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These kitchen designs are trendy—and healthy for you and the planet.
By James Walsh
Photo by John Christenson
She searched for the right look. She searched for the right value. She searched for the right feel. She wasn’t necessarily searching for a kitchen design that used environmentally friendly materials, but that’s what she found. Her Valcucine kitchen, with its cabinets made with recycled aluminum frames and white oak that uses no formaldehyde is perfect, she says. And the fact that it’s also “green” is a bonus.
“I wasn’t looking for that,” she says. “But I like it. I like that the materials used in my kitchen have less impact on the environment.”
Welcome to one of the newest trends in kitchens: eco-friendly design. Whether it’s using recycled products or incorporating lighting, heating, cooling, and windows that save energy, a growing number of designers and contractors are turning green.
“Green is hot right now,” says Michael Anschel, an architectural designer with Otogawa-Anschel in Minneapolis who estimates that most of his company’s projects involve some eco-friendly elements.
Why? One reason is skyrocketing energy costs. According to U.S. Green Building Council estimates, commercial and residential buildings use nearly two-thirds of total U.S. electricity and more than 36 percent of primary energy. “While not every client is coming to us saying, ‘Build me a green home,’ everyone appreciates our energy-saving features,” Anschel says.
Up front, a green kitchen can cost about 20 percent more than a low-end kitchen remodel, Anschel says. Often, eco-friendly options—especially reused components, are less expensive than top-of-the-line alternatives. Either way, the energy savings will offset initial expenditures. “Within two years, it’s paid for itself,” explains Anschel. “After that, you’re saving money.”
Kitchen components produced within the European Union typically are more eco-friendly because of strict environmental standards that govern manufacturing there. “In Europe, the companies have no choice,” says Jean-Claude Desjardins, co-owner of Belle Kitchen in Minneapolis. “Green is standard.” European options available locally include Poggenpohl, Poliform, Leict, and Bulthaup, all of which feature eco-benefits such as water-based varnishes and cabinet recycling programs.
Italian manufacturer Valcucine produces some of the hottest eco-friendly products on the market. Consider the Valcucine cabinet. Framed with recycled aluminum, the extremely lightweight cabinet doors are covered in glass or steel or laminated plywood that uses less wood than other manufacturers. The company also has eliminated toxic chemicals, such as formaldehyde and other volatile organic compounds, in the manufacture of its kitchens.
The result is a stylish and sleek cabinet that is kind to indoor air quality. A Valcucine kitchen is fume-free—an important feature in today’s construction, says Emily Little, a designer in the company’s Minneapolis showroom. “We’re building [homes] tighter and tighter and tighter,” she says. “So people really do need to start to care a lot about indoor air quality.”
Rossom’s kitchen is a stylish case in point. Her lower cabinets feature gray, matte glass doors that look more like a brushed metal. Her upper cabinets are a white oak veneer. Stainless countertops and a mosaic tile backsplash of green glass finish the minimalist look that Rossom says she just adores. She also loves the improvement in her indoor air quality. “There is no odor at all, and I am very sensitive to it,” she says.
Rachel Maloney owns Natural Built Home, a Minneapolis retailer that sells sustainable building products. Her store offers everything from kitchen countertops made from recycled paper to dual-flush toilets (one button for big flushes and one for smaller ones). While she says the heaviest use of “green” kitchen products is on the West Coast, the trend toward eco-friendly kitchens is growing here.
And air quality is one of the biggest reasons.
“Consumers are becoming more aware that the products they choose can have a negative impact on the indoor air quality of their homes,” Maloney says. “When given a choice, most people will choose the healthier product for themselves.”
A growing number of clients come to Anschel’s firm with air quality concerns, he says. “We had a client come in and say ‘Mr. Potato Head made my kid sick,’ ” Anschel says, citing the toxic gases soft plastics can emit. “This is not fringe science anymore.”
JAMES WALSH IS AN EDUCATION REPORTER FOR THE STAR TRIBUNE.
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