BuildingGreen Announces 2006 Top-10 Products

BuildingGreen, Inc., publisher of GreenSpec^® Directory and Environmental Building News (EBN), announced its fifth annual Top-10 Green Building Products during the U.S. Green Building Council’s November 2006 Greenbuild Conference and Expo in Denver. Representing the ten most exciting products added to GreenSpec or covered in EBN in the last year, the Top-10 are detailed in a press release available online at www.buildinggreen.com/press/.

 

• PaperStone™ Certified Composite Surface Material from KlipTech Composites. PaperStone is a dense, hard, water-resistant, solid-surface composite material made from cellulose fiber (paper) and a non-petroleum phenolic resin derived in part from cashew shells. The product is available with either 50% or 100% post-consumer recycled paper content and is used for everything from countertops to skateboard ramps. For more information, see www.paperstoneproducts.com or EBN Vol. 15, No. 4.

 

• VariaTM and 100 Percent Recycled-Content Panel Products from 3form, Inc. Made from EcoresinTM, 3Form’s 40% pre-consumer recycled copolyester (PETG), the Varia line includes translucent and transparent panels, some of which contain natural artifacts collected by indigenous peoples using environmentally responsible practices. The 100 Percent product is opaque and made from 100% post-consumer recycled high-density polyethylene (HDPE). For more information, see www.3-form.com or EBN Vol. 15, No. 10.

• RetroPlateTM Polished Concrete System from Advanced Floor Products, Inc. A pioneer in the world of polished concrete, RetroPlate turns concrete slabs into finished floors using stone grinding technology combined with concrete hardening and densifying agents. The resulting floor is durable and easy to maintain and free from volatile organic compounds (VOCs). For more information, see www.retroplatesystem.com or EBN Vol. 15, No. 2.

 

• SageGlass^® Tintable Glazing from Sage Electrochromics, Inc. An innovative glazing technology, SageGlass is a multilayer, thin-film tungsten-oxide coating that is as durable as low-emissivity coatings. It uses a small electric current to switch glass from clear to a tinted state over several minutes, reducing the visible transmittance from 62% to 3.5%. For more information, see www.sage-ec.com or EBN Vol. 15, No. 6.

 

• Recycled-Content Interior Molding from Timbron, Inc. This interior molding is made from at least 90% recycled polystyrene—75% post-consumer and 15% pre-consumer, certified by Scientific Certification Systems. Durable, waterproof, and termite-proof, the trim is both paintable and workable with carpentry tools. The company is online at www.timbron.com.

 

• Water-Efficient Showerhead with H2

Okinetic TechnologyTM from Delta Faucet Company. Developed with Bowles Fluidics Corporation, Delta’s new H2Okinetic showerhead uses just 1.6 gallons of water per minute while delivering a very satisfying shower. The fairly large droplets provide good heat retension and body wetting. For more information, see www.deltafaucet.com or EBN Vol. 15, No. 5.

 

• WeatherTRAK^® Smart Irrigation Controls from HydroPoint^® Data Systems, Inc. An innovative option for creating efficient irrigation systems where they are necessary, WeatherTRAK creates a watering schedule based not only on landscape features (soil type, slope, and plantings) but also on information about evapotranspiration rates gleaned from weather data and beamed to the controller each day. More information about both residential and commercial systems is available online at www.weathertrak.com.

 

• Coolerado Cooler™ Advanced, Indirect Evaporative Air Conditioner from Coolerado, LLC. Using an all-indirect evaporative cooling technology, the Coolerado Cooler cools a space without adding moisture to the indoor air. It offers four to six tons of cooling with an energy consumption of 1,200 watts and has an energy efficiency ratio (EER) of 40 or higher, making it two to three times as efficient as the best compression-cycle air conditioners. More information is available online at www.coolerado.com.

 

• Underwater Standing Timber Salvage from Triton Logging, Inc. Using its proprietary, remotely operated SawfishTM submarine, Triton Logging harvests trees submerged in reservoirs created by hydroelectric dams. All of the wood recovered is certified as SmartWood^CM Rediscovered by the Rainforest Alliance. For more information, see www.tritonlogging.com or EBN Vol. 15, No. 7.

 

• Renewable Energy Credits from Community Energy, Inc. Founded in 1999, Community Energy is one of the leading North American providers of renewable energy credits (RECs), which allow consumers to buy the environmental attributes of electricity produced from renewable sources. Community Energy is one of the few REC providers that develops its own generation capacity, mostly through wind farms located throughout the country. For more information, see www.communityenergy.biz or EBN Vol. 15, No. 10.