Beko Home Appliances, widely considered to be among the world’s most sustainable appliance manufacturers, is using Earth Day to announce a slew of eco-conscious initiatives, including a strategic alliance that will place two of the first and highest-profile Beko Healthy Kitchens in one of the world’s healthiest and most sustainable homes.

The U.S. subsidiary of Arcelik, Inc., has partnered with gaming and tech icon Michael Wann to design and outfit the chef’s and family kitchens in Wann’s 4,500-square-foot net-zero carbon home (rendering above) taking shape in Santa Monica, Calif. Currently chief strategy officer for Super League Gaming and instrumental in the growth of Tastemade, Fullscreen and Mobcrush, Wann is building a two-level home near Santa Monica College as both a personal residence and a public example of the possibilities of healthy, sustainable home and kitchen design.

“For years, our dream has been to build a home that reflects our love for a healthy, balanced day-to-day life and fully sustainable, eco-friendly lifestyle,” Wann said. “The result will be an attainable net-zero-carbon showplace of accessible healthy, earth-friendly living – and a tangible example for others wanting to make a real difference in their own health and the health of the planet without sacrificing lifestyle goals.”

With the introduction of the Beko Healthy Kitchen earlier this year, Beko is looking to transform the U.S. industry in 2022 and beyond through expert councils, inspired kitchen designs and buildouts, major corporate strategic alliances and at least 35 new cooking, cooling and cleaning products with proprietary technologies and features that empower Americans to lead healthier lives while contributing to a healthier planet.

“To have the first tangible Beko Healthy Kitchens take shape in a home intended to serve as a best-in-class example of healthy, sustainable design represents perfectly the Beko mantra that healthy living is only truly possible on a healthy planet,” said Zach Elkin, president of Beko Home Appliances. “We are honored that Michael and his wife Tara have invited Beko to participate in their passion for a healthier, more sustainable future.”

A floorplan by Vaishali Makim, AIA, principal of Makim Architecture of Santa Monica, calls for sweeping, light-filled open spaces; four bedrooms and four bathrooms; separate family, living, entertainment and formal dining rooms; a personal gym and climate-controlled wine and cheese room. Wann started construction in May 2021 on the former site of his family’s vegetable garden and expects move-in by January 2023. The garden will be repositioned to the newly constructed rooftop to maximize lot use and available sunlight.

For Wann’s 145-square-foot downstairs chef’s kitchen and 152-square-foot upstairs open-floor-plan family kitchen, Beko is working with designers on its Beko Healthy Kitchen Council to combine appliances, cabinets, surfaces, lighting and interior aesthetics with nutrition, recipe-prep, and earth-friendly elements to create centers of health, wellness and sustainability. Both kitchens will boast an array of the latest Beko kitchen and laundry appliances that were announced at KBIS 2022 including dishwashers equipped with CornerIntense and IonGuard, refrigerators with HarvestFresh+, an industry-largest Beko Double-Wall Oven and range with AirFry, and washing machines outfitted with AquaTech and RecycledTub each made from 60 recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles.

Instead of highly customized design and custom-building features, Makim and Wann are intentionally outfitting the home with as many off-the-shelf health, wellness and sustainable products that are readily accessible to homeowners as possible including a reverse-osmosis water purification system, composter, zero-VOC paints and upcycled hardware.

The home will also feature the world’s first rooftop installation of a SmartFlower solar power system that combines integrated sculptural design, advanced robotics and automation to track the sun throughout the day to produce 40% more energy than traditional solar panels.

Beko is telling its sustainability story three other ways during Earth Day Week by working with its Beko Healthy Kitchen Council members. For the April 20 installment of KBtribechat, kitchen designers and Council members Suzanne Felber, MIRM, owner of Lifestylist, and Stacey Garcia, co-owner and co-founder of Garcia Cabinetmakers and KBtribechat, will discuss what it means to live more sustainably.

As a sponsor of the “Future of Eco-Conscious Living,” part of the Hearst Design Collection’s DesignU series, Beko is helping facilitate an Earth Day discussion among thought leaders, industry experts and media editors about the sustainable impact of design, education and business. MaryJo Camp, CMKBD, CID, CAPS, CGP, partner and designer of DesignCamp, and a Council member, is speaking on sustainable kitchen design and sharing her sustainable kitchen plans during the virtual conference. And finally on the same day, Beko’s Zach Elkin, president, and Sazi Bugay, director of product development and marketing, will be guests on a sustainable kitchen design podcast hosted by The Produce Moms, a fruit-and-vegetable-focused healthy-living blog and series of produce-supplier partnerships founded by Council member Lori Taylor.