My First Impressions from Greenbuild 2011

I am attending this year's Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Toronto. There are 1,700 exhibitors this year--915 companies from Canada. From 23,000 to 25,000 attendees are expected, down from 28,000 last year but way up from year one of the event in 2002 when there were "only" 4,189 attendees. The expo halls at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre were sold out far in advance of Greenbuild, proving that interest in green building and selling to those with that interest is as strong as ever. Last evening and today I walked the entire trade show--quite a task--looking for vendors with products that might be of interest to hoteliers. There were many--an overwhelming amount really--and it was great to see some familiar company names: Sloan, Excel Dryer, Verve Living Systems, Toto, American Standard, InterfaceFLOR, Moen, Kohler, Shaw Industries Group, Osram Sylvania, etc.

There were also many new companies--ThinkEco, for example, which makes the modlet, a modern electronic outlet that allows one to monitor and manage power consumption of individual outlets remotely. The outlets can turn power off to appliances when the power is not needed. I spoke with someone from AVA Power, a company that makes small vertical axis wind turbines. AVA Power will be releasing a 5 kilowatt wind turbine in the fourth quarter of this year. I was astounded by the number of green roofing system companies and rainwater harvesting companies in attendance. There were also companies that specialize in harvesting waste heat from HVAC systems and those that incorporate recycled material in their products--material such as glass and rubber. There were many companies selling LED lighting products and just as many selling paints and other surface coatings that generate low or no volatile organic compounds.

If you would like to learn more about the companies on the trade show floor, be sure to visit the Greenbuild site.

Finally, one of the most impressive things about Greenbuild this year is its attention to recycling. There are recycling containers everywhere in the Metro Toronto Convention Centre--even organic waste is collected.

Next year's Greenbuild will be in San Francisco. Be sure to start planning now for the November 13 to 16 event.