Tag Archives: eco

April 21 at #KBtribechat – An #EarthDay Conversation

Our KBtribechat questions:

1.) How can we make daily choices that reduce our negative impact on the environment?

2.) Why is it important to protect the Earth?

3.) Is zero waste attainable? Share tips to help reduce waste.

4.) What home building and design trends have helped make homes more sustainable?

5.) How can smart/connected products help homeowners save energy and water?

6. ) How are you incorporating environmentally-driven solutions into your projects?

Join this Twitter discussion

at 2pm ET on Wednesday, April 21

by adding #KBtribechat to your tweets!

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May 8 at #KBtribechat – Designing With Health in Mind

A design discussion.

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We will be pinning to our Healthy Kitchens and Baths group Pinterest Board.

Our KBtribechat questions:

Q1.) In the design process, what details do you focus on when designing with health and safety in mind? Please share solutions you like!

Healthy material choices not only affect indoor air quality but it’s important to know how they affect the environment and if they are made from renewal resources .

Q2.) Are your clients asking for sustainable (healthy for the earth) and healthy products and design choices? Do these healthy building materials and design choices cost more?

Q3.) How can technology help us address health and safety concerns in the kitchen? What about in bathrooms?

Q4.) What features can help the end user make healthy choices in the kitchen?

Q5.) What features can offer healthful benefits in the bathroom?

Q6.) Do you take ergonomic principles into consideration when designing kitchens or bathrooms? Does this include the reasoning behind cabinet pull-outs and other cabinet features?  What about appliance considerations?

Q7.) In what ways can we plan for client safety in the kitchen and bath spaces we design? Please share important tips for designing spaces that work for all stages of life.

The reduction of clutter in our homes has not only been shown to reduce stress but simplification is a current design trend. How does this apply to designing healthy kitchens and bathrooms? 

Q8.) What are your go to design tips for reducing clutter in kitchens?

Q9.) What are your go to design tips for reducing clutter in bathrooms?

Share pictures of designs and ideas you like!

Join this Twitter Chat conversation

on Wednesday, May 8

from 2 to 3pm eastern time

by adding #KBtribechat to your tweets!

Here’s a link to read the transcript for this KBtribechat.

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April 19 at #KBtribechat – A Sustainability Discussion in celebration of Earth Day

A kitchen and bath industry conversation!

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This week we will be pinning to our Earth Day group pinterest board, a compilation of favorite sustainable and green designs and products. Let us know if you’d like to be added to the board!

Our KBtribechat questions:

1.) What eco/green/sustainable building tips do you suggest for kitchens and baths?

2.) How can we make kitchens and bathrooms more energy efficient?

3.) What remodeling choices affect indoor air quality? Please share good solutions.

4.) What user habits in the kitchen or bath can help with environmental responsibility?

5.) What eco-friendly products are on your list which can reduce the impact of construction on the environment?

Join this Twitter Chat discussion

on Wednesday, April 19

from 2 to 3pm eastern time

by adding #KBtribechat to your tweets!

Here’s the transcript for this #KBtribechat.

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#ShowerBetter With Hansgrohe

Celebrating EPA’s #ShowerBetter Campaign & Energy Awareness Month

As inventor of the multi-function showerhead and handshower, and a longtime WaterSense® partner, Hansgrohe is excited to take its sustainable shower expertise to Twitter via “KBTribeChat” in honor of @EPAwatersense’s #ShowerBetter campaign & Energy Awareness Month. On Wednesday, October 9th from 2–3PM EST, Hansgrohe will  sponsor and lead the session, which will include insight into water saving technology, the latest trends in sustainable style, links to water saving videos, as well as info about some of Hansgrohe’s eco–showers.

Hansgrohe_CromaGreenShowerpipe

To get in on the water conservation conversation, simply follow @HansgroheUSA and @Kbtribechat and add #kbtribechat #showerbetter to tweets. Hansgrohe also encourages you to include these additional hashtags and handles to entice others to chime in: @epawatersense #watersense #epawatersense #water #h2o #eco #green #sustainability #shower #waterwednesday

@HansgroheUSA hopes to tweet you there!

In the meantime, Hansgrohe USA’s YouTube channel is filled with informative and fun videos. Here are a few to check out:

 Discover Hansgrohe’s Airpower technology here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uifiqGSJbFw

Find out how to change out a standard showerhead to a green, low-flow showerhead for up to 30% water-savings in the bath here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK06bcue71w&playnext=1&list=PL7F6F60CA6AA9C6E6&feature=results_main

Take shower installation 101 featuring our Raindance Select shower system:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2vOZhkynzQ&list=PL7F6F60CA6AA9C6E6

Here is the transcript for this Kbtribechat.

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Celebrating Fix A Leak Week

Happy spring! A great season to start fresh and make a positive change;  it’s a perfect time to remind others to be conscious of their water use. WaterSense® is kicking things off with its fifth annual “Fix A Leak Week” (FALW)  March 18-24. As a longtime WaterSense partner with over 220 WaterSense-certified models, the March 20th #KBTribeChat sponsor and host @HansgroheUSA is a major proponent of the cause. In honor of the program, they will use the 2-3PM EST session as a platform to provide water saving tips & tools, info about eco-products, and hear what others have to say about water saving issues.

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Join in by following @kbtribechat and @HansgroheUSA and adding hashtag #kbtribechat #FALW to your tweets. Hansgrohe also encourages participants to include these additional hash tags and handles to entice others to chime in:  #watersense @epawatersense #waterwednesday #water #h2o #eco #green #sustainability

HangroheCromaC100Green3jetshowerhead

About Hansgrohe

Founded in 1901, Hansgrohe is the premium brand for bathroom and kitchen fixtures, and a market leader in showers and shower systems, as well as thermostat, pressure balance and ceramic cartridge technology. A winner of numerous awards throughout the world, Hansgrohe is regarded as one of the leading innovators in technology and design, with countless inventions and 2,000 + patents. In North America, Hansgrohe is proud to be an ever-growing and vital outpost of the German brand, currently celebrating 25 years of excellence. At its Alpharetta, Georgia home, it offers products that combine masterful German-engineering with skilled American assembly and craftsmanship.

Here is the transcript for this 3/20/2013 kbtribechat.

 

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Trends in Bathroom Design!


On Wednesday, June 20, 2012, we will be discussing Trends in Bathroom Design at kbtribechat on Twitter. This discussion will take place from 2 to 3 pm eastern time. Please join us!

Here are the questions for this weeks conversation:

1.) Bathing – Are you finding clients having a shower preference ~ even omitting a tub from their bathroom? Are you asked to design the space with aging in place in mind? Do your clients often want accessories like steam or bench seating in their new showers? What materials are popular?

2.) Surfaces – What bathroom cabinet and countertop trends and colors are you seeing now?

3.) Lighting is so important in bath design. What trends are you seeing in lighting bathroom spaces?

4.) What bath design products or ideas are you excited about?

5.) Are you getting “green” bath design requests? Let us know your favorite eco bath ideas.

Click here for the transcript to this kbtribechat.

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723 Spring Street, Ann Arbor

 

 

Join guest host, Mark Johnson FAIA, on Wednesday, June 6, 2012, for #kbtribechat LIVE from the 723 Spring Street LEED Platinum home in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Mark will be talking with Scott Phillips, green expert and owner of the home. Scott’s extensive background in the building products industry will inspire our discussionabout the home’s kitchen and bath products that optimize water savings, reduce and monitor energy use, contribute to LEED points, and have led to his family’s adoption of a green lifestyle. This #kbtribechat will incorporate a multimedia offering of resources including videos, photography, a Pinterest board, and downloadable Google SketchUp 3D models of the home and interiors.

723 Spring Street became the City of Ann Arbor’s first LEED Platinum house. It is designed to weave into the surrounding neighborhood in style and function, while showcasing many different types of green building methods that make the home ultra-efficient. In addition to ICF Construction and Geo-thermal Heating, the home also has an 8.6kW solar array and is near net-zero energy usage. Advanced building techniques and sustainable products abound in this lovely home. Don’t miss this exciting #kbtribechat.

NOTE: If you are in the Ann Arbor area on June 9-10, the 723 Spring Street home will be open to the public during MISSION ZERO FEST, along with the Mission Zero House, America’s oldest historic rehab/retrofit home to reach net-zero energy usage.

Here is the transcript for this chat.

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Designing “Green” Kitchens & Baths

We will be discussing the importance of design in building healthy kitchens and baths at our October 3, 2012 kbtribechat.  Please join us on Twitter from 2 to 3 pm eastern time.

Here are our questions:

1.) What does “green” mean to you in connection with design/construction?

2.) Is “green” too much of a buzz word? Have a better term?

3.) “Green” homes start with good design. Please share some of your design tips.

4.) Are there certain materials you specify or want to use specifically because they are sustainable and or help create healthy environments?

5.) Do you still find “green” to cost more?

Here is the transcript for the 5/16/12 kbtribechat on this topic.

Here is the transcript for the 10/3/12 kbtribechat on this topic.

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Questions for 2/8/12 kbtribechat on The Vision House

View this presentation by Mark Johnson FAIA for detailed information regarding this weeks discussion:

Here are his questions:

Q1 – If you assigned a style to the #VISIONHouse, what would you call it? > See Slide 3 > http://goo.gl/scXYl 

Q2 – Which of the seven #VISIONHouse ‘sustainability themes’ is most important 2U? Why? > See Slide 7 > http://goo.gl/scXYl 

Q3 – How do you maximize comfort and minimize operational costs in your projects? > See Slide 11 > http://goo.gl/scXYl 

Q4 – What is your favorite building product from the #VISIONHouse sponsors? > See Slides 13-20 > http://goo.gl/scXYl 

Q5 – With #VISIONHouse as example, what can you do to raise ‘green awareness’ w clients? > See Slide 24 > http://goo.gl/scXYl


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The Vision House at Epcot

 

Join guest host, Mark Johnson FAIA  on Wednesday, February 8, 2012,  for #kbtribechat LIVE from the Epcot Theme Park at Walt Disney World in Orlando.  We’ll be taking a look at the The VISION House® in INNOVENTIONS project site, the sustainable products being used, and learning more about this exciting demonstration home opening on Earth Day, 2012. Who knows, maybe we’ll meet a Disney Imagineer along the way?


The VISION House® in INNOVENTIONS at Epcot® is a ground-breaking green show home exhibit presented by Green Builder Media® in collaboration with Walt Disney Imagineering. This experiential exhibit in the heart of Epcot® highlights the very best in green residential design and sustainable living. Visitors will leave with a greater understanding of green design, technology, and products as well as a host of sustainable living ideas that they can incorporate in their lives the minute they get home from vacation. Sponsors for this exciting project include Trane and Schlage (Ingersoll Rand brands), Boral, Panasonic, Armstrong, Kohler, Siemens and GM.

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