Email
Print
del.icio.us
digg
FeedGreen For Life
By Laine Bergeson
Photo by Laine Bergeson
Her route to this specialty was circuitous to say the least. “I have a Bachelor of Science degree in biology, a Master of Science in nutrition education, and before I began interior design, I worked as a food stylist,” chuckles the 43 year old.
Ojczyk found her way to environmentally responsible interior design after witnessing one too many wasteful food-product photo shoots. “It used to drive me nuts,” she says. “Then I got to thinking about the even greater waste generated in construction and remodeling projects, and I knew it was an industry in which I could make an impact.”
The Lino Lakes resident has since spent five years designing, including two years studying for her interior design degree at Century College. One of her first big projects, a kitchen remodel, used low VOC paints, floors of natural linoleum, and wooden cabinets without formaldehyde. Ojczyk’s finished kitchen became the first green-certified remodeling project in Minnesota, through Wisconsin’s Green Built Home program. Shortly thereafter, she completed the interior design of an entire house remodel, also certified through Green Built Home. Her latest “first” is a house in Arden Hills that earned the rigorous LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, which is administered by the U.S. Green Building Council. (For more on this LEED project, turn to page 24).
Her sustainable niche places her on the cutting edge of a trend: her projects are not only built and designed green, they are certified by a third party. Since “green” is a loosely defined term easily marketed and harder to prove, obtaining certification makes the case—and can translate into higher resale value for energy-conscious homeowners.
With demand for green building skyrocketing, Ojczyk is busy. She is serving on a committee helping to draw up new green remodeling guidelines for the state of Minnesota (the state hopes to make the guidelines official this year); she’s starting a consulting firm, Verified Green, with local designer/builder Michael Anschel; and she is working on a green remodel of a St. Louis Park doctor’s office.
“People are adopting this as a new style of building,” says Ojczyk. “One project leads to another, and the conversation about the importance of green building just grows louder.”
Laine Bergeson is a Minneapolis writer and editor.
For more information on resources featured in this story, please reference our Buyer's Guide.
11 ISSUES (1 YEAR)
