What makes a kitchen GREEN?

What a great question, from my friend Stephanie Merello of Tinycakes. Logan Square Kitchen endeavors to tread as lightly as possible on the earth, always. That means making as many sustainable choices as we can during building design, construction and after our doors open.

We are starting construction today, and that means demolition. During this period, here are some green highlights:

• dismantle wood elements and reuse lumber on site
  
• verify at least 75% of construction debris is recycled
• implement air quality plan to protect workers

The big work today is demolishing a very old concrete floor in the future kitchen. About 25 feet wide by 75 feet long. I'm not sure how deep the concrete slab is, maybe 4 inches? That's lots of concrete- it will be crushed into gravel and recycled into new concrete. When we pour the new floor, it will be made from recycled cotents. Construction waste is the #1 ingredient in landfills, which is why this is now a requirement in Chicago's building code to recycle 75% of debris.

Thanks so much Stephanie for asking me the question. I'll try and explain 'what makes us green' as we go. Plenty of not-so-green claims get made right now, which is why it's important for us to seek LEED certification, which is the premier standard to verify green buildings and construction.