Planet Relations

"One of the most exciting things that has changed in the last 12 months has been the customer pull for green products," said Nancy Floyd, the co-founder and managing director at Nth Power, an investment firm.

According to an AP article in Forbes, venture capitalists and other funders interested in clean technology are finding a home for their investments in environmentally sustainable construction materials and processes. Companies mentioned in the article include:

• Hycrete Inc. - a water-resistant concrete admixture that improves the durability of poured concrete.
• Apex Construction Systems Inc. – a material and construction process to replace existing methods of building exterior structural walls for homes and commercial properties.
• Grancrete – a quick-drying, non-toxic building material that can replace cement in the construction of low-cost housing.

There are hundreds of building products available today that have environmental benefits (and investment potential). Alex Wilson of BuildingGreen gave an interesting talk called 15 Years of Green Building Products: Observations, Trends, and Future Opportunities at West Coast Green in September 2006. He talked about a range of products including those that were once considered green but have since fallen out of favor to those great green products developed by poorly managed companies to up-and-coming green products. Check out BuildingGreen's list of 2006 Top-10 Green Building Products. 

Development of new green building products will spur further adoption of green building practices, which in turn will make 'green' building practices 'standard' building practices. Green building rating systems will need to be revised upward (like the Living Building Challenge) to account for increasingly green buildings. Progress before our very eyes.