COOL CONTENDERS
Some of the products and services we saw at Greenbuild in Chicago were just too cool to ignore—even if they didn’t make it onto this year’s Hot 50 list. Here are six green contenders ranging from stylish bike shelters to esoteric carbon offsets, submitted, as science fiction writer Rod Serling used to say, for your consideration.
PLUG ’N SAVE SOLAR PV SHUTTERS
It’s a powerful window shutter. The PV Solar Shutter covers your windows and produces electricity on a sunny day. On the inside, it’s a bamboo shutter. On the outside, the small photovoltaic cells gather sunlight. Plug the grid-tied inverter into a wall outlet and start feeding power back into your house.
www.plugnsaveenergyproducts.com
WATER RESTORATION CERTIFICATES
Bonneville Environmental Foundation calls itself the only non-profit marketer of renewable energy certificates, or RECs, for carbon offsets. Now it’s offering a product that applies the same principles to water: Water Restoration Certificates. One WRC represents 1,000 gallons of water restored to a critically “dewatered” river or stream. Businesses can use the credits to balance direct or indirect water consumption, including water used in office space, operations or embedded in the supply chain.
www.befbusiness.org
DUO-GARD BIKE SHELTERS
Bike shelters don’t have to be boring. Duo-Gard Industries offers a range of fanciful yet functional structures that resemble parachutes, butterflies, and graceful arches. Made of polycarbonate, steel and aluminum, they can be open, attached, or fully enclosed. Some are lit with solar LEDs.
www.duo-gard.com
GREENWALLS VERTICAL PLANTING SYSTEM
Green walls are sometimes called living walls, vertical gardens, and plant walls. Greenwalls Vertical Planting System is a sustainable living wall designed and engineered for maximum biofiltration of indoor air, thermal regulation, and striking aesthetics. The company did its first project for the Rainforest at Cleveland Metroparks in 1993.
www.greenwalls.com
SMITH & FONG CO. PLYBOO STRAND
Bamboo floors are a rapidly-renewable resource, but rapid wear remains a worry among consumers. Testing of Plyboo Strand addresses that worry— demonstrating that the material is three times harder than red oak, and is the hardest bamboo flooring on the market. Can be specified formaldehyde-free, with Plyboo Pure. It’s also FloorScore certified, which measures impact on indoor air quality.
www.plyboo.com
WASCO SKYLIGHT “SMART” GLAZING
Glass is getting smart. These skylights can respond to fluctuating sunlight and heat conditions by electronically changing tint. When an electrical charge is conveyed through the glazing, a fine ceramic coating absorbs light and darkens. Reversing the voltage causes it to return to a clear state. Electrochromic or “smart” glazing promises to be a major advance in energy-efficient window technology, transforming skylights and windows from an energy drain to a source of energy.
www.wascoskylights.com
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02.2011
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