Scanning the requirements for various green building programs, you seem to have two choices. First, you can try to find cabinets made with Forest Stewardship Council certified wood from companies like Neil Kelly Cabinets. But if the company is not local, the packaging and shipping of these products may cut into their green-ness. Or you could try out agrifiber based cabinets, like Humabuilt Wheatcore Cabinets, which have arisen due to the demand for green cabinets.

Unfortunately, when faced with these choices, many before you have given up on the idea of green cabinets and gone for possibly cheaper, more convenient plain old wood cabinets from their nearby kitchen and bath dealer. If you find yourself in the same boat, chances are there’s a lesser known green option waiting for you there. Many large cabinet manufacturers across the country are certified as members of an extensive green program called KCMA-ESP.

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The article, titled “Energy Metrics: Btus, Watts, and Kilowatt-Hours,” helps explain the differences between different terms such as kilowatt-hours (kWh) and British thermal units (BTU) and when and how they should be used. This is good information for everyone to understand, since we all use energy in our homes and workplaces. Practically anyone interested in improving energy efficiency in a building will be using these terms frequently and should have some understanding of the language.

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