BuildingGreen’s Top 10 Green Products for 2017

BuildingGreen’s team announced its 2017 Top 10 Products List at last week’s Greenbuild in Los Angeles.

For the past 15 years, BuildingGreen has recognized green building products that significantly improve upon standard “business-as-usual” practices. These products help transform the industry by conserving energy and water, reducing emissions, and fundamentally changing how we approach our building systems.

The collection of game-changing products help improve energy efficiency, reduce stormwater and wastewater, simplify building envelope construction, address air quality and emissions, and offer green alternative building products. The Top 10 List includes:

Products Addressing Energy

Improving energy storage: Aquion Energy’s Aqueous Hybrid Ion “saltwater” battery that uses a non-hazardous sodium sulfate electrolyte instead of lithium salts (lithium ion) or sulfuric acid (lead-acid). Non-flammable and non-explosive, it is made from nontoxic materials and contains no heavy metals or toxic chemicals.
Providing an all-in-one AC-to-DC power solution: Nextek Power Systems’ Power Hub Driver (PhD) converts AC power to safe-to-handle 24-volt current for use with LED lighting and other low-voltage building equipment.

Aquion’s Aqueous Hybrid Ion “saltwater” battery. (Image courtesy Aquion Energy)

Products Addressing Water

Providing an alternative potable water tubing material: Legend Valve’s HyperPure PE-RT (polyethylene-raised temperature) is the first flexible potable water tube that is fusible, 100% recyclable, and made from bimodal polyethylene using HyperTherm’s resin from the Dow Chemical Company.
Solving the stormwater runoff problem: Bio-Microbics, Inc.’s d-Rain Joint Rainwater Filter Drain helps manage on-site stormwater runoff for impermeable surfaces. With a drainage rate of 2-5 gallons per minute per linear foot, the drain looks and installs like a standard expansion joint and can be installed in concrete, allowing water to flow through to the subsurface drainage.
Making on-site composting easy and eliminating water use: Advanced Composting Systems’ Phoenix Composting Toilet system supplemented with biochambers allow building owners to compost natural waste on-site rather than direct it to the municipal waste disposal or septic systems. The toilet requires no water for flushing, its 4-watt fan provides ventilation to ensure no odor, and its biochambers transform waste into mulch.

Bio-Microbics, Inc.'s d-Rain Joint Rainwater Filter Drain helps manage on-site stormwater runoff for impermeable surfaces such as concrete. (Photo courtesy Bio-Microbics, Inc.) — Bio-Microbics, Inc.’s d-Rain Joint Rainwater Filter Drain helps manage on-site stormwater runoff for impermeable surfaces such as concrete. (Photo courtesy Bio-Microbics, Inc.)

Design features of the Phoenix Composting Toilet and its biochamber. (Image courtesy Advanced Composting Systems LLC)

Products Addressing On-site Installation

Simplifying installation and reducing human errors in building envelopes: USG and Tremco’s Securock ExoAir 430 consists of USG’s fire- and mold-resistant Securock glass-mat-faced gypsum sheathing combined with Tremco’s factory-coated vapor-permeable ExoAir 230 air- and water-resistant-barrier. This system reduces job site challenges such as human errors and variability, simplifies installation, and results in superior control of air, water, and vapor.

Office building installation of Securock ExoAir 430 which consists of fire- and mold-resistant Securock glass-mat-faced gypsum sheathing and factory-coated vapor-permeable, air- and water-resistant-barrier. (Photo courtesy Securock)

Products Addressing Air Quality and Emissions

Improving indoor air quality: enVerid’s HLR (HVAC Load Reduction) Ventilation modular system cleans indoor air rather than continuously venting conditioned indoor air and replacing it with outdoor air. It’s HLR module is a “smart scrubber” which removes CO2, VOCs, and other contaminants from indoor air with the aid of patented reusable sorbents. By cleansing the indoor air, the HLR module minimizes the amount of outdoor air required to maintain IAQ, thereby reducing the load on the HVAC system.
Providing non-emitting lawn mowers: Mean Green’s 52″ or 60″ ZTR commercial riding electric mowers and 48″ stand-on models use Lithium Energy Modules (LEM) battery technology which is engineered to last 10 to 15 years. The lawn mowers do not produce emissions, require no fuel, and almost no maintenance.

The HLR® (HVAC Load Reduction) solution minimizes the amount of outside air required to maintain indoor air quality (IAQ), reducing the load on the HVAC system and resulting in significant energy savings. (Image courtesy enVerid)

Products Using Less Chemicals and Having Chain of Custody

Providing an alternative to chemically treated wood for exterior applications: Accsys Technologies’ FSC-certified Accoya wood is treated with acetic anhydride (really strong vinegar) under pressure in a process called acetylation. Accoya’s durable, dimensionally stable, and insect-resistant wood is available for windows and doors, decking, cladding, engineered products for structural applications, and ground-contact applications.
Simplifying sustainable textile product selection: Designtex has a catalog with more than 8,000 materials, tracks all of its textile information, and keeps the database updated.