Products at an Exposition

When people think of the Greenbuild expo floor, their perceptions are not usually those of music, art, or beauty. But it is a bit of an art navigating schedules and meetings in order to see products and talk to manufacturers amongst the cacophony of the crowd, concrete floors, and cavernous space.

If art does reflect the times we live in, then Greenbuild’s expo floor is the gallery of today’s sustainability world, and that world has changed significantly over the years. Gone are the days when the floor had 900 booths and was dominated by large plumbing manufacturers with display trucks hawking low-flow fixtures and by carpet manufacturers with massive lounge areas. Though there were fewer exhibitors this year, many of the manufacturers showcased themes nearly absent from previous shows, particularly natural materials and products supporting Passive House projects. Let’s take a look at those products, along with a few others that caught this critic’s eye.