West Coast Green 2010

Vetrazzo, a glass surfaces company, was recently acquired by Polycor and moved its production from the Bay Area to Tate, Georgia. Its manufacturing process--using 100-percent recycled glass and cement--and "story-based" products, however, have not changed. Pictured here (left to right) are its Alehouse Amber (made with post-consumer recycled beer bottles, root beer bottles, and other), Glass House (which uses recycled clear glass--the color splashes come from the labels--that homeowners set out at their curbs), and Firehouse (a rare red surface that used glass from decommissioned stop lights and the San Jose airport runway when the glass was replaced with acrylic).

Also displaying recycled-glass surfaces was IceStone. The blue color in its line comes from recycled Skyy Vodka bottles.

In our July/August 2010 Energy Issue, we featured the Sparano-Mooney Residence and its Solatube Daylighting Systems tubular skylights. At West Coast Green, Velux displayed its similar systems of rigid and flexible tubular skylights, which let light into rooms that don't have direct roof access.

Bay Area Pervious Concrete displayed its permeable surface solution a live demonstration. Pervious ground coverings not only decrease puddles and water accumulation, but they also filter contaminants like oil and fertilizer from the water before letting it pass through and into the ground.

Also on display was the GreenCycler a new product that is just now accepting pre-orders. The countertop container holds up to three gallons of compost in its pull-out bottom bin, with which you can line with a compostable bag, and features a hand-operated grinder to reduce the size of your compostable bits and encourage breakdown sooner.

Recycle Movement Corp. exhibited its 100-percent recycled-PET textiles and clothing as well as the RM Green Breeze Hair-Dryer, which has been on display at the Expo 2010 Shanghai. The hairdryer uses 60-percent less energy than traditional dryers by holding onto heat in its Nano-Ceramic Honeycomb. The product is only available in Asia, though the company hopes to bring it to the United States soon.

Also among the mix of booths was Lyngsø Garden Materials, based in Redwood City, California. In addition to mulches, soils, and rocks, the company also showed off its Diestel Structured Compost, an organic mix that comes from an organic turkey ranch that sells to Whole Foods and forest trimmings from the Sierra Nevada Foothills.

Representatives from the Cool Roof Rating Council were on hand sharing information about the nonprift, which rates reflectivity of roofs and publishes and makes available for free the information online. California's Title 24 established a requirement that all new or replacement roofs (1,000 square feet or larger for residences) must be cool roofs and rated by the Cool Roof Rating Council.

Making its debut at West coast Green was Plug 'n Save Energy Products Solar Shutters. The shutters are equipped with solar cell on the outside, with the electrical work building into the frame.

The shutters are designed especially with apartment and condo dwellers--those who might not be able to add solar panels to their roofs--in mind as the system is as simple as installing the Solar Shutter and plugging the converter into the wall, which feeds the solar energy produced directly back into the grid.

Two companies were on hand to speak about sheep's wool insulation, which has been increasing in popularity in the United States. The material naturally resists bugs and vermin, has a low density, and is good at getting wet and then drying out. Oregon Shepherd showed a temporary wall of its Batting Latitude, imported from New Zealand, as well as its loose Permabatting, made near Portland with domestic wool.

Bellweater Materials was the other sheep's wool company at the conference. Its product is made using waste wool--wool that ranchers sell abroad at a loss and that is too coarse for clothing--that is put through the first step of felting so that it holds together as a batting. The goal of the company, which was founded two years ago, was to great a good product that would generate a lot of domestic jobs (it's made 100-percent in the U.S.) in addition to a lot of money.

Ecohaus displayed its range of sustainable products, ranging from flooring to finishes to countertops. Among its counter surfaces were wood products from Windfall Lumber, a post-consumer recycled paper product called PaperStone , countertop material from Trinity Glass Products, and stone alternatives from Squak Mountain Stone.