GREEN IS EVERYWHERE. BUT WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
Sara Ann Busby, CKD, the 2008 National President for the NKBA, has owned and operated Sara Busby Design, a residen-tial kitchen and bath showroom in northern Michigan for over 20 years.
It seems as though the world has become aware of the environment overnight. Companies and products have become green, eco friendly or energy efficient. So how do we make sense of it all? The National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA) has developed a variety of re-sources to help us all. It starts with a glossary of terms. Then you can review a series of articles on the new sustainable (my favorite term) design movement and follow links to a variety of other web sites devoted to sustainable design. Let’Äôs start with sustainability; the practice of meeting the needs of the present without depleting resources or harming natural cycles for future generations. To me, this is the term that applies to all aspects of this trend currently being taken up by all industries. For instance, green building, a subset of sustainable design, is a building that mini-mizes its impact on the environment through conservation of energy, water, and other resources, while contributing to the health of its occupants without compromising the aesthetic design. To determine the needs of the environment and our impact on it, we measure our carbon footprint, or the measure of the impact human activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases produced, measured in units of carbon dioxide. To read the complete article pick up a copy of the Michigan Home Resource guide at a store near you.

CHOOSING AN INTERIOR DESIGNER:
Shane D. Inman, ASID, IIDAShane Inman, president and founder of The Inman Company, an interior design firm that focuses in both commercial and residential markets, earned a B.A. in Interior Design from Michigan State University.
Picking out new wall-to-wall carpet for the den and a fresh paint color for the kitchen may not require the assistance of an interior designer, but if you plan on tackling a full-scale remodeling project or breaking ground for a new build, you should seriously consider hiring a profes-sional to help you with the insurmountable tasks and details that lie ahead. And if you are the homeowner who is determined to yield that statistically proven, 98-percent return on your new investment, you will want to check out the following tips for interviewing and hiring an interior designer. It’Äôs worth investing a little research and time to make sure that you choose someone who has the necessary qualifica-tions and polished professional skills to handle your project.1. QualificationsInterior Designer vs. Decorator ’Äì Which one do you need? While the roles of these professions often overlap, the two are not synonymous. A decorator is mainly concerned with surface decoration using paint, fabric, furnishings, lighting and other materials. An interior designer, on the other hand, has a four-year degree from an accredited educational institution and practices a three-part process: 1) shaping the experience of interior space through the manipulation of spatial volume 2) drawing on aspects of environmental psychology and architecture3) specializing in health, welfare and safety. To read the complete article pick up a copy of the Michigan Home Resource guide at a store near you.

As always we are interested in your thoughts. Let us know what you think of our publication e-mail your thoughts that might just get published to info@michiganhomeresourceguide.com and enjoy the summer.

Until next time keep on building and “Welcome Home”