CHICAGO—For hotel developers in search of everything necessary to build smart, high performance buildings, Greenbuild was the place to be this week. Approximately 850 vendors offering everything from environmentally friendly cinder block to roofing materials to carpeting were on hand. The event, sponsored by the U.S. Green Building Council, was held here in Chicago at McCormick Place. Here are just a few of the vendor announcement highlights:
• As a part of its continued commitment to sustainable practices, Osram Sylvania announced its participation in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Leaders program. By participating in Climate Leaders, Sylvania has pledged to reduce its corporate-wide greenhouse gas emissions. This commitment is just one of many social and environmental goals set by the company through its recently launched Global Care program.
• Tennant Co. introduced ech2o (pronounced “echo”), a cleaning technology that electrically activates plain tap water, making it behave like a powerful detergent without any added chemicals. Tennant’s ech2o offers significant customer advantages including lower costs, ease of use and improved operator safety plus an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional cleaning methods. Tennant says ech2o’s cleaning effectiveness has proven to be the same or better than general purpose cleaners, without the negative environmental impact and health issues associated with producing, packaging, transporting, using and disposing of traditional cleaning chemicals.
• Lutron Electronics, a leader in the design and manufacturing of light controls, launched a new awareness campaign: “Light Greener, Light Better.” One of the goals of the campaign is to let people know that they can control exactly how much light they use for a given task or situation without sacrificing quality—and, in the process, save money and contribute to a healthier environment. Lutron’s newest entry for whole-building lighting and energy management, Quantum, provides facility managers and building owners a wide array of tools to identify energy savings opportunities and to quantify those savings. Quantum enhances the green attributes of Lutron’s new EcoSystem lighting control solution, which can reduce a building’s lighting energy consumption up to 60 percent or more.
• Leonardo Academy, respected for its work on sustainable buildings and climate change, announced the Draft American National Standard for Trial Use LEO-500-2001 to support clear communication about the factors included in climate emission inventories and offset statements. As a pilot program, Leonardo Academy worked with Milliken & Co. to apply the standard to all of its U.S. operations to third-party certify its carbon negative status. Milliken & Co. is a pilot participant in The Draft American National Standard for Trial Use LEO-500-2001 which covers Emissions Inventories, Offsets, and Reduction Credits. The international textile and chemical manufacturer has already applied this standard to all of its operation in the United States, quantifying its emissions from its direct energy use and from its electrical energy use, as well as quantifying the carbon sequestration delivered by its forests.
• Hobart Corp. announced that it has earned Energy Star certification. Hobart dish machines, including the LXi undercounter, AM Select door-type and C-Line conveyor warewashers, now carry the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Energy Star and are among the most resource-efficient warewashers available. On average, Hobart’s LXi, AM Select and C-Line warewashers use 25 percent less energy and 25 percent less water than non-Energy Star models. Customers can save money through energy savings and lower water consumption while also protecting the environment.
• Moen Inc.’s Commercial Division, a leader in hands-free flush-valve technology, introduced a complete line of easy-to-operate FreeHand sensor-operated flush valves. These valves provide energy savings by using an infrared sensor beam to activate a flush cycle when a user is in range, ensuring efficient water use and the ultimate in sanitary protection. FreeHand flush valves are available in a variety of efficient options, including battery-powered flush valves that utilize standard lead-free AA Alkaline batteries, or low-powered AC adapters.
• Zeroflush Inc. featured its Zero Water Urinals that offer up to 15,000 uses before any maintenance is needed, and Waterless Co. introduced a new waterless urinal model made from soy-based material.
• Architectural Area Lighting, a provider of outdoor fixtures for commercial applications, announced that it has neutralized its carbon footprint by taking the necessary steps to offset carbon emissions produced by the company’s business activities.
• Bentley Prince Street announced that its California mill has become the first carpet manufacturing facility in the country to receive a silver rating from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB). The mill is also the first manufacturing facility of any kind to be certified under LEED-EB v2.0.
• EnviroGLAS, which converts post-consumer and industrial glass bound for the landfill into sustainable and ecological hard surfaces and landscaping materials, introduced EnviroMODE, a surface material made from recycled porcelain from sinks and toilets.
• Kohler Co., a global leader in kitchen and bath design and technology, announced its sponsorship of Grand Canyon Adventure, a new 3D/2D giant screen film that is being created to raise global awareness of world water issues. Kohler enters into the sponsorship with MacGillivray Freeman Films, the largest, most experienced and highly decorated independent producer and distributor of giant screen 70mm films in the world. Slated for release by World Water Day, March 22, 2008, Grand Canyon Adventure stars environmental advocate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and preeminent anthropologist and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Wade Davis.
• Wausau Paper featured its EcoSoft Green Seal Certified line of 100 percent recycled paper products. It includes toilet tissue, paper towels and facial tissue. The company also sells dispensers for its products.
• Caroma USA Inc. unveiled its Sydney with Smart Technology toilet. The latest addition to the company’s dual flush toilets features flush volumes of 0.8 gallons
