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What Will Your Kitchen Look Like in 2015?

Supplier of furniture hardware products Hettich America is launching “Kitchen Concept 2015″ to share its take on future kitchen trends with white goods OEMs. The forecast focuses on design, convenience, ergonomics, multimedia networking, and electrification.

Design
In terms of design, “Kitchen Concept 2015″ interprets the kitchen as the hub of the home. It is integrated in the home environment rather than claiming to be the center of attention. It is the essentials that count, with the technology – appliances, sinks and taps – disappearing behind fascias when they’re not needed. Hardware ideas for flush-fitting fronts generate new architectural options: On demand, they are electrically retracted and, in doing so, free up the work surface. An extremely shallow sink discreetly blends into the forward-pointing kitchen landscape and reduces the consumption of water. Retracting faucets underpin the trend of reducing kitchen design to what’s needed without compromising on function.

Convenience
As a focus of home living, “Kitchen Concept 2015″ is also synonymous with a positive feeling for life. This is where convenience plays a central part. Drawers and pot-and-pan drawers that can be opened from both sides provide access to contents no matter on which side of the work center the user is standing. Electrical appliances are also set to provide greater convenience. Meanwhile, separately controllable drawers in the dishwasher can be opened from both sides, making cleanup easier.

Ergonomics
From the aspect of ergonomics, “Kitchen Concept 2015″ shows height-adjustable wall units. Control panels on the base unit provide the capability of raising and lowering cabinet elements independently of each other, ergonomically moving cabinet contents to a level that best suits the user. As such, the kitchen is increasingly fitting in with those using it. Older people, in particular, are becoming the yardstick for product design.

Multimedia Networking
In the future, multimedia networking will do much to boost convenience because in “Kitchen Concept 2015,” different electrical appliances communicate with each other. The touch screen in the hob or large screen in the kitchen front can be used, for example, to display oven temperature and remaining cooking time. On top of this, Internet, television, as well as other building services, are operated and controlled from a central point.

Electrification
In creating “Kitchen Concept 2015″, Hettich draws on experience with electric kitchen furniture elements and demonstrates possibilities in many application scenarios. Ideas from project studies and cutting-edge technologies are reflected everywhere in the kitchen’s design. It also caters to the “iPod generation;” individual zones of the hob are no longer firmly defined or switchable circuits but flexible areas that can simply be drawn with the finger to suit the size of the pot or pan being used.

According to Hettich, many of the forecasts it made in “Kitchen Concept 2010,” presented back in 1999, now either form part of modern kitchens or are about to be included in them. With “Kitchen Concept 2015,” the firm intends to provide kitchen furniture and white goods manufacturers with inspiration for taking the kitchen forward as the hub of the home.

Posted in Appliance, Design, Housing trends, Interoperability, Kitchen appliances.

By Yaling
June 30, 2009

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Green Growth Expected to Propel World Economy

The world’s main economies are looking to “green growth” as the way forward and out of the current crisis. At the annual ministerial meeting of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris, ministers from 34 countries signed a Declaration on Green Growth, charging the OECD with developing a Green Growth Strategy that will bring together economic, environmental, technological, financial, and development aspects into a comprehensive framework. A first report will be delivered to the OECD’s next Ministerial Council Meeting in 2010.

The OECD will provide the cross-cutting policy expertise needed to support governments in addressing these challenges, OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría said. “Looking beyond the crisis, OECD countries and countries that we hope will shortly swell our numbers have made a solemn pledge to promote environmentally friendly green growth policies that are in favor of sustainable economic growth based on low carbon energy use,” he told a closing news conference. Continued…

Posted in Clean energy, Economy, Government, international.

By Yaling
June 26, 2009

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Three Trends to Emerge in the Wake of Recession

Cautious consumers, consolidations, unsettled financial markets. Those are the three global trends that will emerge when recession comes to an end, according to Fabricators & Manufacturers Association, International (FMA). Factoring in those trends will help U.S. manufacturers better position themselves for growth as the economy starts to come around, which may begin as early as fourth quarter 2009, says Chris Kuehl, PhD, economic analyst for FMA.

“Admittedly, analysts are having a hard time settling on what the news of the day might mean,” says Kuehl in the latest FMA economic update newsletter Fabrinomics. “The latest data shows manufacturing levels in Britain have started to improve—albeit by just 0.2%—while the export data from Germany continues to decline. China is back on pace to grow by 7.5%, but Japan saw a slump in industrial production not seen in 20 years. The United States witnessed a spike in activity with the ISM index and there was a bump in durable goods orders, but at the same time there has been a continued slowdown in industrial demand.

“The question is whether we are transitioning to a solid growth period or to something flatter,” Kuehl adds. “The best that can be predicted at the moment is that three trends are emerging.” Continued…

Posted in Appliance.

By Yaling
June 18, 2009

1 comment

Open Door: Energy Efficiency–Our Next and Best Step Forward

by Kateri Callahan, president, Alliance to Save Energy

You could say Americans have overdrawn on their energy account: Representing only about 5% of the world’s population, the United States is the largest energy consumer, accounting for about 25% of the world’s daily energy intake. And, until recently, the nation was the world’s largest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions, spewing more each year just from homes and buildings than the entire economies of Japan and India combined!

U.S. national security is affected by the country’s huge energy appetite. America is already a net importer—spending more than $330 billion per year on crude and refined imported oil, for example. And the situation is growing worse as the country is unable to meet its growing energy needs with domestically produced, environmentally responsible energy.

There is some light in this grim U.S. energy picture, however. We have a clean, cheap, and domestic resource at our disposal: energy efficiency. Although few may realize it, the Alliance to Save Energy estimates that the improvements made in U.S. homes, buildings, appliances, cars, and industry through energy efficiency over the last three decades are now offsetting the need for 50 quadrillion Btu of energy, which is equal to about half of the current annual energy consumption. Energy efficiency has allowed us to avoid the emission of 2.5 billion tons of CO2 annually, and is currently saving American consumers and businesses roughly $400 million a year in avoided energy costs.

And energy efficiency appears to be a “renewable” resource. McKinsey Global Institute estimates that investment in energy efficiency technologies and practices available today could cut global energy demand growth from 2.2 to 0.07%, with negative marginal costs and tremendous reductions in CO2.

But today, this minute, are we prepared to tap into this exceptional resource? What is our next and best step forward?

Continued…

Posted in AE Open Door, Appliance, Clean energy, Energy efficiency, Government, Regulations, standards.

By Yaling
June 18, 2009

1 comment

U.S. trade deficit problem - “one word: China”

The U.S. Department of Commerce reported on April’s international trade in goods and services and brought a quick response from the Alliance for American Manufacturing.

“Our trade problem can be summarized in one word: China,” said AAM Executive Director Scott Paul. “Imbalanced trade with China is responsible for over half (57%) of the overall U.S. trade deficit in April.”

Paul added: “China’s mercantilism is the most dangerous threat to real recovery for American manufacturing.  Congress and the Administration should vigorously enforce our trade laws to guard against dumping and subsidies. The exchange rate of the yuan must be on the table at all future U.S.-China economic and trade meetings.

“Until the exchange rate in China is adjusted to reflect market conditions,” Paul said, “we’ll never have balanced trade that benefits American workers and businesses.”

Do you agree? Disagree? Comment now.

Posted in Appliance, Economy, Government, international.

By Tim Somheil
June 10, 2009

4 comments

Restaurant operators expect to ramp up capital spending

Restaurant operators are ramping up plans for capital expenditures in the months ahead as they grow more optimistic about the economy. According to the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Performance Index (RPI), 46% of restaurant operators plan to make a capital expenditure for equipment, expansion or remodeling in the next six months, up from 44% last month and just 37% four months ago.

The RPI, a monthly composite index that tracks the health of and outlook for the U.S. restaurant industry, stood at 98.6 in April, up 0.8% from March, its highest level in 11 months.

“The recent growth in the RPI was driven by the Expectations component, which rose above 100 in April for the first time in 18 months, a level which indicates expansion,” said Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of research and information services for the association. “Although the RPI’s Current Situation indicators are still in a period of contraction, the solid improvement in the forward-looking indicators suggests that the end of the industry’s downturn may be in sight.”

The RPI is based on the responses to the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Industry Tracking Survey, which is fielded monthly among restaurant operators nationwide on a variety of indicators including sales, traffic, labor and capital expenditures. The index consists of two components – the Current Situation index and the Expectations index.

The RPI is constructed so that the health of the restaurant industry is measured in relation to a steady-state level of 100. Index values above 100 indicate that key industry indicators are in a period of expansion, while index values below 100 represent a period of contraction for key industry indicators. Continued…

Posted in Economy, Foodservice, Industry association, Kitchen appliances, Market research. Tagged with , .

By Yaling
June 10, 2009

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