The sustainable sit
Furnish any color scheme with green
So you’ve got organic milk in the fridge, you just installed energy-efficient windows, and you recycle everything in sight. If you’re looking to take the next step in green-ing your home, investing in sustainable furniture may be a way to start. We talked with Paige Mattson at the Blue Ridge Eco Shop to get some advice about what to look for when buying green.
 You can’t tell just by looking, but this sofa—part of the E Collection by Precedent, sold locally by The Artful Lodger—is more earth-friendly than your average couch. |
Mattson says she defines sustainable as "not depleting anything." So, that means choosing wood products that are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) as being from sustainably harvested forests. These forests are continually being re-grown instead of being clear cut, and trees aren’t cut until they’re mature, meaning that more wood can be harvested. Beyond the wood, Matteson suggests being careful about what else goes into a piece, making sure that all the materials are organic—that means no toxic stains, paints or glues. Lastly, she advises, "look for quality—things that will last and withstand time, so that you won’t have to re-purchase"—and so that your new furniture won’t end up in the landfills after only a couple of years.
Matteson has seen the trend of starting a sustainable furniture collection with children’s furniture, choosing to buy green when new purchases (like cribs) are needed. If you’re looking to start your own sustainable furniture trend, the Artful Lodger has a collection of FSC-certified wooden pieces, and starting in January will offer E Collection by Precedent, a new brand of all-natural upholstered furniture. Likewise, you can find mattresses made from all-natural latex as well as a line with cushions made from all recycled material at Kane Furniture.—Lee Vanderwerff
Easy Being Green
5 ways to reuse paper in the season of wrapping
 The whole world’s getting papered, but you can spare some trees with a little creativity. |
Trees must be quaking in their boots (roots?) at this time of year: Not only are humans apt to come at them with rusty bowsaws while singing about something called a tannenbaum, but the holidays are prime time for paper use. How to cut down on your contribution to a sea of crumpled red and green?
1. Instead of store-bought cards, send homemade cards made from cereal boxes and decorated with collages made from those catalogs currently stuffing your mail slot.
2. If you size your cards appropriately, you can send them in the envelopes you already have—the ones that come inside credit-card offers. Hide the corporate logos with stylish stickers.
3. Wrap gifts with brown paper grocery bags, and dress up with raffia, real holly or mistletoe.
4. When you throw a party, opt to use real dishes and cloth napkins—sure, there’s more cleanup at the sink, but you won’t be tossing a bag of garbage to rival Santa’s sack.
5. When someone else gives you a gift, save the wrapping paper and use it next time around for gift tags.—Erika Howsare
Seal it up
The new benchmark: guaranteed bills
How would you like to have your monthly heating and cooling bill cut by two thirds, then guaranteed to boot? Here’s more proof that area builders are stepping up their sustainability game: Local green builder Lithic Construction (540-718-3990) is offering guaranteed energy bills on new houses built according to specs from Texas-based engineering firm Energy-Wise, which will recommend insulation and HVAC systems guaranteed to heat and cool a 3,400-square-foot home for no more than $74 a month. The initial agreement is for two years and can be renewed with maintenance requirements such as changing heat pump filters every two months.
 Lithic Construction’s Ned Ormsby shows off soy-based insulation that’ll help this new home stay energy-efficient. |
One major key to structural energy efficiency is the insulation. Fiberglass products are cheap at the outset, but those loosely packed fibers let a lot of bucks filter through. Newer foam insulation costs more up front but with a consistency more like angel food cake than angel hair, it’s much more efficient at trapping heated and cooled air inside where you want it.
You can go one step further and cut out polluting petroleum products by using soy-based foam that does not come from imported oil. Anchor Insulation (295-9675) installs BioBased insulation and has partnered with Lithic in the production of two recently completed EnergyWise certified homes. One, at 604 Monticello Ave., is currently under construction and boasts a number of green features, from salvaged materials to Marmoleum floors.—Cathy Clary
Planet Now
Follow the yellow brick road
Plan a trip to Oz Wednesday, November 28, and skip on down to Richmond’s Science Museum of Virginia where the James River Green Building Council is sponsoring a trade show and exhibition that features all things green. "Building an Emerald City," which is free to the public, will be held in the museum’s Rotunda 2-8pm. The gathering brings together industry experts, businesses, government agencies and nonprofits to help you find your way through the maze of environmentally friendly products and services that has sprung up thick as poppies in the last few years.
Breakout sessions on recycling, landscaping, energy use and building materials will take place throughout the afternoon. More enticing for most average homeowners? Architects, builders, cabinet makers and home products retailers will also be on hand to display their work and services. First-time home builders and owners as well as businesspeople, builders and designers all should find something useful. Richmond’s Style Weekly hosts a reception 6:30-8pm where it will recognize local people and businesses that have taken initiatives to build and use energy in responsible, nontoxic ways.
For more information, contact jrgbc.org (804-288-2950) or the Science Museum of Virginia at smv.org (804-864-1400).—C.C.
Deep heat
What’s the deal with geothermal?
Isn’t it appealing to think of warming your house with the heat of the planet itself? Geothermal power is an increasingly popular technology that uses the constant temperature of the earth to heat homes and drinking water. Curious, we talked with Mike Hall at Airflow Systems. As a contractor who installs both conventional air-to-air systems and geothermal heat pumps, Hall is very enthusiastic about the latter. He explains that geothermal pumps are very quiet and contain no outdoor unit. They can be installed just as easily in existing homes as in new homes, as the system connects to conventional duct work. The way it works: loops of pipes are installed below the frost line and transfer energy from the earth to a heat pump.
Hall says that the only downside of installing a geothermal system is the initial investment—he declined to quote a price range, but other research indicates that a geothermal system for an average-size home typically costs around $3,500 more than a conventional one. But, Hall says, "That’s not really a downside because in the long term, it will pay you back." He estimates that it takes about 10 years to receive a full payback through lowered energy bills. Plus, Hall says, a geothermal heat system will last you about twice as long as a conventional one.
Many states even offer tax breaks for greening your home with geothermal energy—Virginia isn’t one of them yet, but as consciousness grows and realtors, builders, and homeowners become more geo-savvy, our fingers are crossed that the incentives to invest in geothermal will grow.—L.V.
By The Numbers
"Life-cycle-assessment research reveals that most significant environmental construction impact is not from the production of materials but from the operation of the building. Roughly 98 percent of a building’s energy is consumed in operating it."
—Patti Flesher and David D. Shepherd, in the October issue of Eco-Structure