Touch of Green Added to Building Materials

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The EcoTimber, Marmoleum and Neil Kelly brands displayed at Greenmaker building-supply company in Chicago may not ring a bell with the general public, but for a growing number of homeowners the brands are a welcome alternative.

The EcoTimber, Marmoleum and Neil Kelly brands displayed at Greenmaker building-supply company in Chicago may not ring a bell with the general public, but for a growing number of homeowners the brands are a welcome alternative.


The labels appeal to environmentally concerned or chemically sensitive consumers who are as careful with what goes into their homes as they are about what goes into their bodies.


"Greenmaker saved me from driving to Fairfield, Iowa," said Greg Walker of Chicago. He and his wife, Terri, were willing to travel that far to find non-toxic paint and other supplies to redecorate a room before the recent birth of their first child.


While shopping at Greenmaker, Chicago bar owner Rob McLennan and his wife found carpeting for their home that can be installed in squares with double-sided tape.


"There is no glue involved, and it's made of recycled materials," said McLennan.


Though still a niche segment in the building-supply industry, green building materials are growing in sales as consumers, businesses and governments search for ways to preserve natural resources.


Greenmaker, the brainchild of childhood friends Ori Sivan and Joe Silver, is aimed at those buyers. The duo, both 29, are working in space rented from Remodelers Supply, a North Pulaski Avenue fixture. The home-improvement center is a division of Logan Square Building Material Supply Inc., which operates five Chicago-area locations, including Studio 41 in Lincolnwood and Highland Park. Logan Square was founded by Silver's grandfather.


The idea for a green building-supply company evolved after Sivan tried to buy non-toxic, low-odor paints for his home in December. He found what he wanted at a traditional home-improvement retailer, but a salesperson tried to persuade him to go with other brands, claiming the eco-friendly paint was poor quality.


Sivan, who has a master's degree in environmental engineering, discussed his business concept with Silver, who had worked in his family's construction supply business for 15 years and was the company's top salesman.


Silver was skeptical at first but did some research. He resigned from the family firm to join Sivan, convinced that the green building industry is at the same point as the organic food industry was when Whole Foods and other companies decided to amass a multitude of organic foods in a one-stop shopping environment.


The 2,000-square-foot Greenmaker showroom offers product lines from 25 companies. Among the items sold are non-toxic caulks, sealants and stains as well as two brands of water-based latex paint, low-flow bathroom fixtures, solar and tankless water heaters, wheatboard veneer cabinets, cork and reclaimed flooring, insulation, drywall, lumber, permeable pavers, energy-efficient windows, eco-friendly carpeting and modular green roofs.


The pricing in most cases is competitive with other retailers, though there is a 5 percent to 25 percent premium for some eco-products because there is "a lack of economies of scale," Silver said.


"As volume of production of eco-friendly products goes up, the relative price difference can be expected to drop," he said. "We're not getting stuff nobody's ever heard of. We're just putting it together in one place."


Although the Greenmaker retail space opened Oct. 1, the owners have been in business for several months, thanks to orders from the company's Web site, links to manufacturers' Web sites, referrals from officials at Chicago's Center for Green Technology and word of mouth among those in the local environmental community. Last week, Greenmaker received a city contract for residential weatherization kits.


Environmentally friendly buildings are part of a growing trend among municipal and state governments in the drive to cut long-range costs and improve quality of life.


Mayor Richard Daley issued an executive order in 2004 that all new public buildings in Chicago are to be built using green principles. The city has a green projects administrator at the Department of Planning and Development and developed a green building standard.


The private sector is moving in the same direction. Nationally, most commercial buildings built within the next seven to 15 years will meet a green code, according to estimates. This year, the National Association of Home Builders released a 200-page voluntary model green home-building guide for its members.


The growing government and private interest is spawning a crop of independent retail home suppliers, said Mark Piepkorn, associate editor for the Vermont-based monthly newsletter Environmental Building News.


"No one has a listing of the retail centers, but they are popping up across the country," he said.


Long-established operations include Truitt & White, Berkeley, Calif.; Planetary Solutions, Boulder, Colo.; and Green Building Supply, Fairfield, Iowa. The greatest concentration of outlets is in Colorado, California and Washington, states where protecting the environment has been a hot-button issue for years, said Piepkorn.


Many green merchants are online, but there has been an upswing in bricks-and-mortar operations.


While large architecture firms and major construction companies may have the staff to research which wallboard is green, smaller operations and consumers may not.


But, Sivan said, "We've done the research. That's the value-added we've provided."


"It's a completely different world" in green products than five years ago, said William Worn, a principal at Chicago's Worn Jerabek Architects. "The real problem today is sorting through the green wash," which he defines as producers who market products as green when they're not.


Worn urges consumers to do their homework on green technologies because there are many claims and few standards.


Many of the products are becoming more mainstream and are on the shelves of big-box home improvement stores, but they are not labeled, Worn said.


"You have to know what you are looking for," he said.


"The niche businesses tend to show materials and product that is more cutting edge, the next tier of innovation," said Nathan Engstrom, director of Green Built Home, a voluntary program of the Wisconsin Environmental Initiative in partnership with the Madison Area Builders Association.


Green building materials appeal to Chris Parkinson, owner of Whitney Woodworks in Chicago, who buys bamboo plywood and wheatboard--a plywoodlike, formaldehyde-free material made from wheat straw--from Greenmaker. She prefers these alternatives to traditional plywood because they are good for the environment and people, she said.


"I specialize in eco-friendly shelving and cabinetry. Right now, [Greenmaker is] the only place in town where I can buy those materials," Parkinson said. The next nearest retailer is in Wisconsin, she said.


"You notice [the difference] in the dust," she said. "When working with wheatboard, it smells like food, but when you work with plywood, you can almost feel it in your lungs."


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Source: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News


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