Opinions on “quartz” countertops?
davidmeiland
| Posted in Green Products and Materials on
OK, so whats’s greener… a granite slab, or a quartz slab from a company like Silestone, Ceasarstone, etc? It looks like the manufacturers are using “quartz” (where does that come from?) along with resins and dyes to make their product. On the face of it, it sounds like it might be less environmentally harmful than quarrying blocks of granite and shipping them around the planet. Any thoughts?
GBA Detail Library
A collection of one thousand construction details organized by climate and house part
Search and download construction details
Replies
David,
There's no simple answer to this question. I think other factors (especially energy use) are far more significant than countertop choice. The "quartz" countertops are a mixture of plastic resin and stone dust or stone chips. You're right that most granite countertops sold in the U.S. are quarried in Brazil or India.
The greenest countertop is probably whatever is available cheap locally -- something recycled, or an old piece of wood, or lumber from a local mill.
Martin, when you say energy use, are you referring to what is used in extracting, manufacturing, and transporting the countertops, or are you referring to the energy picture for the entire house over time?
David,
I was thinking to the energy necessary to operate the house. Of course, plenty of people have attempted to quantify all of the energy inputs required to deliver a slab of granite that was quarried in India and installed in Washington state. You might find some relevant information if you do some Googling.
But when it comes down to it, some people like a wood countertop, some people like a stone countertop, and some people like a countertop made of plastic resin and stone dust.
My own philosophy: minimize shopping. Buy as little as possible. When you need to buy something, buy what you like, but try not to spend too much, and only buy what you need.
This a bit like the 'paper or plastic' issue at the supermarket.
When we remodeled our kitchen we used laminate with a hardwood edge, saved around $4K over granite or silestone and used the diff to pay for sealing the crawl space. It still looks great seven years later. So do my energy bills. Laminate (Formica etc.) is just paper and resin and uses far less material than any quartz product.
David, are any natural stones quarried near you? We have various slate quarries in the northeast, and I always tell clients that it's the greenest countertop--quarried locally, 100% recyclable, and performs better than anything else except perhaps plastic laminate. Of course they almost always go for granite quarried elsewhere, or "quartz." I can't recall the last P-Lam counter we installed but I think they perform great and require very little material, and at their core they have kraft paper. Paperstone etc. is made just like P-Lam, but with more layer of paper and resin, and they are more prone to staining than P-Lam so to me it seems less green.