 |  This high-efficiency indirect evaporative cooler is among the top-ten green building products of the year, according to BuildingGreen, Inc. Credit: BuildingGreen, Inc. |
Top green building products with a more tenuous relationship to energy include a polished concrete system from Advanced Floor Products, Inc. that allows for attractive floors made of poured concrete. The product could be useful in passive solar buildings that use concrete as a means of thermal storage, or in buildings with radiant floor heating. Other materials on the top-ten list could help reduce petroleum use, including PaperStone, a biobased composite made from paper and a non-petroleum resin, which is derived in part from cashew shells. Likewise, 3form, Inc. produces panels from recycled plastics, and Timbron International, Inc. does the same for interior molding. Last but not least are water-saving irrigation controls from HydroPoint Data Systems, Inc. The system modifies its watering schedule based on weather data, reducing outdoor water use by as much as 59 percent. Although reducing cold water use provides no energy savings for the consumer, it saves energy that would otherwise be used to treat and pump the water. See the BuildingGreen press release and details on all the products on the top-ten list on the BuildingGreen Web site.
