Q. I’m getting ready to redo our master bath and I’d like to be “reasonably” green.
A. “Green design.” “Environmentally friendly.” “Tree Hugger.” We bandy about a lot of catchphrases these days when talking about “going green,” but do we really know what it means? And, is there a relationship between “going green” and “budget conscious” design and living? I believe so and it’s only now becoming apparent.
First, let’s take a step backward, say to the mid-twentieth century. According to the National Association of Home Builders, the average house built in 1950 was 983 square feet. In 2004, the average had jumped to 2,349! Meanwhile, the average family size has declined. These basic figures are all we need to understand how much our environmental footprint has increased over the last half century. Everything is simply bigger and bigger costs more. It costs more in dollars, in materials used, and in energy consumption. So, it is imperative that we work to offset the greater consumption inherent in our bigger homes.
The good news is that there are so many easy things we can do to make our homes greener, our earth greener, and our wallets a little greener as well!
A Greener Bathroom Today:
• Use low-VOC (volatile organic compounds) paint on walls, millwork, and cabinetry. All the most popular paint suppliers have low- or no-VOC options. Also, remember that the higher the gloss content, the easier to clean and the longer the life of the paint job. Low-VOC cleaning products are also available now.
• Use Flow-Optimized Faucets and Showerheads
The average family can reduce daily water usage by up to 32 percent—without sacrificing performance. All Moen lavatory faucets, like the Muirfield, feature a 1.5 gallon per minute (gpm) flow rate, which meets WaterSense® efficiency criteria.
Standard high-flow showerheads use between 6 to 10 gallons per minute. Flow-optimized showerheads have a flow of 1.75 gpm and use 30 percent less water, yet they outperform standard flow rate, so you still get a great shower.
