Forest stewardship council

The first green aspect we will examine is resource efficiency. That is, how well are we making use of indigenous, renewable, recycled, recyclable, salvaged and/or durable resources and materials in our kitchen design. Options we might explore include: replacing only hardware or cabinet doors rather than full cabinets; repurposing cabinetry elsewhere in the home, garage or yard; salvaging and reusing tile, trim, fixtures or wood flooring; creating a recycling center for all household waste; using countertops composed of recycled materials, such as broken tile, or crushed glass in matrix; using renewable resources such as bamboo, cork, and engineered wood; acquiring new woods only via sources endorsed by the forest stewardship council (FSC); sourcing all materials from as close a local source as possible; recycling all construction waste from the remodeling; and so on.

The initial telepresence meeting, which linked together the DDB account team in Chicago with its AT&T counterparts in Bedminster and Dallas, was followed by two successive telepresence meetings as the campaign was further developed and presented to a broader number of AT&T marketing clients. All told, the DDB team conducted eight telepresence meetings with its AT&T Business Solutions clients as the marketing program progressed through the summer months.

Ecobalance analysis must take into account such processes as the farming, felling, mining or other extraction of the raw materials that may be incorporated into the particular component being considered. So too must it assess all of the refining, manufacturing, assembly and finishing processes applied to that component. Also considered are the handling, transportation, fuel and packaging impacts. Any processes or products collateral to the components actual use and application are considered. And, finally, the impacts of disassembly, disposal, recycling, repurposing, composting, incineration or landfill are weighed. Thus, the life cycle is fully assessed, and perhaps another life cycle begins.

The essence of this concept is looking at the long term impact of our actions while dealing with our short term needs. This has grown out of the environmental movement and initially dealt with environmental issues. It has grown to include social, economic, and resource management issues. As a 'catch phrase" it's usage will expand into many other fields.

More and more architects are therefore making use of so-called ‘drainage plane’ walls, in which some internal plane serves as a second line of defense against the intrusion of air, water and vapor. Such walls may have simply a secondary barrier concealed deep within the wall construction, or they may make use of a drained cavity, which incorporates both a barrier, and a space from which water, moisture and humidity may be drained and vented. (A brick veneer wall over a cavity and backing masonry is a common example.)