Moksha Yoga

In January Greenworks was lucky enough to work with Monique Harris and Marie-Eve Boudreau, owners of Moksha Yoga in East Vancouver, on their new studio. They were very thoughtful about all the finishes they chose and were committed to building as green and sustainable as possible.  Greenworks supplied them with the Bamboo floor from Symmetry Bamboo for the studio as well as Green Planet, a clay-based paint which is a zero-VOC paint made without the use of petroleum. They also chose American Clay for two feature walls in the studio space. American Clay’s negative ions help to neutralize the static electricity associated with electronic gear from TVs to computers. For the bathrooms Greenworks had 2 custom vanities built with no added formaldehyde cases.  They topped them with Icestone counter tops. Icestone is a recycled glass and concrete countertop made in Brooklyn which is certified Cradle to Cradle. They painted the rest of the space with Yolo. They used some green products that Greenworks did not supply. They put some water filters on the taps to provide fresh drinking water and they used radiant heating panels to heat the space. They also have Caroma dual flush toilets which Greenworks now carries. This was a truly green renovation and Greenworks is very proud to have been a part of it. The studio is beautiful and they have great classes and events. Check them out.

 

American Clay in the Little Burro

We decided to use American Clay on the truck. We put some American Clay primer sand in some of our zero VOC paint primer to prime the wall. We used Loma with mud glue, no pigment, for both layers. Used one of our special Japanese pointed flexible polycarbonate trowels. I compressed the wall at the end with a tile sponge (big rectangular sponge).

Overall it was really fun. Just using a natural clay product was a really enjoyable experience, since I felt as if I was sharing in the experience of many people around the world over the centuries by using such a product. I probably put too much on since it's just supposed to be a credit card thickness for both layers, but I was trying to cover up some screw heads on the wall. American Clay is also nice in that it's forgiving and I could play with it for a while while it dried to get the texture I wanted, and then I could go back with the spray bottle, wet it, and work it again to make it look like what I wanted. It is definitely easy for a non-artist like myself to create a really beautiful clay texture on the wall. I found myself playing with the texture longer than I needed to since the artist in me emerged as I wanted to experiment and explore what textures looked good. I ended with a mostly smooth, even texture with a bit of variation. I really like it.

This has definitely made me want to experiment more and explore putting it on my own walls at home. I think I will put it on a test board, let it dry with a certain texture (writing down how I achieved that texture), take a picture, then rework it to create a different texture until I've created a few textures and can decide on one for my wall. I would also love to experiment with pigment and colour, and then there's also lime washing to brighten the colours and a penetrating sealer to try out if I'm putting it near splash areas. If I can do it on my first try (and I'm sure I could do it better/quicker if I practiced) and it still looks good, it's a keeper! 

Steven

Little Burro Progress

We have been busy working on our Little Burro project. We have built an L shaped bench out of Sunflower Seed Board. We finished it with Vermont Natural Coatings Furniture Finish in gloss. It is looking great. I am going out today to see if I can find some fun vintage drapes to use as upholstery fabric for the seat. We are now priming the walls and the back door with AFM’s Transitional Primer. We will be painting one wall with Yolo’s Thrive 02 which is in the Yolo 2012 Summer pallet. We will then be using Yolo’s Imagine 04 for the back door and one of the side panels. We will also be doing a panel of Stucco Italiano’s plaster and one in American Clay. We just got the fantastic Agates that Interstyle made up for us. They are made from recycled glass and are produced locally. They are beautiful we have chosen a citrus green and an earthy grey mix. Next up we will be working on our cabinets and countertops.

Installing Wood flooring in the Little Burro

The flooring is going in the little Burro. Diana and Steven are having fun installing the floor. After reading all the instructions, it is going well. The flooring is FSC-certified Oak from DuChateau. Windsor is the style. It has been deep smoked, distresses, aged and has a hard wax oil finish. It is a stunning floor. We love the character rich colour. It is a floating floor so we have used a cork underlay and 6mm poly as a moisture barrier. We are gluing the T&G together with Tightbond polyurethane. It is solvent free glue.  Our little truck is really talking shape. It’s so exciting.

Little Burro Project Demo and walls

Our little burro project is well under way. We have gutted the inside removing all the insulation plywood and bookshelf that was there to start with.

We have put down a layer of poly as a moisture barrier on the floor and covered that with cork underlay ready for our floating FSC-certified floor. We are using Ultratouch insulation and then covering that with Green-E board for the walls. It is coming along very nicely. We are excited to get started on the finishes as they are the really fun parts.

We are well into the design stage and have started to gather all the materials we will need to create our little room.

Truck with Cork underlay. Before walls and shelving have been removed.

After all the old insulation, walls and shelving are out ready for all the great product we are going to use

In January Greenwork bought a little Dodge propane truck called the 'Little Burro". We painted it all up in Greenworks green. We have been using it to pick things up or drop them off around town and parking it in different places as a traveling billboard of sorts. 

We kept seeing all these fantastic reno's of Airstreams in Dwell and we even had a customer that purchased products to renovate their own Airstream.

With this as inspiration we decided to renovate the Little Burro using the great products we sell.  We have big dreams like solar panels and a green roof. But we are starting out by creating a little room. The plan will be to take our truck to green events where people can get in and check out how all our products look and feel. We also just think its fun and a great way for us to get more experience using our products. We will be writing about the trials and tribulations of our little reno here so check back and look for us around town

What is Polyurethane?

Since I happen to distribute a polyurethane product (called PolyWhey, made by Vermont Natural Coatings), I’ll do my best to explain “What is Polyurethane?”. This is a very broad question, but since polyurethane is pretty much in everything we own (odds are that you’re sitting on polyurethane right now and clicking with it too!), it’s worth knowing a bit about it.

Without getting too complex (after all, I’m not a chemist), polyurethane is a very versatile chemical compound which can have many different physical characteristics. A chemist can formulate his polyurethane to be flexible, hard, squishy, sticky or a combination of any of these and more. It can be made into a foam, a liquid or a solid. Examples of polyurethane in building are: foam insulation, construction adhesives, wood coatings, etc. By applying a professional-grade polyurethane product on your wood, you’re protecting your wood with what is essentially a highly durable, wear resistant film which will provide water, chemical and wear protection for your wood for a number of years depending on usage and maintenance patterns.

When working with a polyurethane product that isn’t cured (like a wood coating in liquid form), there will be an off-gassing process which will release chemicals in the air, this is why it’s important to choose a low-VOC coating without carcinogens (formaldehyde) or mutagens (N-Methylpyrrolidone), such as (CAUTION: shameless product plug coming up) PolyWhey. Oil based polyurethane products are typically much higher in VOC content, difficult to clean up and flammable, however many waterborne coatings contain the harmful chemicals mentioned above and let’s face it, many of them don’t have the application characteristics of the oil-based finishes (read: they don’t look as nice).

However, the waterborne technologies are improving, and I’m very excited to be introducing PolyWhey to the market for that reason. From the feedback I’ve received from floor refinishers and painters, PolyWhey is the real deal. It flows, levels and builds like an oil-based coating yet it dries quickly, it isn’t toxic (no, don’t drink it) and it won’t catch fire if someone carelessly disposes of the product.

Happy Coating!

Karl Redekopp
Global Access 

Vermont Natural Coatings is now available at Greenworks Building Supply

New Year's Resolutions

Making your resolutions for the New Year? Think about making small changes to improve the environment, save money, and feel good about yourself. Sometimes it's the little things we do that make the biggest difference. This year commit to saving power and water, and reducing your reliance on petroleum.

1. Wrap your water heater with our energy saving radiant-heat kit which will help prevent heat loss and reduce your energy bill.

2. Add some cellulose insulation to your attic. You can add on to increase your 'R value' or you can replace it completely.

3. Get a Water Wizard to reduce the amount of water you use by 3.78L each time you flush.

4. Hang-dry your clothes with a drying rack, even in a small space. Greenworks has beautiful wooden, wall-mounted racks in the store now.

5. When choosing paint, choose zero VOC ones without petroleum. Greenworks now carries three paints that are petroleum free: Homestead Milk Paint, clay-based Green Planet paint, and soy-based AFM Naturals.

6. Refinish your wood surfaces with petroleum-free oil: we have Homestead House Hemp Oil Wood Finish or Tung Oil with a Beeswax finish as a sealant. In addition, we have a Citrus Solvent that is all-natural and petroleum-free.