What makes cabinets GREEN?

Green awareness is growing day by day. All 50 states have LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) registered homes. There have been numerous groups created to certify building products as green and the Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturer Association’s Environmental Stewardship Program is the main certifier of cabinets. There is a wide array of factors which contribute to environmentally friendly cabinets. A few of these factors are resource management, controlled emissions, recycling, waste reduction, responsible business practices and even community involvement. But, when a customer asks for green cabinets, there are usually three areas of concern:

• Sustainably grown solid wood (for doors, face frames, fillers, etc.)
• The amount of urea-formaldehyde in the cabinet box materials
• The amount of urea-formaldehyde, HAPS (Hazardous Air Polutants) and VOC’s (Volatile Organic Compounds) in the finish

What is Huggy Bear doing?

Huggy Bear’s is committed to providing natural products and processes that are earth friendly and environmentally responsible. We have made many changes in our products and processes to achieve this goal. In 2007, we cut our volatile waste 43% by distilling and recycling the dregs from our paint room. We reformulated our finish which reduced HAPS from 1.08 lb/gal to zero, VOC’s from 4.81 to 4.3 lb/gal and virtually no formaldehyde (see below). We have added Lyptus to our wood selection, which is sustainably grown (see lyptus.com). We’ve also included Bamboo in our Europa collection. Bamboo is a grass and is considered a renewable resource. We have met all the requirements for the KCMA’s Environmental Stewardship Program and CARB (California Air Resources Board) Airborn Toxic Control Measure Phase I.

We are trying to keep a balance between green materials/processes and keeping our cabinets affordable. Eventually green products will be the norm, but right now, going green can be expensive. So, at this point we are offering green options as custom items which can be added to our standard cabinets at an upcharge. This gives customers the choice of how green their cabinets will be. The chart below shows the green properties of our standard products and greener options.

Sustainable Hardwoods

Domestic

Even though most hardwoods in the US are not FSC certified they are increasing in volume much faster than they are being used so they are sustainably grown. According to the Hardwood Manufacturers Association, Hardwoods in the US are growing 70 percent faster than they are being harvested. The volume of hardwoods in American forests today is 90 percent more than is was 50 years ago.

Imported