Innovation Spotlight

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Introducing ENN's newest feature, Innovation Spotlight, bringing you information about some of the most innovative environmentally friendly products from some of the most forward-thinking companies.

Each week here at ENN we'll be bringing you "Innovation Spotlight," highlighting many of the latest in environmentally conscious products and services of interest to the green consumer. In the Spotlight, we'll feature five cutting-edge companies and products that will show the widening array of offerings to the environmentally savvy customer.


The products will be thematic, and this month we'll feature companies and products from the building industry -- the green building industry.


The demand for homes will never go down as long as the population of the planet goes up, and more homes and buildings means more resources used. But in recent years many builders have become aware that they can have an enormous impact on our future energy and resource use simply by the way they build homes and buildings. Employing "green building" methods and using environmentally friendly products and materials is becoming more commonplace.Consumers have a heightened awareness of green building as well. Homes are being remodeled at a record pace, as home design programs on the Home & Garden Network and elsewhere on television popularized do-it-yourself home improvements. Soaring real estate prices have made it more profitable than ever to remodel a home. The demand for remodeling products and services has skyrocketed to the point that Home Depot is now the US's second-largest retailer, behind only Wal-Mart.


That craze has not slowed down, and as consumers become their own contractors, they see the array of green products now available to them. Also, unlike the builder, who has an incentive to minimize initial cost, the remodeling homeowner must look at what the ongoing cost will be to maintain the newly remodeled home.


This month ENN is going to feature a number of companies' products and services that help both builder and "do-it-yourselfer" make choices that are more energy-efficient, cost-effective, and Earth-friendly.


Green Building Resource Guide


A builder has many things to consider when constructing a new house: design, space, heating, cooling, plumbing, electric wiring, and of course many more. The choices can be overwhelming even to veteran contractors, especially when the builder wants to construct an energy-efficient and environmentally-sound home from scratch.


One resource at the builder's or architect's disposal is the Green Building Resource Guide. The guide, which is available in book form or on CD-rom, provides a database of more than 600 green building materials which are chosen not just for their "greenness," but also for their utility.


The guide is published by The Architectural Machine, out of Redwood City, California. You can learn more about it atwww.greenguide.com. The website also features an area for contractors to exchange salvaged material, to recycle.


Crossville Eco-Style


Many materials used to build a house could be made from recycled and reclaimed materials. A great example of this would be the tiles used in bathrooms and flooring. One company that manufactures tiles, Crossville, Inc., offers a line of tiles and surfaces that are made from the waste material that comes from the process of making tiles from raw materials.


The company's line of recycled surface is called "Eco-Cycle." The product can be used for indoor flooring, exterior walls, or countertops. Crossville also makes a line of square tiles in Limestone and Pompeii styles that can be used for indoor walls or floors. You can learn more about these products at the company's website here: www.crossvilleinc.com.


BioShield Paint


One of the most historically unsound products to be used in building has been paint. Listeners of EarthNews Radio know about the effect of lead on humans, and though we've for the most part discontinued the use of lead-based paint, many paints still contain volatile substances that can contribute to unhealthy indoor air. Typical latex paints contain "volatile organics compounds," or "VOCs" that evaporate at room temperature, becoming a gas that can cause a variety of health maladies.


To counter this, some companies are creating "low VOC paint" or even "no VOC paint" that is virtually odorless and does not emit gases into the air. One such company is BioShield, which was founded in 1982 to provide eco-friendly home products.


BioShield makes a variety of paints and stains for furniture, walls, and other household uses. In the 1990s, the company expanded into other environmentally sound products for the home such as cleansers. You can learn more about the company's products at its website: www.bioshieldpaint.com.


Sea Gull ENERGY STAR Lighting


Of course, the appliances in a new home that use energy must be a primary consideration for the green builder. Installing original equipment that is environmentally friendly makes a home cost-effective for the buyer from the get-go, and is less expensive than retro-fitting.


Most of the lighting in today's new homes is hardwired, so choosing efficient lighting is a must for the green builder. The US government's ENERGY STAR program is designed to give guidance to the purchaser about a product's efficiency, which provides incentive to the manufacturers to make appliances that way. One lighting company provides a whole line of specialty ENERGY STAR lighting products that are not only efficient, but take a home's aesthetics into consideration as well.


Sea Gull Lighting Products' ENERGY STAR lighting fixtures use pin-based light bulbs, which do not screw into the socket. They are brighter and have longer lamp life; the ENERGY STAR lighting fixtures generally last for 10,000 hours, as compared to 6,000 hours for screw-in light bulbs. Learn more about Sea Gull's ENERGY STAR line at its website: www.seagulllighting.com.


Bosch Tankless Water Heaters


Big, established companies are getting into the act too. Some have just learned the potential profitability and positive impact of environmentally sound products, but others are not new to the game. German company Bosch has been making high-end, efficient home appliances for years. Its American subsidiary is offering tankless water heaters to both consumers and contractors.


Hot water tanks use energy even when you're not even home, because they're designed to keep 40 or 50 gallons of water hot constantly. Tankless water heaters heat water as it passes through the pipe, ending the need to store hot water. They're more expensive than tanks, but can prove more cost-effective in the long run. Bosch makes larger heaters for home use, and smaller ones for low volume use, such as in a camp or farm. Good information about tankless water heaters can be found at Bosch USA's website.


Be sure to watch for the next installment of Innovation Spotlight here on ENN. Also, if you know of an innovative product or company you'd like us to know about, write us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and tell us about it. And be sure to check out ENN Innovation Expo, where we showcase the latest in cutting edge environment-friendly products and services.edge environment-friendly products and services.