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We love sintered stone.  Not just for its unmatched performance, but for all that has gone into its creation.  From its inception, Lapitec sintered stone was a purpose-driven product.  It was created to address the limitations of natural stone and quartz.

CaraGreen pounds the sustainability drum pretty hard, bestowing the virtues of recycled content, local manufacture, recyclability and human health on the architect and design community through lunch and learns and product education.  But what happens when a product's sustainability comes into question?

Wow. Nice Quartz. Is that Marble? I don’t know how to type a whistle sound, but man, if I could! Carrera, Calacatta? Is that a long sleek white counter with no words and a half naked lady? Hummina
hummina.

When we think about construction, we are often inspired by dramatic exteriors and modern awe-inspiring exterior building facades. What we need to realize, what happens inside is more important, as that is where we spend the bulk of our time. The health of the space, the mood it creates, its functionality and efficiency are all important factors.

I am good for a massive eyeroll or two every time I land on a stone fabricator’s website. Seriously: granite or quartz. That’s it? Oh, but there are 15 different kinds of each, with the most prominent one being oddly named: JoeBob’s Quartz by JoeBob’s Surface Solutions. Guess what JoeBob? That is not a solution. That is a rapid four foot dash in a crowd of lemmings off the cliff that is resistance to change.
 

Growing up in Vermont, there was an artisanal aspect to granite. Fine Italian craftsmen and sculptors created beautiful works from the black speckled gray granite that was a beautiful, vital part of the Vermont landscape. The headstones in the graveyards are beautiful to see, and walking through a graveyard is not an eerie experience, but rather like walking through a historical monument. But this is not the granite graveyard that is the blight on the stone fabrication industry today. 

Everytime an article comes out touting the “green” countertop options available on the market, it is woefully inaccurate.  Often listing the same material multiple times in different formats, or completely misunderstanding the green claims of others, the lists just don’t stand up to reality.

We went to KBIS this year to check out the current trends in kitchen and bath design! Read our thoughts here. 

Sintered Stone is the hottest new entrant to the surfacing market, with superior performance and durability – but does it have a sustainability story?

The hot new topic in design and architecture is human health in the built environment.  It is not just about materials with recycled content having a positive impact on the planet; it is about the experience of the people in that space.  Biophilic design is an easy way to introduce a few techniques without embracing a full-blown standard, and it can be done in an existing space pretty easily.  We will give you some ideas below, but first, let’s be clear about the efficacy of biophilic design.