Greenbuild 2009: Green movement continues with steady momentum Article Number : 5077

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Date	11/25/2009 10:12:25 AM
Written By	LGM & Associates Technical Flooring Services
View this article at:	//floorbiz.com/BizResources/NPViewArticle.asp?ArticleID=5077
Abstract	By Matthew Spieler PHOENIX—The normally subdued desert landscape was carpeted green this month as thousands of residential and commercial environmental enthusiasts converged at the Phoenix Convention Center to view and learn the latest in...
Article	By Matthew Spieler PHOENIX—The normally subdued desert landscape was carpeted green this month as thousands of residential and commercial environmental enthusiasts converged at the Phoenix Convention Center to view and learn the latest in green building products, services and tools as part of the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) 8th annual Greenbuild International Conference & Expo. This year’s theme, “Main Street Green: Connect to the Conversation,” was aptly named as the three-day event showed little signs the country, and world for that matter, has been mired in an economic recession since late 2006. With former U.S. Vice President Al Gore giving the keynote address and environmental activist and recording artist Sheryl Crow giving a free concert, along with a record-breaking 1,800 exhibits on display and over 150 educational courses being offered, the 28,000 or so people who came from 90-plus countries certainly had plenty to talk about when it came to anything and everything green as it relates to the building industry. “Our work should not be defined solely by the number of LEED certified homes, offices, schools and neighborhoods,” said Rick Fedrizzi, USGBC’s president, CEO and founding chair, in his opening remarks. “It is about the people inside of them,” he continued. “Green building is about the families who must weigh their power bill against their grocery bill; it’s about workers who labor in buildings that take a toll on their bodies and spirits; and it’s about kids who spend their entire childhoods in toxic classrooms. We have the power to make choices that will fundamentally change the environment, and people’s lives, for the better. And no one has more power to drive that change than those of us here [at Greenbuild].” Green growing A study done for USGBC by Booz Allen Hamilton, a leading strategy and technology consulting firm, indicates between 2009 and 2013 green building will support 7.9 million U.S. jobs and pump $554 billion into the American economy—including $396 billion in wages. In fact, it points to the movement’s meteoric rise since the year 2000, despite the tough economic climate of the last three years. In 2000, the study notes the market value of green construction was estimated to be $4.571 billion. This year that figure is expected to be $51.814 billion and by 2013 it could hit $121 billion. “The green construction market has grown dramatically since 2000,” the study states, “and it is forecasted to continue to grow, despite an expected decline in the overall construction market. As building owners select more environmentally friendly designs for their buildings, the demand for ‘green’ services will continue to rise. Similarly, owners are aggressively retrofitting buildings in their existing portfolio to take advantage of reduced operating costs and to maintain or increase the value of their property.” Gary Rahl, officer, global government market for Booz Allen Hamilton, said, “The study demonstrates that investing in green buildings contributes significantly to our nation’s wealth while creating jobs in a range of occupations, from carpenters to cost estimators. In many ways, green construction is becoming the standard for development.” Fedrizzi applauded the study, saying “it validates the work that everyone gathered here at Greenbuild, and every member of our movement, does every day.” He added the overall goal “is for the phrase ‘green building’ to become obsolete, by making all building and retrofits green, and transforming every job in our industry into a green job.” VP time Gore said the country is in more than an economic crisis, “We have a climate crisis at the same time [and] at the same time we have a national security crisis.” But, he added, “We have everything we need to solve these crises…we have all the tools.” Noting, “Almost 40% of the global-warming pollution in our country comes from old, inefficient, leaky buildings,” Gore said this is a perfect place to start solving the various crises, by retrofitting all existing structures— residential and commercial— to green standards. “We need to create millions of good new jobs” and this is one way “we can get at least 2.5 million good new jobs.” This will also help the country reduce its dependence on foreign oil, which will aid in national security efforts, he added. “The rollercoaster ride from oil prices wreaks havoc on the economy and it is headed for a crash. It’s time for us to rise up and say we’re not going to let it happen.” One of the ways Gore proposed to help is by having tax incentives and financing instruments. “These are needed to help both the home and business owner make their dwellings green. This is something that not only helps them, it helps the country.” He also urged the audience make sure environmental codes are kept to a high standard and “when you hear greenwashing speak out against it; don’t let it happen.” Finally, Gore explained while the economy and environment need to be fixed quickly, these efforts need to be done with future generations in mind; “for [the sake of] our children and grandchildren.” During her hour-long concert which followed Gore, Crow said, “Performing at Greenbuild is like being on the international stage of the green movement, celebrating with you the progress we’re making on this important issue.” Flooring takes center stage As it has done at previous Greenbuilds, the flooring industry’s green thumb stood out like a beacon among a sea of eco-conscious offerings. How so? In addition to offering products, programs and tools that seemed to be more in line with what USGBC is trying to accomplish— create buildings and indoor living environments that are healthy for all occupants, reduce energy costs and rely on resources that do not leave noticeable carbon footprints— the industry’s presence could be felt and seen throughout the convention center, and it had nothing to do with the physical size/location of their booths. Three of the most notable were Shaw Industries, Milliken & Co., and LG Hausys. First, Shaw donated all the green carpet—in color and application— USGBC needed to cover the various aisles and walkways, noted Jeff West, director of sustainability, Shaw Commercial. All told, approximately 315,000 square feet of broadloom from the company’s trade show line was given to the organization for use at this and other events with one stipulation. When the carpet comes to the end of its useful life, Shaw will take it back and recycle it into new carpet. In fact, Rick Ramirez, Shaw’s vice president of sustainability and environmental affairs, added everything used in the mill’s booth was designed to be brought back and reused, such as the plastic drinking cups which will be used to make its EcoWorx products. “It’s all part of our theme, ‘Waste is Beautiful,’” he explained. “There are so many things we can talk about but we wanted to focus on the central theme of recycling for this year’s show.” Milliken’s standout move was for its flooring division to be the major sponsor in ensuring Greenbuild ’09 was a carbon neutral event, meaning no extra greenhouse gas emissions were released as a result of the event taking place. According to calculations by Leonardo Academy’s Cleaner and Greener Program the emissions resulting from the energy used at the convention center, as well as for travel, meals and lodging associated with the meeting was estimated to generate more than 15,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions. In laymen’s terms, this year’s conference was expected to incur over two million vehicle miles and over 40 million flight passenger miles in transit to and from the Phoenix event. To offset 100% of the greenhouse gas, sulfur dioxide and mercury emissions, as well a portion of the nitrogen oxides emissions associated with the event, Milliken was the primary donor of carbon offsets, contributing 12,500 tons. In fact, since 2005, the company has donated approximately 36,000 tons of carbon dioxide credits toward making Greenbuild a carbon neutral event. Finally there was LG, which once again donated the large, flat-screen high-definition TVs that were used around the convention center to help USGBC showcase some of the most successful green building projects accomplished by using the organization’s various Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating systems. Beyond Education Because Greenbuild continues to attract an ever expansive audience—architects, designers, facilities managers, property managers, environmental lawyers, home builders and even the local home owner, along with high ranking executives and officials from end use companies and organizations such as universities, public school districts, municipalities and so on, the show remains primarily an educational event. This not just from the amount of seminars offered but in how attendees come to exhibitors armed with questions about how they actually help to create sustainable structures, help gain LEED credits, or can help in teaching about the practice of green building techniques. But, this year, numerous companies used Greenbuild to launch their latest green products, services and programs recognizing it is the perfect venue for this. (Editor’s note: With more than 120 flooring-related companies exhibiting—one of the largest product categories overall at Greenbuild—space does not permit all that was new at the show to be covered in full. The following is a recap of some of the major happenings that took place on the soft surface side. In future issues FCNews will cover what hard surface companies were exhibiting as well as provide more detailed coverage of the individual companies and their latest green stories.) One of the bigger story makers to come out of the show was Invista which made news on both the residential and commercial sides of the business. The biggest news actually came from what lies beneath carpet. Invista entered into a license agreement with Los Angeles Fibers/Reliance Carpet Cushion (LA Fibers) on a Stainmaster branded cushion that is made initially of 90% post-consumer/10% pre-consumer recycled content. EcoSoft Stainmaster Cushion is not only made with recycled carpet, Ron Greitzer, president of LA Fibers, said, when the product’s life comes to an end, it can be recycled back into new EcoSoft cushion, thus making it a closed-loop system that will eventually contain 100% postconsumer content. “It could go on and on. And it will qualify for maximum LEED credits.” Tony Morakis, Invista’s business director – specialty segment, said carpets made with Stainmaster already have a good sustainability story in terms of their life cycle assessment, but partnering with LA Fibers on this venture was a crucial component in the brand’s overall eco story. “We felt it was important to demonstrate the full life cycle of the fiber.” Despite being the largest recycler of carpet on the West Coast, Greitzer noted a product like this would not be possible without having Invista and the Stainmaster name behind it. “It takes a company like [Invista] that has the resources and marketing to make it happen.” Dual purpose While it carries the Stainmaster name, he said it could be used in both residential and commercial areas. “It blew me away in terms of performance. It can be used in high-performance applications either in the home or a hotel.” Bobby Berrier, global sustainability director for Invista’s performance surfaces and materials division, said the product will initially be sold through qualified Stainmaster Flooring Centers. “That’s the first step. Then we will expand its distribution from there.” The other big news coming from the fiber supplier was that it not only was the first company to obtain Environmentally Preferable Product (EPP) certification for its carpet fibers under a new, expanded standard by noted third-party expert Scientific Certification Systems, but both its Stainmaster and Antron fibers qualify. Berrier noted Antron had already been certified until the original EPP standard and that nothing new was needed to make it qualify for the new, tougher standard. “EPP certification is important to us and to our customers. It is because of third-party affirmation that we can state Stainmaster and Antron carpet fibers have a reduced environmental impact.” Invista was not just making noise in its booth, as a number of carpet mills were touting green products made with its fibers. Bentley Prince Street was the first mill to offer a running line of carpet, Gotham, made with the fiber mill’s recently introduced Bio_Antron fiber (FCNews, July 6/13). The bigger message, though, said Cathy Frial, Bentley’s marketing and organizational development director, is transparency and accountability. “As green keeps growing more people and companies are jumping on the bandwagon to market themselves as green. That means its more important than ever to be transparent as we’re being held to a higher standard.” She said the company was focusing on three ways it achieves both transparency and accountability for its customers: “We publish our metrics—good or bad—on a yearly basis, something that most manufacturers of any kind don’t even do; for the past seven years we have inventoried our greenhouse gas emissions and have them third-party verified, and we have an environmental product declaration via life cycle analysis that we put all our products through so anyone can compare them in an apples-to-apples way.” Another company touting Invista products in its offerings was another California manufacturer, PacifiCrest. Roy Arje, its new York sales rep, said the company has the largest offering of Antron HCR (high recycled content, 90% pre-consumer in the face pile) products on the market. And the products are cradle-to-cradle certified. Being a manufacturer in California, he said, means the company starts out greener than most since it must comply with the state’s numerous environmental laws. “But that is something we have done even before most of the regulations came into existence. We don’t march in step—we run ahead.” And that is one of the reasons why the mill is a Clean Air Partner with the state. While the overall message at the Mohawk booth was basically the same as last year—sustainability is at the company’s core—Frank Endrenyi, vice president of sustainable development, said the mill was using Greenbuild to showcase just how serious it is when it comes to “doing the right thing,” noting a number of management positions that have recently been created, including a chief sustainability officer as well as someone to oversee Mohawk’s entire energy consumption and find ways to reduce it. “We have over 200 facilities around the world—from manufacturing plants to warehouses to offices and more. That is a very extensive job.” USGBC approved Also, to show just how green its products are, Mohawk was showcasing the fact that its carpet was used in the recently completely headquarters for USGBC, which, surprisingly, achieved LEED platinum certification. “It says a great deal that the organization that sets the standards for green building is able to use our products for its corporate building and still achieve the highest rating.” At the Tandus booth the company introduced the results of a $9 million technology that turns industrial waste from the manufacture of car windshields and safety glass into modular carpet backing. Five years ago, Ethos was launched for broadloom after Tandus partnered with Kaiser Permanente, the nation’s largest not-for-profit healthcare provider and a Tandus customer, to test the backing extensively in high-endurance installations in Kaiser facilities. “We took another technological leap forward to get Ethos into modular carpet,” noted Glen Hussmann, Tandus’ president and CEO. “Over the last 24 months we invested in manufacturing the product and eight months testing it in real-life field applications.” The closed-loop product is “literally the same as the broadloom version, except it is in tile,” he added. Depending on the product, Ethos for Modular contains 32% to 50% pre-consumer content. Tandus also has developed the waste stream of post-consumer Ethos for its Powerbond Ethos cushion which contains 18% post- consumer content. Hussmann said Ethos is an alternative to structured backings such as EVA, polyurethane, polyethylene, polyolefin and bitumen. “We evaluated Ethos along with 10 other polymer-based materials against stringent performance and environmental criteria and found that Ethos exceeded the other polymers in terms of material availability, reduction of virgin resources, recyclability and low environmental impact. We believe this system represents the next evolution in floor coverings.”