Green Products & Specs
Porous Concrete
carbon sequestering concrete that allows rain to go through and re-charge the aquafer. no catch basin or gutter systems needed.
Fire Retardent
Water Proofing
Engineered Bamboo
Structural Beams
Bio-Ceramics
Prefab Housing Panels
Radiation Barrier
Bio-Ceramic Coatings
GroundScrew™
Foundation Systems
GroundScrew™
Streetlight/Utility Poles
Building Materials:
What Makes a Product Green?
Quite a bit of attention has been focused on the issue of green building materials. What makes a given product “green”? How do you evaluate the relative greenness of different products? How do you find green products? More important, perhaps, manufacturers are asking, “How can we make our products greener?”
It is important also to note that multiple criteria often apply—in other words, a product may be considered green for more than one reason. Take recycled plastic lumber, for example: it’s made from recycled waste, it’s highly durable, and it can obviate the need for pesticide treatments. Straw particleboard products are made from agricultural waste materials, and they are free from formaldehyde offgassing. A product with multiple benefits could qualify for GreenTech on the basis of its overall environmental performance, even if it doesn’t meet a threshold in any one category alone. Conversely, a product with one or more green attributes might not qualify if it also carries significant environmental burdens. For example, wood treated with toxic preservatives has advantages in terms of durability, but it would not be listed in GreenTech due the health and environmental hazards it represents.
1. Products Made with Salvaged, Recycled, or Agricultural Waste Content
The materials used to produce a building product—and where those materials came from—is a key determinant of green.
1a. Salvaged products — Whenever we can reuse a product instead of producing a new one from raw materials—even if those raw materials are recycled—we save on resource use and energy.
1b. Products with post-consumer recycled content — Recycled content is an important feature of many green products. From an environmental standpoint, post-consumer is preferable to pre-consumer recycled content, because post-consumer recycled materials are more likely to be diverted from landfills.
1c. Products with pre-consumer recycled content — Pre-consumer (also called “post-industrial”) recycling refers to the use of industrial by-products, as distinguished from material that has been in consumer use.
1d. Products made from agricultural waste material — A number of products are included in GreenTech because they are derived from agricultural waste products. Most of these are made from straw—the stems left after harvesting cereal grains. Citrus oil, a waste product from orange and lemon juice extraction, is also used in some green products.
2. Products That Conserve Natural Resources
Aside from salvaged or recycled content, there are a number of other ways that products can contribute to the conservation of natural resources. These include products that serve a function using less material than the standard solution, products that are especially durable and therefore won’t need replacement as often, products made from FSC-certified wood, and products made from rapidly renewable resources.
2a. Products that reduce material use — Products meeting these criteria may not be distinctly green on their own but are included in GreenTech because of resource efficiency benefits that they make possible.
2b. Certified wood products — Third-party forest certification, based on standards developed by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), is the best way to ensure that wood products come from well-managed forests.
2c. Rapidly renewable products — Rapidly renewable materials are distinguished from wood by the shorter harvest rotation—typically 10 years or less.
3. Products That Avoid Toxic or Other Emissions
Some building products are considered green because they have low manufacturing impacts, because they are alternatives to conventional products made from chemicals considered problematic, or because they facilitate a reduction in polluting emissions from building maintenance.
3a. Natural or minimally processed products — Products that are natural or minimally processed can be green because of low energy use and low risk of chemical releases during manufacture.
3b. Alternatives to ozone-depleting substances — Included here are categories where the majority of products still contain or use HCFCs: rigid foam insulation and compression-cycle HVAC equipment.
3c. Alternatives to hazardous products — Some materials provide a better alternative in an application dominated by products for which there are concerns about toxic constituents, intermediaries, or by-products.
3d. Products that reduce or eliminate pesticide treatments — Periodic pesticide treatment around buildings can be a significant health and environmental hazard.
3e. Products that reduce stormwater pollution — Porous paving products and green (vegetated) roofing systems result in less stormwater runoff and thereby reduce surface water pollution.
3f. Products that reduce impacts from construction or demolition activities — Included here are various erosion-control products, foundation products that eliminate the need for excavation, and exterior stains that result in lower VOC emissions into the atmosphere.
3g. Products that reduce pollution or waste from operations — Alternative wastewater disposal systems reduce groundwater pollution by decomposing organic wastes or removing nutrients more effectively.
4. Products That Save Energy or Water
The ongoing environmental impacts that result from energy and water used in operating a building often far outweigh the impacts associated with building it.
4a. Building components that reduce heating and cooling loads — Examples include structural insulated panels (SIPs), insulated concrete forms (ICFs), autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) blocks, and high-performance windows and glazings.
4b. Equipment that conserves energy and manages loads — With energy-consuming equipment, such as water heaters and refrigerators, we have good data on energy consumption and can set clear standards accordingly.
4c. Renewable energy and fuel cell equipment — Equipment and products that enable us to use renewable energy instead of fossil fuels and conventional electricity are highly beneficial from an environmental standpoint.
4d. Fixtures and equipment that conserve water — All toilets and most showerheads today meet the federal water efficiency standards, but not all of these products perform satisfactorily.
5. Products That Contribute to a Safe, Healthy Built Environment
Buildings should be healthy to live or work in and around, and product selection is a significant determinant of indoor environment quality.
5a. Products that do not release significant pollutants into the building — Included here are zero- and low-VOC paints, caulks, and adhesives, as well as products with very low emissions, such as nonformaldehyde manufactured wood products.
5b. Products that block the introduction, development, or spread of indoor contaminants — Certain materials and products are green because they prevent the generation or introduction of pollutants—especially biological contaminants—into occupied space.
5c. Products that remove indoor pollutants — Qualifying for inclusion here are certain ventilation products, filters, radon mitigation equipment, and other equipment and devices that help to remove pollutants or introduce fresh air.
5d. Products that warn occupants of health hazards in the building — Included here are carbon monoxide (CO) detectors, lead paint test kits, and other IAQ test kits.
5e. Products that improve light quality — There is a growing body of evidence that natural daylight is beneficial to our health and productivity (see EBN Vol. 8, No. 9). Products that enable us to bring daylight into a building, including tubular skylights, specialized commercial skylights, and fiber-optic daylighting systems, are included in GreenTech.
5f. Products that help control noise — Noise, both from indoor and outside sources, adds to stress and discomfort. A wide range of products are available to help absorb noise, prevent it from spreading, masking it, and even reducing it with sound-cancellation technologies.
5g. Products that enhance community well-being — Looking beyond the walls of a building, many products can contribute to safer neighborhoods, increasing walk ability and making high-density communities appealing.
The primary intent with any green building products directory is to simplify the product selection process. Such directories, including GreenTech, are designed to save you time. For a directory to properly serve your needs, you must be able to trust it—you must have confidence that the process used to select products for inclusion is logical and based on good information and careful analysis. In this article, we have attempted to lay out our process for selecting products for the GreenTech directory.
Finally, we have laid out our standards for GreenTech to advance the development of new, greener products. We want to make it as easy as possible for manufacturers to understand what we consider to be green—so that they can strive to meet those criteria. Doing so will make more green building products available to us all and help to reduce the overall impacts of construction.
