BuildingGreen, Inc., publisher of the GreenSpec® Directory and Environmental Building News™, recently announced the 2006 Top-10 Green Building Products. This fifth annual award recognizes the most exciting products drawn from additions to the GreenSpec Directory and coverage in Environmental Building News.
"The range of product types showing exemplary innovation is amazing," noted GreenSpec coeditor Alex Wilson. Three of BuildingGreen’s winning products this year have the primary environmental attribute of saving energy. Two products save water. Three products are green in part because they are made from recycled waste; one is a system of salvaging material. Rounding out the list are an innovative way of turning an ordinary material, concrete, into one of the best flooring options for commercial buildings, and a provider of renewable energy credits, an excellent way for any building owner to support renewable energy. "Most of the Top-10 products this year have multiple environmental attributes," said Wilson.
BuildingGreen’s Top-10 product selections, as in previous years, are drawn primarily from new additions to the company’s GreenSpec product directory. More than 250 product listings have been added to the GreenSpec database during the past year. "New products seem to be appearing at an ever-faster pace," said Wilson. The GreenSpec database his company maintains now includes more than 2,100 product listings. Not all GreenSpec product listings or Top-10 selections are new to the market. "While many of the products we add to GreenSpec are brand new and innovative, others have been around for a while." said Wilson. "In some cases, we like to see evidence of success in the real world before recognizing green products."
A big driver in the development of green products continues to be the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED® Rating System (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), which awards points for the use of certain product types or for the energy or water savings that green products can achieve. "Designers of LEED buildings are looking for green products, and manufacturers are responding," said Wilson. In the online version of GreenSpec, users can find products organized by LEED credits.
The 2006 Top-10 Green Building Products are listed below. More complete descriptions and contact information is provided on the attached pages:
- Polished concrete system from RetroPlate
- Underwater standing timber salvage by Triton Logging
- PaperStone Certified composite surface material from KlipTech Composites, Inc.
- Varie and "100 Percent" recycled-content panel products from 3form, Inc.
- Recycled-content interior molding from Timbron International
- SageGlass tintable glazing from Sage Electrochromics
- Water-efficient showerhead with H2Okinetic technology from Delta
- WeatherTRAK smart irrigation controls from HydroPoint Data Systems, Inc.
- Coolerado Cooler advanced, indirect evaporative air conditioner fromCoolerado, LLC
- Renewable Energy Credits from Community Energy, Inc.
Via: (BuildingGreen, Inc.,)
