SAN JOSE, CA - Terry Alsberg didn't start out to make a green-building product. But there he was Friday at West Coast Green, telling potential customers about Warmboard, a sub-floor product that uses hot water in thin aluminum tubes to heat a house. His company, based in Aptos, was one of 380 exhibitors at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center for the three-day conference that ends today with a Civic Auditorium speech by Al Gore, the former vice president turned green guru. "It's clear green building is on the rise," Alsberg said. "It's a hot thing."
Alsberg founded Warmboard more than a decade ago as a way to heat his house without having TO use forced-air heating that irritated his children's asthma. More than 20 million square feet of it has been installed, he said, from apparel designer Marc Ecko's 30,000-square-foot New Jersey mansion to affordable homes in Klamath Falls, Ore. Little did he know he was on the leading edge of today's hottest building trend.
In the United States, buildings use 70 percent of all electricity, and produce 39 percent of carbon dioxide emissions and 30 percent of waste output. As more governments seek to mandate green building standards, and consumers demand greener new homes and remodeling projects, a growing number of companies are offering products to meet those needs.
Many were on hand at West Coast Green. Mythic, a company based in Mississippi, was offering nontoxic paint with zero volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Integrity Block, a Los Altos firm, was selling what it described as the first green block, a cinderblock-like building material made from a soil composite with 50 percent pre-consumer recycled content and requiring 40 percent less energy to manufacture than traditional cinder blocks.
Forever Lawn featured artificial grass that looks just like the real stuff. The New Mexico company creates grass for lawns, for pets (K9Grass) and for athletic fields (SportGrass). Other companies were touting solar systems, countertops made from recycled bottles and Bloxes, interlocking pieces of cardboard that can be turned into furniture and even walls.
A former yacht builder, Alsberg of Warmboard has watched the growth of green building, but is still concerned that not enough standards exist. "Nobody can define it," he said. "People will say they're green. How do we know?" His specialty flooring product earns points for green builders using the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards, he said. But a broader, across-the-board standard for green products is needed, he said.
Mythic's nontoxic paints costs about $42 gallon, comparable to top-end paint, said company representative Jeff McCann. But for many green-building products, a price premium exists. Venture capitalist Fahri Diner, managing director of Sigma Partners in Menlo Park, who spoke on a panel at West Coast Green said he doesn't think that's sustainable — no pun intended. "I personally don't believe the green premium will last a very long time," he said.
One company that sees green dollars in the green movement is Intelligent Forms Design of Vancouver, B.C. Its SOLo outdoor lounge table comes complete with 80 watts worth of solar panels, providing plenty of power to charge lap tops or iPods, said Alek Arsenault, the company's vice president of marketing. Built with tempered glass and stainless steel, it's a fully functional conversation piece, Arsenault said, and one that costs about $12,000.
Source: MercuryNews.com