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BuildingGreen Announces 2008 Top-10 Green Products

BuildingGreen, LLC, publisher of Environmental Building News (EBN) and the GreenSpec Directory, announced its seventh annual Top-10 Green Building Products during the 2008 Greenbuild Expo in Boston. The list recognizes the most exciting products added to GreenSpec or covered in EBN in the last year; a detailed announcement and full product listings are available at www.buildinggreen.com/press/topten2008/index.cfm.

Integrity Block is a compacted-earth block used as a cost-competitive replacement for concrete masonry units. The blocks contain up to 60% pre-consumer recycled content and about half as much Portland cement as standard concrete blocks do. They take 40% less energy to produce. For more information, see www.integrityblock.com.

Emerald Safe ’N Sound solid-core interior doors from Masonite have wheat-straw particleboard cores, skins made from composite wood, and stiles and rails made from solid wood certified according to Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standards For more information, see www.masonite.com or EBN Vol. 17, No. 9.

PlybooPure from Smith + Fong is the first bamboo flooring to carry FSC certification and is made with low-emitting, non-formaldehyde polyisocyanurate binder. For more information, see www.plyboo.com or EBN Vol. 17, No. 1.

Natura Paint from Benjamin Moore uses not only a base with no volatile organic compounds (VOCs), but also uses zero-VOC colorants. The paint contains a 100% acrylic resin which, according to the company, will meet the Master Painter Institute’s Green Performance standard as well as Green Seal’s 2009 GS-11 standard covering chemical content and paint performance. More information is available at www.benjaminmoore.com.

PolyWhey from Vermont Natural Coatings is a waterborne wood finish that uses recycled whey protein, a by-product of the dairy industry, as a binder. These LEED-qualifying, low-odor coatings contain no toxic heavy metals and have a VOC level less than 180 g/L. For more information, see www.vermontnaturalcoatings.com or EBN Vol. 17, No. 6.

O Ecotextiles are made from 100% organic cotton or other sustainably grown fibers, including hemp, flax (linen), abaca, ramie, silk, and bamboo. Fabrics are third-party certified to meet the Oeko Tex Standard 100, with some fabrics also certified by the Global Organic Textile Standard. For more information, see www.oecotextiles.com or EBN Vol. 17, No. 12.

The Matrix Total Home System from NTI is an integrated appliance that combines a gas-fired condensing boiler and furnace, condensing demand water heater, and heat-recovery ventilator into a single unit, and it is pre-configured for air conditioning. According to the company, the system can reduce gas consumption by 30% compared with a conventional system, providing an annual fuel utilization efficiency (AFUE) of 94 for forced-air and 92.7 for hydronic heating, and an energy factor of 0.85 for water heating. For more information, see www.nythermal.com.

The SunCache integral-collector-storage (ICS) solar water heater uses a roof-mounted, water-filled, unpressurized, polyethylene panel and copper heat exchanger to preheat water for domestic use. The relatively inexpensive SunCache captures heat in 50 gallons (190 l) of non-circulating water stored in a rooftop panel. When a hot-water tap is turned on, cold water from the supply line flows through the copper heat exchanger embedded in the panel, extracting heat from the stored water. More information is available at www.harpiris.com.

Agilewaves Resource Monitor provides residential and commercial building owners with real-time data on electricity, gas, and water consumption. This system can be accessed via the Internet, displaying data from various systems in a building. For more information, see www.agilewaves.com or EBN Vol. 17, No. 12.

The Rainwater H2OG is a modular rainwater storage tank for use in tight spaces such as under decks, against houses, or even within walls. Two versions are available: a potable water tank made from virgin food-grade polyethylene and a non-food-grade tank made with 15% recycled content. Each module holds 50 gallons (190 l) of water that can be used for gardening, irrigation, toilets, laundry, or (with the food-grade tank and after proper filtration) potable water. For more information, see www.rainwaterhog.com.

– The Editors

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	Energy Dashboards: Using Real-Time Feedback to Influence Behavior EBN: Feature - December 2008		No-Compromise Green Fabrics from O Ecotextiles EBN: Product Review - December 2008
	Masonite Offers Straw-Core Door With No Added Urea-Formaldehyde EBN: Product Review - September 2008		Whey-Based Floor and Furniture Finishes EBN: Product Review - June 2008
	PlybooPure is Formaldehyde Free EBN: Product Review - January 2008

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PolyWhey Furniture Finish Vermont Natural Coatings PolyWhey Floor Finish Vermont Natural Coatings Safe 'N Sound Emerald Doors Masonite International Corporation Agilewaves Resource Monitor Agilewaves, Inc. SunCache Solar Collector Harpiris Energy	Safe 'N Sound Emerald Doors Masonite International Corporation
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DISCUSSIONS There are no comments for this page yet. Log in to add comments RELATED ARTICLES Energy Dashboards: Using Real-Time Feedback to Influence Behavior EBN: Feature - December 2008 More related articles RELATED PRODUCTS Safe 'N Sound Emerald Doors More related products RELATED GREEN DESIGN Product Awards