Environmental Leader

As day two kicks off at the GreenBuild International Conference and Expo in Phoenix, Arizona, more new building products and reports are being unveiled on the show floor.

Under the spotlight are two Dens interior gypsum panel products from Georgia-Pacific Gypsum LLC. The company claims both the DensArmor Plus High-Performance Interior Panel and DensShield Tile Backer can pass a 12-week mold resistance test, conducted in accordance with the Modified U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ASTM D 6329 protocol. Georgia-Pacific Gypsum said that is three times longer than the industry testing standard.

Georgia-Pacific Gypsum also has launched a web-based BIM object development tool in partnership with McGraw-Hill. The Georgia-Pacific Design Studio gives designers access to data such as technical literature, CAD drawings, and fire designs. In addition to incorporating the company’s products and technical literature, it also includes non-Georgia-Pacific objects, such as steel studs, insulation, air and water barriers and claddings.

The building products supplier also released its new position paper, “The Synergy of Sustainability and Mitigation,” which advocates for the use of the best and most efficient products and processes during building construction.

The Lighting Quotient, an architectural lighting manufacturer of sustainable lighting solutions, is showcasing its energy-efficient portfolio of “elliptipar” and “tambient” lighting as well as officially launching its new corporate identity.

The Lighting Quotient formerly was known as Sylvan R. Shemitz Designs Inc.

Sanyo North America Corp. said it will be boosting its biomedical & environmental solutions business through a specialty group that handles total solution packages for building and lifestyle applications. Products that fall under this category include energy and environmental solutions such as the HIT Power and HIT Double solar panels, eneloop rechargeable batteries, as well as biomedical solutions, energy-efficient HVAC products and energy-efficient electronic devices.

In a push to promote healthier buildings, Perkins+Will has released its free Precautionary List of 25 chemicals that are listed by government agencies as potential health risks. The list provides data on where the chemicals may be used in building materials as well as available alternative building products.

The latest SmartMarket Report from McGraw-Hill Construction finds that 61 percent of contractors rate waste management as the second most important aspect of a green building, following energy efficiency. According to the survey, client demand (82 percent), government regulations (81 percent) and competitive advantage (77 percent) are some of the biggest drivers behind the trend.

The study, Sustainable Construction Waste Management: Creating Value in the Built Environment, also shows that 57 percent of contractors believe responsible use of materials and resources are important.

The EnOcean Alliance, an international consortium of 120 companies from the building sector, has published its first global, open specification for energy-harvesting wireless sensors to ensure interoperability. The alliance said this will enable equipment from different manufacturers to communicate with each other in building automation systems.

Currently, EnOcean Equipment Profiles (EEPs) are available for switches, remote controls, sensors, sensor combination and all kinds of data. New EEPs are under development including for Demand Response, Smart Grid and SMART ACK.

Several EnOcean Alliance partners are displaying a variety of EnOcean-enabled wireless building automation solutions at the show, including Leviton Manufacturing, Verve Living Systems, EnOcean, Ad Hoc/Illumra, Douglas Lighting Controls, Echoflex Solutions, EMerge Alliance, Ledalite, and Osram Sylvania.

Bentley Systems Inc., a provider of software solutions for building infrastructure, has added Green Building XML (gbXML) 0.37 schema support to its Hevacomp products for building energy design, analysis, and simulation. The latest gbXML schema adds support for interoperability, reuse of building information models (BIMs), gbXML-enabled engineering analysis tools, and the design of better-performing, more resource-efficient buildings.

The Hevacomp software joins other gbXML-enabled Bentley products, including Bentley Architecture V8i, Bentley Building Mechanical Systems V8i, Bentley speedikon Architectural V8i, and Bentley Tas Simulator V8i.

Click here for other GreenBuild expo announcements.