Our Green Company
Grothouse Green wood countertops and butcher block countertops
At Grothouse, we constantly integrate eco-friendly solutions into our business model. Our facility is located on a 50-acre farm and the majority of the land is still farmed today. Wildlife that includes deer, turkey, and hawks freely roam the premises. This beautiful property is our inspiration for eco-friendly living.
- In conjunction with the solar system, the additional facility has been designed using a range of energy-efficient materials and systems intended to reduce energy onsumption. Highly efficient pre-formed insulated concrete forms have been used to construct the exterior walls of the building. The ICFs feature an insulation rating of R50 to minimize potential heat loss and reduce both cooling and heating costs. The resulting heating requirements for the 12,000 square foot building are equivalent to those necessary to heat a 2,500 square foot home.
- All sawdust, wood scraps, and cardboard scraps are recaptured and compressed into hardwood briquettes, which are used to heat our radiant heat system circulating throughout the facilities. We also sell these briquettes to local homeowners and business owners for heating their own homes and facilities.
- The Grothouse facility has the first working prototype for the Intelli-Phase automatic phase converter. Unlike traditional phase converters, this cutting-edge technology saves energy by running only while equipment is in use.
- Grothouse wood countertops were a featured product in the book, Whole Green Catalog: 1000 Best Things for You and the Earth. The book, published by Rodale, provides advice and reviews to help readers live in an environmentally friendly manner. Grothouse wood surfaces were called “the original green countertop,”and listed as an environmentally friendly alternative to other countertop surfaces.
Go green…
with wood
The demand for eco-friendly solutions in today’s kitchen and bath designs has led to an overwhelming array of products that claim to serve that particular niche. One material that is – and always has been – environmentally friendly is wood. Not only does wood introduce a warm, natural element to any room, it also offers a functional, high-performance surface that can last generations.
Unlike solid surfaces that are extracted from deep within the earth, wood can be harvested, replanted, and renewed to an almost limitless degree. With advances in sustainable forestry and harvesting practices, wood products can be obtained with a minimal impact on the environment. Even as lumber consumption has grown to an average of 80 cubic feet per year for every American, the U.S. forest service has been able to increase the volume of standing timber (existing trees) from 14 million cubic feet in 1958 to 22 million cubic feet in 2000. The current ratio of timber growth to usage is 2.1 to 1, meaning that growth of new timber outpaces consumption by a considerable margin.
Even better, proper forest management can benefit the environment by reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. As mature trees are harvested, younger trees that take their place consume a much larger volume of carbon dioxide to support
both trunk and leaf development, and more than 95 percent of the bark and wood residues generated by lumber and plywood production are reused for energy and in other products.
Grothouse also offers wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), a non-profit organization devoted to encouraging the responsible management of forests. The FSC ensures that the raw lumber products are sustainably produced and harvested. In addition, there are a number of plantation-grown products that are farmed and replenished on an ongoing basis. These include Lyptus, which is the trade name for a hard, yet fast-growing wood that’s a hybrid of two species of Eucalyptus trees.
We consider wood surfaces to be heirlooms that can last generations. A properly manufactured counter or butcherblock can be used for decades with just a little regular care and maintenance. And even if it outlives its usefulness as a counter, the surface can be repurposed or recycled with a minimal impact on the environment.
After all, unlike many of the raw materials used today, wood actually does grow on trees.
Paul Grothouse, Owner
Grothouse
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