Cabinets, trim are latest green build features
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In this 14th week of construction, workers are inside, putting on wood trim, installing cabinets in the kitchen and bathrooms and setting doors.
All of the trim wood - that which is used for baseboards and around the doors and windows - is actually medium-density fiberboard, or MDF.
This is an engineered product made from wood chips, shavings, sawdust and even recycled wood such as pallets that might otherwise go into landfills.
It is this use of "waste" that makes the trim "green," said Jeremy Devol, a sales associate at Seiffert Lumber Co., Davenport, which is supplying the trim.
MDF has been used in the Quad-City area for about 20 years. It can be painted; the green build home is using white.
The 17 white interior doors also are engineered. The exterior surface is Masonite, a trademark name for a hardboard made of pressed wood fibers with a solid-core, particle-board interior.
The railings and posts for the staircase leading into the lower level are made of poplar, which is a fast-growing wood considered more sustainable than slower-growing varieties, Devol said.
None of these wood products come with "chain of custody" certification, which is a paper trail created from the time the wood is cut down until it reaches the job site. Certification adds to the cost, so the homebuilders decided to forego that, even though the product is the same, Devol added.
The cabinets are the Koch & Co. brand and came from Village Home Stores in Geneseo, Ill.
The veneer on the face frames and doors is made of stained beech, harvested on a farm in Germany where trees are replaced as they are taken down, said Josh Heitzler, the contractor account manager for Village Home Stores.
The backs of the cabinets are wheat board fiber, a material made from wheat straw, which is quickly renewable because wheat can be grown and harvested in a single season.
The glues used in the cabinets do not off-gas, or release into the air, volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, Heitzler said.
The home being constructed by the Quad-Cities Homebuilders & Remodelers Association is at Devils Glen Road and Field Sike Drive and will be open to the public in September.
It is being built to the silver level of the National Association of Home Builders green build guidelines.
Editor's note: This is the eighth in a series of articles following the construction of a green build demonstration home in Bettendorf.
Posted in Home-and-garden on Sunday, June 21, 2009 2:00 am Updated: 8:38 pm. | Tags: Green Demo Home, Jeremy Devol, Seiffert Lumber Co., Koch & Co., Village Home Stores, Josh Heitzler, National Association Of Home Builders, Sustainable Development, Green Building
