The cover of our new book, Remodelista: The Low-Impact Home, features the kitchen of architects Ruth Mandl and Bobby Johnston of CO Adaptive. Their firm specializes in retrofitting existing buildings to make them energy efficient, and the couple transformed their own historic Brooklyn brownstone into an ultra-efficient passive house. Their monthly energy bill is zero—and that includes keeping an electric vehicle charged and maintaining a steady indoor temperature year-round.
In designing their kitchen, Mandl and Johnston prioritized green materials and energy efficiency, installing air-tight triple-glazed windows, a compact fridge from Liebherr, and a Monogram by GE induction cooktop. Here, we list the sources for the main elements, down to the small, cheerful, and future-minded accessories.
Above: One key eco-minded switch made in the kitchen? The architects removed the natural gas from the building entirely, replacing it with solar-powered electricity via a solar array installed on the roof. New plumbing, electrical, and ventilation systems are all located within an interior central spine branching out to service each floor—a strategy critical to passive house performance.
Above: Mandl and Johnston created the custom pegboard backsplash from FSC-certified, maple-faced ApplePly, a high-grade plywood produced with soy rather than off-gassing formaldehyde. Though not of the same pedigree, the George & Willy Wooden Pegboard, pictured here, made of architectural-grade birch plywood is $320 for the standard size.Above: The kitchen cabinet fronts are by Copenhagen-based Reform, a kitchen company working toward 100 percent sustainable materials and practices. Their BASIS collection is inspired by Scandinavian architect kitchens of the 1960s and is available in custom painted oak, as shown in Mandl and Johnston’s kitchen.
While we recommend sourcing reclaimed or locally-grown wood that is FSC-certified, we should note that Reform sources raw materials that are FSC-certified, but their final supplier, they explain, is not, and thus, their kitchens are not officially FSC-certified.
Above: Greenguard-certified Caesarstone, a product made of quartz, is a more ecologically responsible swap for granite and other stone mined in far-off locations. The Caesarstone Quartz Countertop, shown here in Pure White, is available at The Home Depot.
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