Cabinets Impact Healthy Kitchen Designs

Perhaps the trickiest part of creating a healthy kitchen has to do with choosing the right cabinets. Cabinetry offers its own unique set of concerns, such as the use of proper wood, paint and adhesives. Indeed, there are plenty of places for cabinetry to veer into an unhealthy direction if not handled properly.

For the designer, paying close attention to cabinet choices is key when designing a healthy kitchen. After all, the last thing the green, health-conscious client wants is to spend thousands of dollars on ventilation, sanitary surfaces or flooring, only to find the most expensive component of the kitchen be the least healthy.

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Patricia Gaylor, a New Jersey designer whose green pedigree includes designing homes for the International Builders Show, notes there's a resistance to commit to green design by some manufacturers.

"It's our social responsibility, as designers, to maintain the movement. It's our responsibility to our clients to demand more green products," she comments. "It's especially important in the kitchen and bath when specifying certified woods and hardwoods."

In the past, typically small companies and custom shops were the only places to find green cabinetry. Now, most large cabinet companies offer green options. St. Charles Cabinetry identifies itself as eco-friendly because it has a high recycled-content percentage, zero Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) off-gassing in manufacturing and use, and includes integrated compact fluorescent lighting.

As in most green topics, thirdparty certification is crucial to help contractors, builders and consumers discern what companies are providing woods grown and harvested in an environmentally sound way. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international not-for-profit membership-based organization with the mission of promoting responsible stewardship of the world's forests. It works to certify forests that meet that set criteria. What that means to cabinetmakers is that they can be sure that their wood is coming from a sustainably managed forest.

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