Malin says. “I don’t consider
stone chips in a cement matrix
particularly green. But it’s hard
to do much better, other than an
alternative with recycled content.” On the other hand, Malin
easily came up with alternatives
to the Jamaica stool, noting that
metal production “is toxic and
energy-intensive, even with its
recycled content. I would've liked
to see a social conscience here.”
Verdict
manager of research and development, established life-cycle standards based on LEED
principles and the IDSA-sponsored Okala Design Guide [see our October 2007 issue].
“If a company had a green product but they weren’t a green company,” Gropper adds,
“we’d choose a greener company.” Besides assessing durability and checking whether
manufacturers had certified their eco-friendly operations according to ISO 14001 criteria, the team considered variables such as local sourcing, indoor air quality, sustainable forest management, and recycled content.
We asked three experts to review Eco-Suite’s material decisions: Dr. Andrew Dent,
vice president of library and materials research at Material Connexion; GreenSpec
Directory coeditor and Building Green vice president Nadav Malin; and Matt Grigsby
of Ecolect, an online sustainable-materials database. “I’m impressed with the way they
were able to create an attractive interior with those material choices,” Dent says. In
addition to parsing the choices, our experts weighed in on next-generation materials
that will raise the bar on eco-functionality. Appropriately, all future Tridel interiors—
though not outfitted or decorat°ed as completely as this showcase—will attempt to emu- late Eco-Suite’s performance. www.metropolismag.com#
Verdict
Kitchen
“Here there are key things that
people respond to: dark hardwood
floors and kitchen cabinets, light-colored countertops,” Kantelberg
says. Cabinetry is fabricated from
preconsumer recycled wood fiber,
the countertop is 93 percent natural quartz, and Knoll’s Jamaica bar
stool is Greenguard certified.
Dining room
A black walnut dining table was
built from trees salvaged from
another Tridel site; the room divider
features Pure Bond particleboard,
a formaldehyde-free panel made
from 80 percent postindustrial
recycled content; the flooring is
Kultur’s FSC-certified white oak.
After considering alternatives
like Kirei Board, Biofiber Wheat
Board, or Durapalm, Grigsby
applauds the Ontario-harvested
and -manufactured Pure Bond in
the divider. “The most sustainable thing is local,” he says,
although he notes that it might
have been even better to eliminate millwork altogether.
Second bathroom
Lifestyle Coyuchi organic-cotton
towels are piled atop a Bio Glass
countertop; the Delta faucet
is low-flow.
Verdict
Master bathroom
The master bathroom is water-conscious. Delta faucets are
low-flow, Refin tiles are manufactured in a water-recycling
facility, and the custom Corian
bathtub and sink don’t require
harsh cleaning chemicals that
would run through sewers.
The Bio Glass encapsulates
Dent’s positive opinion of Eco-Suite: “It’s completely recycled,
it’s not going to off-gas, you’re
not using natural resources,
and it’s actually quite beautiful.” Although he knows of
Cradle to Cradle organic-cotton
towels to replace the Lifestyle
product, “Who’s going to ship
them from Germany?” he asks.
“That would throw all those good
credentials out the window.”
Verdict
Second bedroom
Lauren Gropper says of the Ikea
Morkedal bed, “We wanted to
show people on a tighter budget
that you can be green.” The bed
holds a Grassroots natural-rubber
mattress, which does not contain
toxic flame-retardants, and it
sits beneath Topaz, a rayon-on-cellulose substrate from Omexco.
The drapes are made from
Maharam fabric.
Verdict
The EU’s Eco-label may assuage
the guilt of shipping tiles from
Italy, Malin says, but why not try
recycled-content Terra Green
tiles from Indiana first? “Corian
is a reasonable choice in spite
of its petrochemical origins,” he
adds. “It may also save energy
by insulating better than a
ceramic or cast-iron tub. But
the biggest impact is in things
one wouldn’t see, like how the
water is heated, how it’s insulated on its way to the fixtures.”
Andrew Dent reserves most of his
concerns for the second bedroom.
“Much as I like Ikea’s forest-management effort, I would prefer
for it to be certified by an independent body.” As for the rayon in
Topaz, “just because it’s natural
doesn’t mean it’s better,” he says,
recommending Milliken’s 180
Walls instead. And while Maharam
has achieved Oeko-Tex Standard
100, “there are better fabrics out
there” in terms of nontoxicity,
such as the Victor Innovatex line.
