Recently in Low emitting products Category

Sustainable Industries magazine recently announced the release of its 2009 Top 10 Green Building Products guide, the annual publication profiling industry-leading green building products selected by a panel of expert judges and the Sustainable Industries editorial team.

The 2009 Top 10 Green Building Product winners are:

Acadia Combined Heating and Cooling System
Made by Hallowell International
(www.gotohallowell.com)
The Acadia is not just another heating and cooling system. It maintains 200 percent efficiency even when outdoor temperatures drop well below zero. When heating oil prices were sky high, Acadia users were saving up to 70 percent in energy costs.

ec-H20
Made by Tennant Co.
(www.tennantco.com)
Requiring no chemicals, ec-H2O uses tap water to clean most any surface of most any substance. Each machine reduces water usage by 70 to 80 percent, and the potential of 245 million gallons of water each year if it were installed in all new floor-cleaning machines.

InSpire Wall
Made by ATAS International
(www.atas.com)
This simple, elegant technology essentially uses the power of the sun to heat outdoor air before sending it indoors, thereby slashing energy use while boosting indoor air quality. Depending on what kind of heating fuel is being replaced, this product can reduce heating costs by up to $5 for each square foot of InSpire Wall installed.


kama EEBS Structural Systems
Made by kama Energy Efficient Building Systems Inc.
(www.kama-eebs.com)
kama EEBS Structural Systems integrate light gauge metal stud framing system with expanded polystyrene insulation in a proprietary design that eliminates thermal bridging and helps to create a tight, energy-efficient building envelope.

PlybooPure Bamboo Plywood
Made by Smith & Fong Co.
(www.plyboo.com)
Because it's technically a grass, bamboo had not previously been eligible for FSC certification. But in January 2008, after two years of lobbying, Smith & Fong achieved this first that propelled it to recognition on this year's Top 10 list.

RainTube
Made by GLI Systems Inc.
(www.raintube.com)
This product received more Top 10 nominations than any other product this year. RainTube is a rain gutter filter made of 100 percent post-consumer high-density polyethylene - old milk jugs, in other words. This product is also Cradle to Cradle-certified, meaning that GLI Systems Inc had to develop a Post-Use Recovery Plan that goes out with every product.

Separett Villa
Made by Separett
(www.ecovita.net/villa)
This urine-diverting composting toilet - which is 100 percent PVC fee - uses no water and keeps solids separate from liquids, reducing odor and making it possible to reuse waste and urine for composting and fertilizing. The Separett Villa can be deployed where no plumbing exists, allowing for a greater reach of the technology.

Serious Windows
Made by Serious Materials
(www.seriouswindows.com)
Serious Windows are so efficient they have the potential to allow for the elimination of a building's heating system, allowing waste heat from building appliances to serve as the main heat source in some applications. The windows have a full-frame R value of at least five and up to 11, which can cut a building's energy bills by up to 50 percent per month.

Solatube Daylighting Systems
Made by Solatube International
(www.solatube.com)
This patented technology catches direct sunlight and redirects it down an adjustable-length tube, bringing daylight to parts of buildings that would not otherwise have access to natural light. The Visa, Calif.-based company recently launched a product specifically designed for commercial applications, making it ideal for large-roofed warehouses and manufacturing facilities, as well as retail stores and schools - all places that have been shown to benefit from increased daylight, as daylight is linked to higher worker productivity, decreased absenteeism and better retail sales.

Your Old Light Fixture
Made by Eleek
(www.eleekinc.com)
Eleek is the only business to make the Top 10 Green Building Products list all four years. Though not a product, Eleek's lighting restoration service speaks to the important concept of the re-use of existing goods. When Eleek restores a light fixture, every piece of a fixture is taken apart, repaired and restored to its original splendor. Its wiring is updated to comply with modern codes and standards and a new lamp base is installed so it works with energy-efficient lamps such as CFLs and LEDs.

Expanding the reach of green building to include air toxics

The fundamental goal of the "Green During Construction" project is to encourage institutions, developers, designers, and professional organizations to adopt a Green during construction pledge to the benefit of the surrounding community and workers and visitors on the site by reducing both particulate matter, dust and silicates, and toxic gases, like CO.

Construction can be dirty work but we have an opportunity to make it cleaner. The green building movement focuses on constructing energy efficient buildings and using less toxic building materials.

Organizations such as LEED and NEEP have developed certifications that are gaining adherents and advocates among building investors, designers, developers, and architects. Investors are increasingly requiring designers and builders to meet these certifications. And many firms, banks, design firms, stipulate that they will only rent space in a "green certified" building.

While there are obvious benefits to this green building movement what is left out of this approach is air quality while structures are being built.

Air Quality Concerns

Carbon monoxide, fine and ultrafine particles, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), sulfur and nitrogen oxides, benzene are emitted in significant amounts by diesel and gasoline-powered vehicles and equipment on construction sites. Gasoline powered vehicles and equipment produce prodigious amounts of carbon monoxide (CO), a lethal gas. Two thousand seven hundred CO emergency poisonings from worksites occur each year.

Gasoline emissions have been shown to exceed one in one hundred thousand cancer risk thresholds in northeast urban areas. Prolonged exposure to diesel exhaust can exacerbate asthma and other lung and cardiovascular diseases, and probably increases the risk of lung cancer.

During construction soil, granite, and concrete will be dug, drilled crushed, impacted, abraded. Soil, granite, and concrete contain crystalline silica (sand). Occupational exposure to silica produces silicosis, a chronic, disabling lung disease characterized by nodules of scar tissue in the lungs. Each year nearly 300 workers die from silicosis in the US, hundreds more are disabled. Between 3000-7000 new cases occur each year. In addition, crystalline silica is carcinogenic. Construction, more than any other industry, leads in premature mortality (years of potential life lost) from silicosis.

Green During the Construction Phase

This is an opportunity to directly address the health and environmental impact of stationary equipment and motor vehicles, of dust and silicate exposures, and to integrate worker and community health into a seamless package.

The American Lung Association in Rhode Island and others have joined an initiative begun by the Rhode Island Committee on Occupational Safety and Health (RICOSH).

The goal of the Initiative is to encourage institutions, developers, designers, and professional organizations to adopt a Green during construction pledge to the benefit of the surrounding community, workers and visitors on the site by reducing emissions, particulate matter, dust and silicates, and toxic gases, like CO.

Protocols for Air Pollution Reduction During the Construction Phase

RICOSH in coordination with the American Lung Association of RI, and with the official support of the Air Resources Unit of RI DEM have begun to develop protocols that integrate air pollution issues into the Green Building approach. The fundamental goal of this project is to encourage institutions, developers, designers, and professional organizations to adopt a Green during construction pledge and include key parameters of all three metrics in bid and contract specs for construction projects.

• Restrict idling of gasoline and diesel vehicles.
• Apply dust suppression controls.
• Reduce diesel and gasoline exhaust emissions.

This would benefit the surrounding community and workers and visitors on the site by reducing particulate matter, dust and silicates, and toxic gases, like CO. In addition this approach will achieve reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

(The CHPS Product Database is currently in beta phase.)

The population of the database with sustainable products will be an ongoing effort, so check back  to search for products that will help you identify and select sustainable and healthy products for your next high-performance construction project.

The Collaborative for High Performance Schools expects the database to be sufficiently populated for public release shortly and will be promoted with the help of the project's partners:

• Collaborative for High Performance Schools,
• US Environmental Protection Agency
• California Integrated Waste Management Board.

CHPS is expanding the existing and popular CHPS low-emitting materials table to the format of a searchable database to include other products with sustainable and healthy attributes.

https://www.chpsregistry.com/live/