One Person's Trash, Another Person's Treasure

We may have just built it, but the parts have been around for a long time. The Ripple Home interior finishes are estimated to be 95% renewable, recyclable, or recycled.

Walls, Not Obstacles Our interior walls are finished with materials that emphasize the wide-open possibilities in green buildings. The Ripple Home walls are finished with interesting, healthy, eco-friendly, and beautiful paints and tiles. Tile utilized throughout the Ripple Home interior was selected primarily to represent the wide variety of recycled content and low production energy tiles available on the market. The kitchen features Spanish-mission influenced tiling in rich greens and blues that contain 40% recycled ceramic content. The bathroom features 100% recycled glass tiles that use less than ½ the production energy of traditional tiles. A horizontal band of "jelly bean" tiles adds visual interest—and is made of recycled coke bottles.

Instead of using petroleum-based solvents, our Benjamin Moore paints use water as a carrier, meaning they release very low amounts of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) over time. They also contain little or no formaldehyde and heavy metals—chemicals you do not want to be breathing in over and over during the lifespan of your home. In fact, we painted the interior of our house the night before our Open House event. Eight hours later we could not detect the faintest "wet paint" chemical smell. Furniture that Tells a Story Sometimes form, function and storytelling can co-exist. Our furniture frames are constructed with sustainably grown alder from American forests with legs constructed of reclaimed Burmese teak gathered after hurricanes damaged local forests. Petroleum-free latex - bio-foam - is used in furniture cushions and is guaranteed to outlive petroleum-based foams. The furniture's outermost layer is upholstered in a cotton/hemp canvas, then slip-covered in certified organic vegetable-dyed cloth for easy cleaning and decorative flexibility.

Bamboo, Bamboo... It's Everywhere In addition to featuring our beautiful, SCU-designed bamboo I-joists, the Ripple Home features handcrafted bamboo cabinetry throughout the kitchen. These cabinets are made of bamboo harvested at maturity (around 8 inches wide and up to 80 feet tall) and are fabricated with formaldehyde-free glues. Formaldehyde, a "probably human carcinogen" according to the Environmental Protection Agency, is used in traditional cabinetry glues at the risk of releasing chemicals into your food. With limited space available in the kitchen/living room common areas, space-maximizing Häfele hardware has been installed in many cabinets and drawers in the kitchen. Imagine a spice rack that pulls down from a high cabinet to eye level, and then retracts smoothly and automatically. Teragren bamboo hardwood flooring made from rapidly renewable bamboo grasses are used throughout the Ripple Home. This bamboo flooring is harvested between 5 and 6 ½ years of age. If harvested too early, the wood will be soft and prone to dents. If harvested to late, the wood will become brittle and scratch. However, if harvested just right, the flooring will be sturdy, durable and beautiful. Floorboards are made with very low formaldehyde content glues and water-based finishes. They far surpass stringent international and U.S. environmental standards for chemical content and contribute to two U.S. Green Building Council LEED® credits. For more information about the LEED® Green Building Certification program, please visit the United States Green Building Council's website at www.usgbc.org

photos courtesy Mike Kahn www.greenstockmedia.com