Top 10 Green Building Products - Part 2

Below are the last five entries in BuildingGreen's top-10 list of environmental building products.

Recycled-Content Interior Molding from Timbron International

Timbron International produces interior molding in a variety of profiles that are made from at least 90% recycled polystyrene: 75% post-consumer and 15% pre-consumer, certified by Scientific Certification Systems. The product is made from both expanded polystyrene packaging foam and high-impact polystyrene (from such sources as compact disc jewel cases), small quantities of a coloring agent, a UV stabilizer, and a foaming agent. Timbron is highly durable, waterproof, termite-proof, paintable (though also suitable unpainted as white), and fully workable with carpentry tools. The manufacturer is planning to have third-party VOC emissions testing conducted and expects Timbron to be certified as non-emitting. While usable anywhere indoors, the product is especially appropriate for kitchens, bathrooms, laundry rooms, and basements, where moisture or humidity levels may be high. Timbron is available at Home Depot.

What makes this product green?

• Post-consumer recycled content
• Pre-consumer recycled content
• Exceptional durability or low maintenance
• Low emitting

Water-Efficient Showerhead with H2Okinetic Technology from Delta

In April 2006, Delta Faucet Company introduced a revolutionary showerhead that delivers superb performance using just 1.6 gallons of water per minute. Delta worked with Bowles Fluidics Corporation to develop their H2Okinetic Technology, which produces droplets that are fairly large, resulting in good heat retention and body wetting. By comparison, many low-flow showerheads either create very small droplets or aerate the water, either of which can allow the water to cool quickly and make showering less satisfactory.

What makes this product green?

• Fixtures and equipment that conserve water
• Equipment that conserves energy

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WeatherTRAK Smart Irrigation Controls from HydroPoint Data Systems

The best option for outdoor landscapes is usually native, climate-appropriate plantings that do not require irrigation, but where irrigation is required, efficiency is essential. WeatherTRAK irrigation control systems from HydroPoint create watering schedules based on physical landscape features (soil type, slope, and plantings) as well as weather data that is beamed wirelessly to the controllers each day. According to HydroPoint, 60%-65% of urban water use goes to outdoor irrigation, and 30%-60% of that is wasted. The WeatherTRAK system has been shown to reduce outdoor water use by up to 59% and reduce non-point source runoff pollution by as much as 71%. The company has partnerships with irrigation equipment providers The Toro Company and Irritrol Systems.

What makes this product green?

• Fixtures and equipment that conserve water
• Reduces stormwater pollution

Coolerado Cooler Advanced, Indirect Evaporative Air Conditioner

The Coolerado Cooler is a revolutionary air conditioning system that relies on the evaporation of water to cool a space. While, conventional (direct) evaporative coolers cool the air that is blown into the living space by evaporating water into that air, raising the humidity, the Coolerado is an all-indirect system that does not add any moisture. It can be used in series or parallel with conventional compression-cycle air conditioning, because it won't add moisture and make the conventional system work harder. The cooling output depends on the temperature and humidity of the outside air; in Las Vegas the cooling output in tons will be much greater than in Boston. According to the company, it is two to three times as efficient as the best compression-cycle air conditioners. Water consumption is comparable to or slightly lower than that of direct evaporative coolers—as much as 12 gallons per hour at peak load, but typically averaging about 4 gallons per hour over the cooling season.

What makes this product green?

• Energy savings

Renewable Energy Credits from Community Energy, Inc.

Renewable energy credits (RECs), often referred to as "green tags," provide a way for building owners who are unable to install their own renewable energy systems to buy conventional grid power, while also buying the environmental attributes of electricity produced from renewable energy. Buyers of RECs aren't actually getting electrons derived from wind, solar, or other renewable energy sources, but by paying extra for their power—from a fraction of a cent to several cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh)—they are helping to displace conventional grid power and subsidize the further development of renewables. Community Energy, founded in 1999, is one of the leading North American providers of RECs and one of the few that develops its own renewable energy generation capacity. Community Energy jointly owns the Jersey-Atlantic Wind Farm and the Bear Creek Wind Farm, and has additional wind projects under development in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, and Rocky Mountains. To date the company, which provides RECs under the brand name NewWind Energy, has sold more than 4 billion kWh of wind energy to 100,000 residential customers and wholesale through marketing arrangements with 18 investor-owned and municipal utility companies.

What makes this product green?

• Renewable Energy