Many homeowners looking to remodel their kitchens are increasingly choosing green products, not for being environmentally friendly, but for being affordable and attractive.
Silver Spring, MD (PRWEB) November 28, 2011
“Everyone wants to be able to say that they’re ‘green’,” Case said, “but until only recently that right came at a pretty high premium.” As green products have become more popular and mainstream over the past few years, manufacturing costs for these products have come down substantially, opening them up to more homeowners.
“In this economy a lot of our clients have put the idea of green remodeling aside,” Eniko Szlavin, a designer working at Signature, said. “But when we show them how affordable many of these products are, they get excited about it all over again.” In one recent project, Szlavin’s client chose a countertop made by the company Icestone purely for its aesthetic qualities. Only after this decision did he happily learn of its green certifications. Icestone’s countertops are a prime example of this trend towards affordable, green kitchen products. Made of 100% recycled glass and cement, these countertops have paved the way for sustainable kitchen remodeling with their reasonable costs (relative to traditional countertops like granite) and their unequaled Gold level of Cradle to Cradle certification.
The market for these green kitchen products in Washington, D.C. is booming and Signature Kitchens, Additions & Baths is at the forefront. Signature has installed cork flooring, once a niche product, in a growing number of kitchens recently. Due to cork’s sustainable harvesting methods it is one of the greenest types of kitchen flooring currently available. “Cork flooring has become pretty popular in D.C., both for its attractive features and affordability,” Szlavin said.” “My last few clients have asked about it right away, but just a few years ago it would have been mostly unheard of for kitchens.”
This trend is not only the result of green products becoming more affordable, Case said, but also more attractive. Signature has recently installed a number of Lumicor’s “architectural resin panels” in kitchen cabinetry. These panels, made of recycled resin, contain the necessary levels of recycled materials to help move a project towards LEED certification. But what was more important for the homeowner was the fact that the panels were aesthetically pleasing.
For many homeowners this effectively means that kitchen remodeling is increasingly becoming green remodeling, rather than the two practices being completely separate.
About Signature Kitchens, Additions & Baths
Signature Kitchens, Additions & Baths is a leading kitchen and bath design/remodeling firm serving the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. From McLean, VA to Silver Spring, MD, Signature Kitchens, Additions & Baths’ superior craftsmen and designers have worked all across the Washington, D.C. region.
Gary Case, Owner
Signature Kitchens, Additions & Baths
(301) 251-1880
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Gary Case
Signature Kitchens, Additions & Baths
3012511880
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