Green Counter Culture
If you attended the Greenbuild conference in Chicago last November, you would have been hard pressed to find a green cabinet manufacturer among the exhibitors - but you couldn’t turn around without bumping into a new type of green countertop. They nearly outnumbered the waterless urinals. Over the past couple of decades, countertops have evolved from tried-and-true laminate to bold new materials and colors of every taste and budget. It’s not surprising to see the creativity of new countertops go hand-in-hand with the emergence of green products. Below are several types of green countertops, from least expensive to most. Feel free to give any feedback you have on any of these products.
Laminate - Easily the least expensive green countertop, laminate countertops made with recycled wood particle board (like SkyBlend) and non-VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) adhesives are ideal for building projects that are seeking green certification at the lowest cost. It may take a while to track down a local fabricator offering green laminate countertops, but they shouldn’t cost more than a few dollars more a square foot than regular laminate tops.
Stainless Steel - Made from one of the most recycled materials, stainless steel objects today consist of, on average, 60% recycled material. If the particle board or MDF substrate is made from recycled material and glued with a non-VOC adhesive, a stainless steel countertop can be an inexpensive green option.
Recycled Paper - Manufactured from recycled paper, countertops like Richlite and PaperStone are durable and give off low to no VOCs. PaperStone, which Starbucks has been using both as a counter and as a rainscreen, offers colors in both 50% and 100% post-consumer recycled paper. EcoTop is a new paper based countertop from Joel Klippert, one of the innovators of PaperStone.
Greenguard Certified - Some countertops that may not be made up of recycled materials can be considered green because they emit low to no harmful emissions. Many solid surface countertops, like Silestone, Cambria, and Corian, are Greenguard certified. Greenguard, which certifies many types of products, is to emissions what ENERGY STAR is to energy usage.
Terrazzo - Where art meets sustainability. Easily some of the most beautiful countertops available, terrazzo is a concrete based countertop highlighted with chips of material, usually glass, to give it a marble-like look. IceStone and Vetrazzo are both stunning recycled glass and concrete countertops. EnviroGLAS offers EnvirSLAB, a countertop made of recycled glass and porcelain in an epoxy resin. IceStone has been awarded the prestigious Cradle to Cradle Certification for their environmental efforts at every stage of production.
Wood - Craft-Art offers wood countertops made from either Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified wood or reclaimed wood. They can be butcher block, stained wood, or a beautiful distressed rustic look.
It won’t be long until house listings start to include the phrases “IceStone countertops” or “Craft-Art countertops” instead of the usual “granite countertops.”
It just so happens that I was visiting Joel today to look at some of these counter top materials (among other things… planning a kitchen remodel, and want to make it as green as possible). I was impressed by the range, both in terms of materials (re)used, and cost options. Most importantly for many people, though, these were beautiful materials… nothing “crunchy” about them…
The PaperStone looks like an exciting product. Does anyone have info on its durability or moisture absorption? My only concern with ‘new’ products is knowing how long they will continue to look good when the product itself has only been around a couple years.
ENERGY STAR is a public program backed by the US EPA and US DOE (www.energystar.gov). Greenguard is a private program which requires proprietary testing by the for-profit laboratory which started the program, Air Quality Sciences in Atlanta (www.aqs.com). Both programs have advantages, but they are NOT equivalent.
Keep in mind that, while Greenguard certified, the Quartz products (Silestone, Cambria, Zodia, Caesarstone, etc) are made of 25% petroleum based resin by volume. They’ll say (7% by weight) Not so green in my book. Lots of things don’t off-gas. Doesn’t make them green.
@green mormon architect — I know there’s info on PaperStone’s moisture absorption… Joel mentioned that yesterday when we talked, and my take-away was that it’s not an issue (but I’m sure you want details). He can likely tell you more.
I think that Joel’s intent was to give a more familiar example to help explain what Greenguard is for people who are not familiar with it.
In that each is a major program in its respective field (energy efficiency, indoor air quality) I think it’s a reasonable comparison.
Greenguard is (at least according to their website: http://www.greenguard.org/Default.aspx?tabid=22) a third-party non-profit organization. It arose out of work done by AQS, but it is now an ANSI standards developer.
If you know more about their practices and processes, I’d be interested in hearing about it.
Thanks for the clarification on ENERGY STAR. It wasn’t my intent to paint Greenguard as a governmental organization with the same standards as ENERGY STAR. I simply wanted to convey that if you are looking to save energy, you look for the ENERGY STAR certification, and if you are looking for countertops with low to no harmful emissions, you look for the Greenguard certification.
As for PaperStone, water absorption is usually the first question we get. That’s understandable, considering it’s made of paper. The first detail listed on their technical specifications page is water absorption, which is listed at .82% by weight.
What about concrete countertops? Does anyone have an opinion on how green it is? We are planning a major green remodel including kitchen and our plan is to use concrete for our countertop mainly because the large island is an irregular shape and concrete can be molded into any shape. We also like the earthy look and feel of a concrete countertop. Thanks so much for any input any of you have.
Thanks for your question, Lisa. Concrete countertops have the potential to be green, but there are some questions you need to ask the fabricator. It should have as much fly ash as possible while remaining structurally sound. Fly ash is a byproduct of coal power plants that previously was released into the atmosphere. Concrete is one of the best ways to recycle this material. Plus, it replaces Portland Cement, which is not green because of the resources required to manufacture it. Additionally, make sure the sealants used on the countertop are free of urea-formaldehyde or other VOCs.
Warning: Many fabricators have moved away from pouring concrete on site because it has a curing and sanding process of almost a month, essentially making your kitchen unusable if you are remodeling. Most cut your top from a slab they have poured at their own plant and deliver it after the curing and sanding process is finished.
Concrete is probably about the same or slightly less green than granite or other stone. Stone probably has more embodied energy in quarrying and shipping, versus concrete, which comes from more local sources. But, as Joel says, there’s a lot of embodied energy in producing portland cement.