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Wanna Be Green?

My holiday present to you: the recipe for turning your firm green, tested in the fiercely green offices of Associates III

Penny Bonda -- Interior Design, 12/17/2007 12:00:00 AM

You read about them, maybe even meet them, but haven't any idea how to be like them. I'm talking about really green design firms, whose projects—and they only do green projects—are held up as the enviable green standard to which we all aspire. They are easier to find on the commercial side than residential, but one such firm happily thrives in Denver.

Associates III is a 37-year old interior design firm specializing in environmentally responsible residential interiors that, for most of its history, practiced in the traditional way. Except . . . its founder and principal designer, Kari Foster, was a burgeoning environmentalist. Like many in the "solar" 70s, she was influenced by Rachel Carson's writings and the growing focus on energy conservation. However, in the early years and as the firm grew, its priorities spread in different directions, and though sustainably-focused design was on its list of goals, it didn't emerge as a guiding principle until later.

The living room of this Rocky Mountain residence features a wool area rug over Lyptus wood floors, locally sourced stone and locally manufactured upholstery using domestic woods and nontoxic glues.

The tipping point came in 1997 when a number of staff attended the EnvironDesign conference in Monterey. Inspired by speakers such as Bill McDonough, Paul Hawkins and Sim Van der Ryn, they came back questioning their practice, their projects and the industry. Within a month Foster and her associates, Annette Stelmack, who recently left the firm after 25+ years for "greener" pastures, and Debbie Hindman, the firm's marketing manager, hired both an environmental and business consultant to incorporate sustainability into their existing mission and values.

"We asked our employees to divide into task forces driven by personal interest," says Hindman. "There were no assignments, which made it easier to get buy-in from everyone." The administrative staff looked at every aspect of greening the office and broke into different action groups such as internal practices, recycling, cleaning and office supplies, and marketing materials. They even organized a "block pride" community project for other businesses in the neighborhood. Other teams looked at design process issues and especially specifications. "We revamped everything, starting in-house before spreading out to projects and clients. First, however, we educated ourselves in order to be qualified to take the message to suppliers and clients and help them to change."

In the years since its epiphany, Associates III has honed its environmental message, tightened their specifications and developed resources which they freely share on their web site. Foster, Stelmack and Hindman also wrote a book, Sustainable Residential Interiors, in which they further share their processes and procedures—information they've spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in time collecting. "We want our competition to be green. That's why we wrote the book," states Foster. " We've blatantly pilfered from what other firms are doing, the ones who are leading the way in the commercial sector. We pulled out the practices that made sense for our firm—we hope we're helping to change the residential design industry."

Integral plaster walls, farmed teak with natural finishes and all-natural silk, cotton and chenille fabrics distinguish the guest bedroom. About a year ago, Associates III took the unusually brave step of only taking on green clients. "If you're not interested in green, and you don't have that as one of your tenets for this project, we're not the right firm for you," they told prospective clients, and had some walk away. Worked slowed down but Foster and Hindman looked at it as an opportunity for the firm, as one of the pauses you take when you make a stronger commitment. "It's been worth it," according to Hindman. "Now we have fabulous like-minded green clients that are fun to work with—we're not going back."

During the slow period they put the staff to work on digging deeper into materials and manufacturer's claims to get to the bottom of all the greenwashing. Starting with their known sources, such as their upholsterer, they asked how he built his sofas and chairs. To their pleasant surprise they learned he was already using the right glues and certified wood.

Many residential designers are discouraged by the lack of green residential furnishings compared to what's available in the commercial market. This isn't much of an issue for Associates III because much of the furniture they specify is high-end custom made by local woodworkers, who they fondly characterize as "PhD drop-outs who live in the mountains outside of Aspen—old hippies very willing to change their finishes and be healthy for their own sakes as well as building better products."

Sometimes change comes more slowly as demonstrated by what happened with a high-end kitchen cabinet company they had been doing business with for 25 years. It wasn't until the cabinetmaker had lost four jobs from Associates III that they agreed to put in a green line and make changes to their woods and finishes. According to Foster, "There used to be just one line of environmentally manufactured kitchen millwork. Now there are 20."

The firm certainly makes no secret of its expectations, from suppliers, clients and staff. Both Foster and Hindman agree it's getting easier. Green materials are more plentiful. Graduates come to them armed with a green education. Prospective clients seek them out because they want a healthy home that will support their values.

"I am totally revitalized after 37 years," says Foster. "I've never had so much fun. I've never had such a neat team or such neat clients. I love what's happening."