hot
The Not-So-Big Bamboo.
You know that it’s been highly
touted. It’s a grass, it comes from
Asia, and it’s cheap compared to
solid wood. What you may not
know is that a lot of people rip out
bamboo flooring within a few years.
It scratches easily. It doesn't react
well to climates with high or unstable
humidity levels (like ours). It can’t
be sanded and refinished. Whether
it’s vertical grain, horizontal grain,
engineered or veneer, you are not
going to get the performance of
wood from bamboo.
If you consider the chemicals used in
production, the oil/gas used in the
manufacturing and transportation,
the working conditions of where the
bamboo comes from (whether the
Granite out, glass in? Granite countertops have been one of the most frequently
used solid surface counter product in recent years. But as a natural stone, it is
quarried from the Earth and is not renewable. Many green building enthusiasts are
beginning to turn to a new solid surface counter product made of recycled glass
instead. A huge variety of glass colors and speck sizes in just as huge a variety of
background resins gives this product the custom look many now desire. Sounds
almost guilt free...
106
workers are protected from the harsh
chemicals and their pay), the Asian
tropical ecosystems repeatedly being
destroyed as demand goes up for
bamboo products, the calculus is not
good.
It is actually more environmentally
friendly to use recycled wood floors,
or solid wood from sustainably
managed local forests, than to use
new bamboo flooring. The main
level of my clients’ homes are often
graced by classic flooring of Forest
Stewardship Council (FSC) certified
maple, grown in well-managed
Pennsylvania national forests. You
pay the same as what you do for
conventional wood flooring. Mine
came from less than 200 miles away
from my home. Best of all, it will
last 100 years with minor refinishing
now and then. Bamboo just can’t
compete with that.
Find out more about the worldwide
nonprofit organization many
architects and builders trust to rate
timber for their projects at www.fsc.
org If you want a reliable vendor for
sustainable wood for your project,
check out www.ecotimber.com.
They’ve got lots of timber available
all around the U.S. When my builder
couldn’t locate the certified flooring
I needed through his supply chain,
they’re the ones I called.
Granite: Out of Vogue?
The concerns about radon offgassing
have been discredited. But is
it a carbon-neutral product? Granite
is green, natural and fashionable,
right? Well, not really. There’s a lot to
consider.
Where did that slab travel from?
India, China, South America? No
wonder it is so expensive. Most
natural stone countertops have to be
periodically sealed with chemicals
to keep out penetrating stains and
keep acids from damaging the
stone. Stone is not renewable—
once it’s quarried, that’s it. Mining
has numerous local environmental
impacts on land and water. And
while some people do re-use other
people’s countertop slabs, many
more of them get dumped in a
landfill. If your house has granite
tops that are serviceable but not to
your taste, please consider donating
them to Habitat for Humanity’s
RESTORE. They’ll send their truck
to you and take away countertops,
cabinets, any usable building
materials you no longer want.
I am going out on a limb here, my
designer friends are going to give me
some grief about it, but I don’t care.
Granite is overused, expensive, and
within ten years it will be eco-UNchic
to have every surface in your house
made of natural stone.
Back to my cup of tea, interior design
magazines and garden catalogs now.
Happy project planning.
Next month in The Green Life: How to
compost at home. You can reach Beth at
beth@mygreenexpert.com.
VivaTysons | MARCH - APRIL 2011 vivatysons.com