Total Spaces Design Newsletter

Spring 2009

DESIGN INSIGHTS

LEAD PAINT UPDATE NEW EPA

RULES ON LEAD PAINT REMOVAL AND CLEAN-UP

Starting Dec. 22, 2009, contractors

working in homes built before 1978, where children

and pregnant women live or are present, will be

required to provide customers with an

Environmental Protection Agency Brochure,

“Renovate Right”, that deals with lead hazards and

how to remove them.

After April 22, 2010, companies working in pre-1978 homes must be EPA Certified and work in that home has to be overseen by a certified renovator. Total Spaces Design is committed to safe job-sites for all of our projects, to ensure your health and well-being, and will have certified staff on each job to meet the EPA requirements. We currently test for lead paint before starting a project and take neces-sary measures. Containment is a two part system. The first, is to set up dust containment, and the sec-ond part is a misting and mopping procedure. Chemical strippers can be used, but must be used with caution to protect the job-site, people and pets. When getting quotes for your next project, make sure your contractor has included the safety measures necessary to responsibly remove lead tox-ins in the dust particles and is concerned about pro-tecting you and your family. To learn more about the dangers of lead paint and how to protect you and your family from its effects, visit: http://www.epa.gov/lead/

WHAT’S NEW AT OUR HOUSE ! Bruce has been taking several classes and

honing his skills in Green Materials, Apartment and

Commercial Property Management, and Real Estate

Finance. Theses extra skills will help with your pre-

construction questions. as you get ready to embark

on your next project.

Eleanor received the NKBA Puget Sound

Award of Distinction for 2008. One of Eleanor’s

fellow members is quoted as saying, “Eleanor has

been the most important tool in my tool box, as far

as positive help and exposure to this industry. Not

only does Eleanor volunteer; she does so with the

most positive, inspiring attitude.” Eleanor has been

an active member of the National Kitchen & Bath

Assoc., (NKBA) for many years and currently serves

the Puget Sound Chapter as V.P. of Public Events,

and has in the past served as VP of Communications

and Technologies.

Total Spaces Design Eleanor Olsen, AKBD Seattle, WA. PH: 206-784-0117 page 1

GREEN LIGHTING INCANDESCENT, CFL or LED ? ! Energy gobbling incandescent bulbs are being phased out or even banned in some areas of the country. ! Compact Fluorescent Lights are an energy

saving choice, but are they the best choice? They

must be recycled properly, due to the mercury con-

tent. If you break a CFL, you may find yourself with

a mini haz-mat situation. The light from a common

fluorescent is not the most flattering. The flutter, that

some people are very sensitive to, and get headaches

from is another issue for CFL’s. CFL’s usually last

longer, but not always. Burn them for 15 minutes or

less and their life is shortened. So be selective about

where you use them; the powder room may not be

the best spot for a CFL, because your not usually in

there very long. LED lighting is extremely energy

efficient and probably the best choice for going

green. The initial cost is more, but in the long run,

the best value. Want to know more or make com-

ments, go to our new green3's blog

IT IS JUST COLOR Think spa colors and probably a cool calm shade of

green comes to mind. When we think of green, it

signifies new beginnings, growth renewal and spring

and health, as well as relaxation.

Why is purple regal? A dye made from crushed

mollusk shells found in ancient Tyre, (now Lebanon)

was more expensive than gold. Because of the cost,

only the highest classes could afford a fabric dyed

with this Tyruan purple. Hercules was said to have

given King Phoenix a purple robe and decreed pur-

ple as the color of Phoenician royalty.

To select your favorite colors, take an environmental

journey to get clues about likes and dislikes of the

places you have lived. Sometimes it is hard to de-

cide what you might want to live with color-wise for

the next few years, but with a little help from your

designer, you can come up with the perfect you,

spiced with shades of current trends.

Look for more color info in future newsletters

VENDOR NEWS Doug Johnson of US Sheetmetal

in Tacoma is the “go to guy” for any custom fabrication in metal, from the copper roof of the re-furbished Tacoma Union Station to whimsical salmon sculptures. Doug’ Deco-Line remote blower and muffler systems are rivaling any on the market today for craftsmanship, quality, quietness as

well as effec-tiveness. US Sheetmetal has been re-cently fea-tured in Trends Maga-zineand is nearing

the long process of receiving UL

approval for their Deco-line

Hoods. Visit Doug’s website at:

US Sheetmetal.com

DID YOU KNOW?How Turquoise Got It’s Name?

Turkish tiles had the

predominate blue-

green color dating as

far back as the 8th

and 9th centuries,

reaching their peak in Iznik tiles of

the 16th century. The color was

coined by the French visitors to

the Ottoman Empire, to describe

the unique blue green found in the

Turkish tile.

FAVORITES Gar’s sculptural chair invites you to sit down and relax with a glass of wine, legs curled up, ready for a long conversation or a good book. Gar is a commercial furniture company, which means it is built to take a great deal of wear and tear. Use this chair in a resi-dential application, with an infi-nite number of fabrics and fin-ishes, to define many moods with one great chair. Delivery is ap-proximately 12 weeks. Prices start around $1,000. retail.

Total Spaces Design Eleanor Olsen, AKBD Seattle, WA. PH: 206-784-0117 page 2

Kitchen Ventilation - Survey Says - “Consumers are the Least Knowledgeable about Ventilation Than Any Kitchen

Appliance” Thermador, in conjunction with NKBA, surveyed kitchen designers about ventilation. The designers cited that under 50% of clients rated performance as the most important factor when choosing ventilation. Aesthetics were the number one concern. I taught a seminar at DesignTrends Seattle on Ventilation, to just a handful of industry professionals, while across the hall, the Color Trends was standing room only. Ventilation performance is not very sexy or fun, but can actually be easy to understand when you aren’t talking to an engineer. Performance is of up-

most importance. Did you know that a quart of

grease per year is deposited throughout the home if

good ventilation is not used? Think how dull your

cabinets will look and how often you will repaint

your walls. Draperies, upholstery and carpets are

collecting the grease as well, causing dust to cling.

Microscopically dust is like little jagged rocks, and

can cause a lot of abrasive damage. You can signifi-

cantly improve the air quality, and protect your in-

vestment with proper ventilation.

Basic physics tells us much of what we really need

to know about ventilation.

Hot air rises, very simple.

Also as it rises it spreads out

in a cone shape. To figure

out how big that cone is at a

given distance from the

cooktop, engineers use the

inverse square law to calcu-

late how wide and deep the

hood needs to be to capture

the cooking pollutants.

GETTING VENTILATION RIGHT Plan how

you will vent from your kitchen, before any layouts

are started. Avoid more turns, with the most direct

exit being best. Think of the air flow like the free-

way at rush hour; really slowing at the bends. Never

change your duct to a smaller diameter than recom-

mended by the manufacturer. The result will be like

four lanes of traffic merging to two lanes, resulting

in backups. Air and water move in similar ways.. It

is easier to visualize water back swirling as it rushes

around a sharp bend, causing whirlpools. When that

happens in your ventilation system it will be louder

and very ineffective.

Next: Where and what cooking equipment is being

used? The placement of the equipment and the size

will affect your ventilation options. One way to fig-

ure how much power or CFM’s

are required, is to use 100 CFM

for every foot of cooktop. This

may be adequate for a 30” elec-

tric unit with a short duct run,

but will not be enough for the

extra BTU’s of high performance burners,grills and

/or griddles. I prefer to add all the BTU’s of the unit,

to come up with a more accurate CFM requirement,

which can range typically from 600-1200 CFM.

Cooking on an island can be a little problematic,

because of the cross currents interrupting the flow of

rising heat. Years ago, at a Feng Shui class, the in-

structor stated, “when cooking on an island, all your

money goes out the chimney”. In Feng Shui fire rep-

resents your wealth, and when you are not cooking

against the wall, your fire is unprotected. The money

drain starts right away since an island hood costs

about twice as much as a wall hood. Sometimes

though, you don’t want to be isolated from your fam-

ily and guest so island cooking may be right for you.

Certainly an island hood makes a fabulous statement

in the kitchen, like the one from US Sheetmetal, pic-

tured with salmon swimming across the front. Just

make sure

you have the

size and

power to

make it work

well.

Total Spaces Design Eleanor Olsen, AKBD Seattle, WA. PH: 206-784-0117 page 3

Kitchen Ventilation continued from Page 4

Using a downdraft can be an effective way to cook

on an island but the performance is compromised.

You will be fighting the natural flow of the hot air A

downdraft unit that does not pop up can actually pull

the heat away from what you are cooking, thus in-

creasing the time it

takes to cook and the

energy being used. Se-

lecting a pop- up unit

will improve the per-

formance. A more

powerful blower, and

the shortest duct run

possible can help the

effectiveness of a

downdraft system..

Over the Range Microwave/Ventilation Combina-

tion units are a big compromise on effectiveness. Usually the rating is up to 300 CFM for the ventila-tion, but they have little or no capture area. Think about searing a steak. Your pan is hot, the ventila-tion is turned on and you toss the steak in the pan. You get a surge of smoke and steam all of a sudden. The excess cooking pollutants spill over, continuing to rise up the front of the microwave, cabinet above and ceiling. Before investing in an over the range microwave, examine your cooking habits. Only very light cooking would be acceptable when you are us-ing a combo microwave/ventilation unit. The height of the unit should be considered as well, since the micro-wave may be higher than you are comfortable with to get hot dishes out of the unit safely. If heaven forbid, you are using a recirculating unit, there is no attempt to remove the heat at all.

A wall hood is an

excellent choice for

the avid cook. with

enough capture area

to hold the bursts of

smoke and steam.

We are not fighting

cross currents in the

room.. It is important

to place the hood at a

proper height to cap-

ture the pollutants, based on the cone of heat that is

raising from the cook top and the amount of heat that

is rising, ( BTU output) from the cooking surface. If

you are 6 ft. tall and want to put a standard hood up

higher than recom-

mended, you will

have escaping grease

on the front of your

hood. The higher

you place the hood,

the deeper and wider

it will need to be.

Most manufacturers

recommend making

the hood 6” wider

than the cooktop. When using a wood surround be

sure you have

adequate clear-

ances to com-

bustible surfaces

to avoid fire

hazards.

We have

scratched the

surface of the

ventilation plan-

ning and is it no

wonder that

most consumers

know the least about

ventilation. Call

Eleanor for a con-

sultation, at

......206-784-0117

Total Spaces Design Eleanor Olsen, AKBD Seattle, WA. PH: 206-784-0117 page 4

Hoods in order of appearance

US Sheetmetal Island Hood

Best by Broan Down Draft

Dacor Microwave Hood ComboBest By Broan Wall K3500Best by Broan Pro Built- in

Abbaka Original Copper Hood

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Total Spaces Design Newsletter

Spring 2009

Editor: Eleanor Olsen, AKBD Interior, Kitchen and Bath Designer

TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE

LEAD PAINT UPDATE 1

WHAT’S NEW AT OUR HOUSE 1

GREEN LIGHTING 2

VENDOR NEWS 2

IT’S JUST COLOR 2

DID YOU KNOW 2

FAVORITES 2

FEATURE ARTICLE

KITCHEN VENTILATION

3 & 5

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Total Spaces Design Eleanor Olsen, AKBD Seattle, WA. PH: 206-784-0117 page 5