[Greenbuilding] Greenbuilding Digest, Vol 18, Issue 16 - "Green" wall coverings (JAY WALSH)

[Allison Friedman]

For the question on green walls in a restaurant, you might want to check
with:

1. The Green Restaurant Association  http://www.dinegreen.com/ 

Michael Oshman
Green Restaurant Association
Executive Director
www.dinegreen.com
(858) 452-7378
(702) 993-9877 Fax

The GRA's model provides a convenient way for all sectors of the restaurant
industry, which represents 10% of the U.S. economy, to become more
environmentally sustainable.



2. Daryl Baltazar
Director of Programs
Thimmakka: Saving you money, saving our environment.

Home of the Thimmakka -Certified Green Restaurants (TCGR) Program- Greening
Restaurants One City At A Time
 
PH: (510) 655-5566
FX: (510) 655-6770
CE: (858) 472-0479
2123 Kittredge St,  #139
Berkeley, CA 94704
Web: www.thimmakka.org



Having built and operated a restaurant before, I can offer a few small bits
of wisdom for whatever they are wroth.  Once revenues come in, it is awfully
painful to stop operations for any reason.  I suppose it makes sense to
limit the investment now if possible (particularly if this person has a one
year trial or lease option and wants to test some waters), but it will be so
hard to stop accepting revenues when the time comes to do the work in a
year.  I recall a few Thanksgivings where we did tile work to avoid closing
on another day...  I would also make sure to check on fire codes and
sanitation codes for any kitchen surface. Reuse is great, but not when the
item is not sufficiently fire retardant, or if the health inspector is not
on board. Also, it may sound good to do some work now and more later, but
the cost really might be more in the long run than just paying a little more
now to do the full job?  (And whatever lease there is may be worth more with
a more salable space?) 


-Allison Friedman
Rate It Green
www.rateitgreen.com
(& Former Owner of Kokopelli Southwestern Bar & Grill, Brookline, MA!)





Message: 1
Date: Wed, 12 Dec 2007 22:47:11 -0500
From: "JAY WALSH" <jaywalsh at usa.net>
Subject: [Greenbuilding] "Green" wall coverings
To: <greenbuilding at listserv.repp.org>
Message-ID: <962LLmDUL6476S18.1197517631 at cmsweb18.cms.usa.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1


How about vinyl wallpaper made from old billboards. It could make for some
very interesting imagery. While most billboards are printed on paper for a
one time use, others are produced on a vinyl so it  can be relocated or
reused seasonally. Eventually they get damaged or no longer fit the intended
use. Any local billboard company can give you additional info on the
products they use.
They are not glued to the billboard but stretched over it. So for your reuse
as wallpaper it should be a clean surface to start with. And when you're
ready to remodel, it should peal right off in big sheets.  
While this is not the greenest of products, it is a reuse of a product that
would be discarded anyway.
Good luck

From: Dan Antonioli <dantonioli at earthlink.net>

I'm working on a commercial cafe that is being built in two phases.
The owner is cash-strapped and wants to open up a "lean and mean"
phase one version that will later be replaced by a much larger and greener
version. Unfortunately, this means that a lot of what goes into phase one
will be ripped out in about a year.

A significant section of wall covering is speced to have ceramic tile. The
designer and I are suggesting that we don't use tile and instead a simpler,
less embodied energy surface that will meet the minimum health code
requirement of a wipeable surface. The designer is suggesting FRP, which is
plastic, and I'm suggesting linoleum or some such "green" material.

Any suggestions on wall coverings that would meet that requirement?
The walls will be sheetrock over metal framing. We need something in the
kitchen over the sheetrock to meet code.

Dan Antonioli