Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009 – Admittedly, managing editor Derrick Teal is ED+C and SF’s official “product guy.” But I tried to get out on the Greenbuild expo floor to check out the latest and greatest in green building products. And to be honest, as a veteran attendee, I was a little underwhelmed. There were very few “wow, I’ve never seen anything like that before!” moments for me. (But I didn’t have a chance to see even a quarter of the 1,800 booths.) I do bet, however, there was quite a wow factor for those new to Greenbuild. I clearly remember the first time I saw a waterless urinal, a solar panel and some of the really cool bio-based products, to name a few.

This year, instead of new product introductions, most exhibitors seemed to be promoting company initiatives and product improvement. I did hear many “This is the first…” or “This is the most sustainable product on the market…” or “This is the only certified…” But since it’s impossible for me to verify these claims on a show floor, I’ll leave the product reviews to Derrick and let you decide what’s truly best for your project.

But I did see a few noteworthy things at Greenbuild 2009, which I’ll share in a future blog. For now, we’ve included some products here: www.edcmag.com/Articles/USGBC_Greenbuild_Products.

What did you see that had the “wow factor” for you? What did I miss? What new green building products are you planning to spec this year? Leave your comments below or e-mail me at hucalm@bnpmedia.

Thanks,
Michelle

P.S. Trade Show Exhibitors: Train all employees that are working in your booth. Anyone in the booth should understand your product and the industry in which you are marketing. For example, at Greenbuild, it’s ridiculous that someone is still saying “our product is LEED certified” or that they will get you points in the LEEDS standard.

And when someone asks if/why/how a product is green, you might be safe to assume they are NOT talking about actual color when you’re at a show like Greenbuild. Thanks!