AERC-certified shades can keep rooms for the most vulnerable family members cooler this season.
Hunter Douglas
This is shaping up to be the hottest summer on record, with triple digit temperature spikes around the nation. That spells extreme health and safety risks for people who work outdoors, as well as for those who run, cycle and hike or, sadly, find themselves homeless. According to the Centers for Disease Control, those most at risk for heat-related illness are infants and children four and younger, people aged 65 and older, and people with existing medical conditions like diabetes or heart disease.
If these describe a member of your household, some of the 10 tips below – like adding a fan, changing bulbs and adding window protection – should be focused on their rooms first. Health and safety are two crucial facets of wellness design!
Here are a range of pro tips for the entire household, including some that won’t cost a cent and can be implemented this weekend.
Block the sun by closing your window shades, blinds or drapes during the hottest parts of the day. This can lower your home’s indoor temperature even if you lack air conditioning or your local utility imposes rolling stoppages.
If you were planning on replacing your window coverings, this is a good time to consider new ones that add to your home’s energy efficiency and keep it cooler while doing so. Look for energy performance ratings for the ones that will work the hardest for you.
Another option to keep your interiors cooler is to add window film. This can also protect your skin, furniture, art and rugs from UV damage. Architect Magazine says these products can block 99% of UV rays and cut utility costs by 30% to 40%, but there are some surmountable cons (and shopping tips), which the professional magazine lists.
Avoid using a gas cooktop or stove. A portable induction burner will do the same job without heating up your kitchen.
Avoid using your oven, which can also make a kitchen hotter. If possible, eat foods that don’t need to be baked or broiled, grill outdoors (under a shade cover), or use a toaster oven instead.
Use fans, which can create a cooler air effect in the room. They only need to be used in a room where you’re working, relaxing or sleeping, so there’s no wasted energy.
If it’s cool enough to open your windows with fans on, do so across your home to create a cross-ventilation effect.
Replace any remaining incandescent lights that add heat to your home with LED or compact fluorescent models that don’t.
Home improvement expert Bob Vila recommends unplugging any power strips when they’re not in use.
Vila also suggests doing laundry at night when it’s cooler.
Here are some longer-term heat-beating solutions that involve remodeling, from a Forbes.com article I wrote last July when it wasn’t even this terribly hot in most of the country. It’s worth revisiting now.
The annual Kitchen & Bath Industry Show is the top expo for spotting new products and trends for … [+] residential projects.
Kitchen & Bath Industry Show
Correction: A previous version of this story listed Beko’s dishwashers as being made with recycled bottles. It is actually their clothes washers that are.
The annual Kitchen & Bath Industry Show is always a great event for checking out the latest products and trends in the residential building, design and remodeling spheres. That show happened last week in Las Vegas, and its annual Best Products awards, announced on February 1, are a window into what specifiers are excited about. Many of this year’s winners, chosen by a panel of five respected designers, reflected the latest in wellness and sustainability innovations, as well as what’s likely to show up in your next home update.
Bathroom Wellness and Sustainability
Tile made from recycled fixtures adds wellness and sustainability to your home projects.
Kohler Co.
The top bathroom-specific award, Best of KBIS – Bath Gold, went to Italian manufacturer S.G. SRL for its inFINE Column Shower. Designed for pool baths, spas and other outdoor applications, this sleek setup extends design possibilities for a wide range of wellness-enhancing spaces.
The Silver award went to Kohler’s recycled tile initiative, WasteLAB, for its new ABSTRA Collection. Tile is a durable, low-maintenance material that is especially popular for bathroom spaces and an absolute wellness design selection. This collection has a nature-inspired palette, adding to its biophilic appeal.
Creating tiles from recycled toilets in the 150 year old manufacturer’s processes and keeping that material out of landfills, makes it a sustainable option as well.
Kitchen Wellness and Sustainability
Innovative range hood adjusts to cooking need.
Fotile
The Best of KBIS – Kitchen Gold went to a workstation sink from an Atlanta area manufacturer. The Baveno Kitchen Sink System by Bocchi uses a granite composite material known for its heat, stain and scratch resistance, adding to the functionality facet of wellness design. Also contributing to functionality is the set of accessories that come with the workstation that make it prep- and cleanup-friendly. This style of kitchen sink, also called chef sink, has become increasingly popular in recent years.
Kitchen Silver went to an innovative ventilation product from Fotile, a manufacturer based in China. The Insert Self-Adjusting Range Hood will automatically sense smoke and descend to the proper height to maximize capture. When used with a Fotile cooktop, it will automatically start ventilating, an increasingly popular smart feature seen in recent years.
Smart Home Wellness and Sustainability
GE Profile’s new induction cooktop makes learning to cook with this sustainable technology simple … [+] and convenient.
GE Profile
The Best of KBIS – Connected Home Technology Gold went to an outdoor product this year. Moen’s Smart Sprinkler Controller and Smart Wireless Soil Sensors are engineered to let your sprinkler system irrigate your yard when it needs water and turn off the sprinklers when it doesn’t. This can save both your lawn and water bill, definitely enhancing your home’s sustainability.
The Best of KBIS – Connected Home Technology Silver award went to GE Profile’s 36-inch Touch Control Induction Cooktop. Induction cooktops enhance both wellness and sustainability. The smart features in the mid-priced Profile brand ease the transition to induction with guided cooking functionality. With an app and smart pan, the user chooses the recipe and starts cooking without guesswork. The cooktop also offers more comprehensive temperature control than just low, medium, high options – giving the home chef more of the performance level professional chefs expect in their induction models.
More Awards
New composting appliance installs under a kitchen sink, adding sustainability and convenience to … [+] your home.
Sepura Home
There were other awards given at KBIS worth noting. The show features a small KickStarter Zone of small companies seeking wider sales and distribution for kitchen and bath products. The Grand Prize Winner was an under-sink composting system by Sepura Home. This model replaces a garbage disposal and keeps food scraps (and their odors) contained until the homeowner is ready to take the removable compost bucket to a curbside green bin for municipal pickup, or add to an outdoor compost bin. With California implementing mandated composting, this under-sink system will be a boon for conveniently processing and storing food waste. It definitely enhances one’s sustainability at home.
KBIS’ owner, the National Kitchen and Bath Association, sent its current class of Thirty Under 30 industry professionals across the show floor to choose their favorites. These Millennials and Gen Z kitchen and bath specialists gave their awards to kitchen sink, faucet and accessory maker Kraus USA for sustainability, GE Profile for smart home integration, GE’s luxury appliance brand Monogram for living in place (i.e., universal design, aging and accessibility) and Brondell, known for bidets, and air and water filtration products, for wellness.
KBIS has a ‘people’s choice’ award as part of its DesignBites segment, a speed-dating style round-up of hot new products. Called the “Brand With the Biggest Bite,” this year’s honor went to appliance maker Beko, a subsidiary of a Turkish-based global manufacturer, which promotes both sustainability with its clothes washers made using recycled bottles and wellness with its produce nutrient-protecting refrigerator technology. Last year, the brand debuted a lighting system that promised to keep produce fresh for up to 30 days. This year, they upped the freshness power with a circadian-style lighting system that protects your fruit and vegetables’ nutritional value.
