a HOT ITALIAN in Sacramento

Countertop Specialists is excited to have the opportunity to work on the highly anticipated HOT ITALIAN restaurant located at the old Youngs Fireside building at 16th and O streets in Sacramento. Our portion of the project is nearly completed. Countertop Specialists is fabricating and installing all of the Paperstone used in the restaurant. Paperstone is being utilized throughout the restaruant as wall bars, seating, tables, fixtures, and countertops.

The restaurant has not yet opened and has been the subject of much press and industry attention. With posts on regional blogs and Sacramento area papers, the restaurant has also already hosted a myrid of events for area associations: the The Sacramento Branch of the Northern California Chapter of the United States Green Building Councel (USGBC-NCC), the Central Valley American Institute of Architects (AIA), and the BIA of Central California. All of these orginizations regarded as the the captians of their industries have turned their collective attention towards this project.

So why has this restaruant garnered such attention? HOT ITALIAN will be the first resaturant in the Greater Sacramento area to receive a LEED certification from the USGBC. The restaurant is also a participant in a pilot program for the USGBC. That means that not only is the restaurant being built to the highest of environmental standards, but is also participating in establishing the benchmark that future resaurants will be measured. However, it does not stop there. The restauranteurs have already begun installing equipment for food composting, a program not promoted by the LEED program.

It should also be said that in my personal attendance to the events hosted at HOT ITALIAN, their pizza lives up to its name well. While I am not a food critic, the pizza served up by Fabrizio, the chef imported from the Italian Riviera, is unmatched by any pizza I have ever tasted. Look for more infomation in the press and our website as the restaurant opens shortly.

Caesastone Joins in on Recycled Materials

Recently we posted about the new products available from Zodiaq by Dupont. It would appear that when we stated that Zodiaq was the only company providing quartz products with recycled content. We now stand corrected. On January the 19th Ceasarstone announced their collection of 6 different colors offering recyled content. Consumers and commercial designers will now have these colors to choose from:

Carbone, Marrone, Ruby Reflections, Quartz Reflections, Smoky Ash and Chocolate Truffle.

As stated in the Caesarstone Press Release:

Ruby and Quartz Reflections have been two of CaesarStone’s colors for the past several years. The colors contain post-consumer recycled glass.

Carbone and Marrone colors both contain recycled CaesarStone material. These wondrous colors are created by taking remnants from fabricators after production and mixing in new CaesarStone material. These two shades are only available in New York, the Northwest or by special order.

The two new additions in 2009 to the Recycled Collection are Chocolate Truffle and Smoky Ash. They are both comprised of post-consumer recycled glass.

We will look forward to further details from Caesarstone regarding the quantities of recycled content and how the material will help organizations meet their LEED objectives.

Accounting For a Year of Progress in Sustainable Design

As we wrap up the end of the year, it is natural to look back on the progress made in environmental development. The CoStar Group, a company tracking commercial real estate information, has done a great job with a recent posting of the Top 10 Green Building News Stories of 2008 on their news column. The article provides a short description of the major stories affecting green construction over the last year that were published on their website. The article notes some pretty significant developments for the year, including: Green Building Trumps the Recession, The LEED Economy, Rise of the Green Lease, and Green Building on the Stump.

The list seems to offer some links to some great news stories for 2008.