Chicago, IL, November 18, 2010—BuildingGreen, Inc., publisher of the GreenSpec® Directory and Environmental Building News™, today announced the 2010 Top-10 Green Building Products. This ninth annual award, announced at the U.S. Green Building Council’s Greenbuild Conference in Chicago, recognizes the most exciting products drawn from recent additions to the GreenSpec Directory and coverage in Environmental Building News.

“Our selections of the Top-10 Green Building Products represent a wide range of product types in many different application areas,” noted BuildingGreen founder and executive editor Alex Wilson. This year’s list is particularly diverse, ranging from decking made out of recycled carpet decking, to an ultra-high-efficiency toilet using a unique passive-vacuum-assist technology to achieve superb performance with just 0.8 gallons per flush, and a glazing material that has a UV-reflective pattern that is highly visible to birds yet largely transparent to humans and helps prevent bird collisions.

Five products among this year’s Top-10 selections save energy: a cellular glass insulation that has excellent compressive strength and no flame retardants; a high-performance modular wall system insulated with cellulose, a line of variable-frequency-drive pumps with ECM motors, a heat-recovery ventilation system for commercial kitchens, and an advanced LED lighting module that offers remarkable light quality matching that of halogen (up to a CRI index of 98), yet using a quarter the electricity and lasting more than 20 times as long. Rounding out the selections are a line of commercial furniture that comes standard with FSC-certified wood at no up-charge or delivery delay and a new fast-connect wiring and cabling system that is made with no heavy metals or halogenated plastics.

“Many of our Top-10 products this year have multiple environmental attributes,” said Wilson. As in previous years, the products are drawn primarily from new additions to the company’s GreenSpec product directory. Approximately 180 product listings have been added to the GreenSpec database during the past year. “New products are being introduced all the time, making it a challenge for our staff to keep up,” said Wilson. “We also continue to come across products that have been on the market for years, but were under our radar screen or have been introduced for new markets.” The GreenSpec database that BuildingGreen maintains includes more than 2,200 product listings.

A big driver in the development of green products continues to be the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED® Rating System (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), which awards points for the use of certain product types, such as certified wood, or for the energy savings that green products can achieve. “Designers of LEED buildings are looking for green products, and manufacturers are responding,” said Wilson. In the online version of GreenSpec, users can find products organized by LEED credits as well as by building category and the CSI MasterFormat structure.

The 2010 Top-10 Green Building Products are listed below. More complete descriptions and contact information are provided on the attached pages:

·        NyloDeck composite decking from Nyloboard, LLC

·        FoamGlas building insulation from Pittsburgh Corning

·        Ornilux bird-safe glass from Arnold Glas

·        FSC-certified office furniture from Knoll

·        Bensonwood OBPlus Wall System

·        Stealth toilet from Niagara Conservation Corp.

·        Wilo variable-frequency-drive “smart” pumps

·        Halton Heat Recovery Unit for commercial kitchen ventilation

·        Xicato LED Spot Module

·        Electec halogen-free EZ-Wiring and EZ-Cabling systems

About GreenSpec

GreenSpec is the leading national directory of green building products. Products are selected by BuildingGreen based on rigorous criteria developed over more than 18 years. Manufacturers do not pay to be listed in GreenSpec, and neither GreenSpec nor Environmental Building News carries advertising. “Our policy of not accepting money from manufacturers allows us to be objective in our review of products,” said Wilson. The GreenSpec product database is also available online as part of BuildingGreen.com. Environmental Building News, founded in 1992, is the oldest and most widely respected newsletter in the green building field. Other BuildingGreen resources include LEEDuser, a resource for teams pursuing certification through the LEED Rating System. BuildingGreen, LLC, celebrates its 25th year in business this year. For information on BuildingGreen resources, visit www.BuildingGreen.com or call 800-861-0954.