by aleida, on November 10th, 2009
Kevin and I are heading to Greenbuild tomorrow, and I’m mentally preparing for the barrage of information that is sure to inundate me as soon as I arrive at the Phoenix Convention Center. And I’m also preparing for something critical: our meetings with product manufacturers. Some of them we already know personally, others we’ll meet for the first time, but across the board it seems that we might be learning about some new products and services. Everything new that we see will have to be considered and examined before we can determine if we can add the product to our materials library. So how do we go about doing that?
For years now we have had a general set of questions that we ask any manufacturer, and which becomes considerably more detailed depending on the product category and features. Our approach at Greenbuild will be no different. The general questions are quite basic. Among many other things, we always want to know if a product contains recycled material, if it off-gasses volatile organic compounds that can negatively impact indoor air quality, if it is biodegradable, and if it has any third-party certifications that can attest to its claims of sustainability. We will dive deeper by finding out if manufacturers themselves have a take-back program for recycling their own products, if they employ any Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) principles to guide design and manufacturing decisions, and if they make sustainability a core element at a company-wide level, not just as a product-specific approach. And, of course, we’ll be looking for proof on the information that we receive.
We’ll be taking note of the things we learn and report back on any and all things noteworthy.
Thanks so much this is the first time I have not been to Green Build so I appreciate your feedback. Cheers! Deb RuybberForm Recycled Products