Eco-Friendly Bath Designs Get Recognition

Do you live in an eco-friendly designed home and want to give props to the designer behind your masterpiece? The National Kitchen & Bath Association will be recognizing innovative approaches to water and energy savings in the bath with a new Best Sustainable Bath Award category in the 2009 NKBA competition.

Formerly named the Smartest Hot Water Award for its 2008 competition debut, organizers have decided to go beyond hot water delivery to recognize the expanding array of sustainable solutions being applied in today's new and remodeled bathrooms. Designers entering any of the competition's bathroom design categories will be invited to submit additional information demonstrating how they maximized both comfort and resource efficiency.

The winner
The winner of the Best Sustainable Bath Award will receive a $5,000 prize and be recognized at the NKBA Design Competition Awards Ceremony during the 2009 Kitchen/Bath Industry Show (K/BIS) in Atlanta, which will be held from April 30 to May 3, 2009 at the Georgia World Congress Center.

Last year's winner in the Smartest Hot Water Award was designer Marcio Decker of Home Concepts in Truckee, CA. Decker used a natural gas, high-efficiency storage water heater with a direct vent system for his master bathroom design in a new Squaw Valley vacation home. His design solution met the client's request for a spa experience in their master bath that combined a unique, stylized design with a highly efficient hot water supply, offering low operating costs and minimal impact on the environment.

Designer Marcio Decker's spa-inspired master bathroom offers low operating costs and minimal impact on the environment. Photo by Nichols Rab

NKBA is among the many industry associations leading the charge in recognizing the growing need for more eco-friendly designs, procedures and products in our home.

An industry institution
The 2008 competition received a record number of entries — nearly 600 projects from across the United States and Canada. A panel of NKBA-certified designers evaluates each project using five key criteria: visual appeal, creativity, elements and principles of design, presentation, safety and ergonomics.

The Best Sustainable Bath Award expands upon these with recognition for elements that appeal to consumer interest in green design and living, as well as an appreciation of the hot water products that make a sustainable bathroom possible. The 2009 Call for Entries will be announced by the NKBA later this summer. For more information, visit NKBA.org.

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