Lighting the 'Green' Kitchen

Lighting is one of the most challenging and important areas in the field of interior design. Without good lighting, one cannot see a great design! One has only to stroll through the hardware store to see a confusing array of lighting products claiming different standards and ratings that are difficult to compare.

So what is the latest news in ‘green’ residential lighting? In the commercial field, contract lighting has been far ahead with a series of progressively higher standards for lowering energy consumption for buildings due to stringent building codes that are governed by IESNA standards (Illuminating Engineering Society of North America). LEED® (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) also awards credits for lowering energy consumption in all areas of the building, including lighting. Residential lighting has lagged behind due to the relatively low cost of energy that has kept the demand for ‘green’ low, due to more variability in home lighting requirements, and due to lack of suitable, affordable quality products on the market. Unsuccessful forays with compact fluorescents have further jaded the public about the value of ‘green’ lighting in general. Early LED products had low wattage but delivered very little light (lumens) and only a cool-white colour temperature.

This is now an impressive time for developments in ‘green’ lighting. The technology has been progressing rapidly and the cost is coming down. I wrote an article last year about my new kitchen countertop http://www.daylelaing.com/news/green-kitchen-countertop.html  and received several questions about the ‘green’ lighting I specified in the design.

Let’s take a look at some of the options I selected and why.

What is LEED® and how could it benefit me?

LEED® is a comprehensive standard for certifying and constructing green buildings.

Points are assigned for all different aspects of the building interior, exterior, and even landscaping.

Whether you are designing, building, or purchasing, these criteria benefit us all by raising the bar so that all construction standards will go up over time. LEED® is meant to be a standard that rewards excellent performance and continues to evolve. When that excellent performance becomes the norm, LEED® will raise its standard to be that much higher again. The program started with mainly commercial buildings and has expanded to certify homes and existing buildings. Run by the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) in my area, the program is adapted for different climates in 16 countries around the world, including the United States (which began the program with the UsGBC), Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand.

The result is...

Seminars Certified for Continuing Education by IDCEC

Interior design professionals have a challenge to not only keep up to date with a broad range of topics, they must do so to maintain their professional status.  They want to make sure that their valuable time and money is well spent on seminars that provide important and practical information that they can use with their clients.

The 4 major interior design associations in North America (IDC, ASID, IDEC, IIDA), are served under the central entity of IDCEC (Interior Design Continuing Education Council) to “promote lifelong learning and professional development”. They set rigorous criteria for accrediting continuing education courses.

Dayle has accreditation for 3 of her seminars:

Rugs 101"

Fabrics 101"

Joy of Contracts"

- How to make the experience ‘win-win’ for you & your clients

Here are their descriptions and what seminar attendees have said:

Making a Difference within our Control

Just when we think our individual actions may not really matter,

that no one notices or even cares what we think or do, much less listens to us, something happens that reaffirms our faith. I am talking about the environment and what we can do about it.

In recent weeks we’ve seen both the US and Canadian bills on climate change stalled in their respective political systems, we’ve seen our parliamentarians waffling about our environmental commitments, we’ve seen Canada’s international reputation tarnished, and we’ve read about the so-called ‘Climategate’ scandal where the credibility of research data on global warming trends was seriously undermined. We wonder whether all the conflicting stories and political rhetoric we hear are even worth bothering about since the experts don’t seem to be sure.

Yet I feel very heartened...

Dayle inspires BPW group to think ‘green’ in their design choices

Dayle inspired a group at the Business and Professional Women’s Club of Ontario on November 17th in Brampton. During her after-dinner speech, the ladies posed excellent questions in response to Dayle’s advice on how to select some environmentally friendly and healthier products and simple, yet green decorating ideas.

Dayle received positive feedback that people really want to know how they can make a difference for the environment and at the same time, bring safer products into their homes.

The business women made the following comments:

Living Locally, Behaving Globally

On November 11th it is Remembrance Day in Canada and Veterans Day in the US,

a time when we contemplate the many blessings we have. While researching a trade seminar I presented recently, I had the privilege of interviewing several local furniture manufacturers, who reminded me about the innovative people who live and work nearby.

What a fabulous story they told of successfully surviving our economic climate by manufacturing top quality products that are in demand throughout North America.  They have made their operations more efficient by reducing waste, lowering the amount of raw materials, energy and water consumed, cutting excess packaging and streamlining administration. This is not only great for business, but great for the environment as well. We all benefit from having wonderful and locally produced furniture and accessories.

For example, many of our furniture and flooring manufacturers ensure the hardwood they use comes from managed forests. Some use wood that is FSC certified. The Forestry Stewardship Council is an international certification program which tracks the tree from forest right to the consumer. Other manufacturers have programs to plant two trees for every one cut, or plant a tree for every piece of furniture purchased. These responsible activities help make our North American forests the continued envy of the world and an important part of the global ecosystem.

So, ask questions of your manufacturers and suppliers to determine how ‘green’ their products are. By purchasing from local industries when it works within the context of your design, you are subscribing to one of the key areas of sustainable design initiatives -- buying locally saves transportation energy!

I shot these photographs at...

"De-Greying the Green" Seminar

Dayle Laing regaled a professional design audience of over 100 with her “De-Greying the Green” seminar on October 8, 2009 at SOFA, Source of Furniture + Accessories, in Mississauga, Canada. 

She explained the value of independent certification to assess the merits of green products, and used examples from over 30 of the SOFA showrooms and suppliers to illustrate her 7 green criteria for sustainability.

One of these criteron is 'Source Locally' which made so much sense, given excellent furniture manufacturing located regionally "in the backyard" of this group of showrooms.

Dayle really takes some dry facts and makes them interesting. I now have some openings for client and supplier conversations. She is upbeat and very easy to listen to. She is a leader in this field.”

 Joanne Watson, Oakville, ON

  Other attendees expressed their comments: