Over the last 12 months (as this blog has been hibernating), we at thread collaborative have had the opportunity to delve into more interior design elements in the course of our work. Now, it seems, we are continuously on the hunt for cool tables, chairs, lounge furniture, even fabrics – [...]]]>

Pacific Design Center, by Gary Minnaert

Over the last 12 months (as this blog has been hibernating), we at thread collaborative have had the opportunity to delve into more interior design elements in the course of our work. Now, it seems, we are continuously on the hunt for cool tables, chairs, lounge furniture, even fabrics – all for commercial applications, of course. So where can I – more familiar with, say, reclaimed raw barn board –go to learn about designer, off-the-shelf, commercial-grade dining chairs?

I’ll start by attending this year’s Westweek. It’s set to take place in just a few days at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, CA. I hope the event proves helpful. And as I keep searching for information and resources, I heartily welcome any tips from others in the field.

Last week I posted a blog where I pondered whether virtual conferences would ever replace live face-to-face ones. It was my way of introducing a preview for the BrightTALK Green Building Summit held on Earth Day. We’ll be posting reviews of individual educational sessions over the next three days. This week, I’ll [...]]]>

Last week I posted a blog where I pondered whether virtual conferences would ever replace live face-to-face ones. It was my way of introducing a preview for the BrightTALK Green Building Summit held on Earth Day. We’ll be posting reviews of individual educational sessions over the next three days. This week, I’ll be flying to Bentonville, AR to attend the second annual NWA Green Expo. I’ve been invited to attend, review, and write about the event. Where last week seemed to be about virtual participation, this week I’ll be engaged physically.

One thing that sets this trip apart from others I’ve taken is the fact that I will not be traveling with a laptop. Instead, the only devices I’ll have with me are an iPhone, a new iPad, and a camera. It will be the lightest business trip I’ve ever taken. I will readily admit that I’m a gadget hound. On April 3rd, the first day the iPad went on sale, friends called and emailed, anxious to hear my first impressions. They were assuming, of course, that I would be an early adopter. Although I was far from being the first person in line, they were, as it turns out, quite correct. I did have an iPad by the end of the first day.

The majority of my work is somewhere else, so I accumulate frequent flyer miles quickly. I deliver thirty presentations throughout the country in a busy year, and ten in a slow year. I haven’t had a slow year in a long time. Even though a laptop is technically portable, lugging it through airports, dealing with it during security scanning, and carting it around with other luggage gets old fast when you’re doing it every other week. The potential to travel with a devise significantly lighter, even if slightly less capable, is worth trying. So my event reporting will be an experiment to see if it’s even possible to conduct business without a laptop.

I’ll be arriving in Bentonville, home of Walmart – one of three primary event sponsors, Thursday afternoon. Conference and expo start early the next morning. Part of my coverage includes limited access to the featured speakers. I’m hoping to conduct short interviews with each of them over the two and one half days I’ll be in town. Since my time will be short, I have to make certain I maximize my time with each. I’ll be preparing over the next three days so that I don’t ask dumb questions or ones that don’t lead to useful insights. I’m envious of people who make interviewing look easy, because I know it is not. When the interviewer is uncomfortable, nervous, or self conscious the interviewee can easily tell, and it totally changes the conversation energy.

The featured speakers will be:

• Tom Szaky, Co-founder and CEO of TerraCycle.
• Catherine Lasser, Vice President and CTO Global Distribution Sector with IBM.
• Stanley Alpert, Environmental and Sustainability Attorney.
• Dr. Alan D. Hecht, Director for Sustainable Development with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Research and Development.
• Michelle Mauthe Harvey, Project Manager, Corporate Partnerships co-leads Environmental Defense Fund’s on-site partnership with Walmart.
• Derrick Mains, CEO of GreenNurture.
• Eric Jackson, Chief Sustainability Officer & President with Conservis Advisory Services.
• George Orbelian with Project Kaisei.
• Marty Metro, Founder & CEO of UsedCardboardBoxes.com.
• Andrew Nisker writer and director of the movie Garbage!

I’ve seen Tom Szaky present before, and I’ve visited his office in Trenton, NJ (read my post about the visit here). If you haven’t read his book yet, Revolution in a Bottle, I can’t recommend it enough. It’s a new way to look at marketing and business development that comes directly out of a new business model (read my review here). I’ll be asking about his new television series called Garbage Moguls that aired last week on National Geographic. Aleida and I saw Marty Metro recently on a panel discussion at MiaGreen (read our post about it here). And I saw the film Garbage! a few months ago (see my review here), but I have never met its writer and director Andrew Nisker. I’m looking forward to any time I can with each of them.

The schedule on Friday will be:

• 7:30am Breakfast.
• 8:00am Keynote Speaker Tom Szaky.
• 8:45am Panel: The Problem is Environmental Impact with Michelle Harvey, Dr. Alan Hetcht, and Stanley Alpert, moderated by Marty Metro.
• 9:30am Panel: The Solution is to Take Action – What Can We Do? with Eric Jackson, Derrick Maines, George Orbelian, and Andrew Nisker, moderated by Marty Metro.
• 10:15am Smarter Cities with Catherine Lasser.
• 11:00am Exhibit Hall opens.

The schedule on Saturday will be:

• 10:00am Meet Natalie White, winner of Survivor Samoa.
• 11:00am Meet EcoGeeco.
• 12:00pm Clean Water Raingers Watershed Show.
• 1:00pm Mad Science Show.

It will be at least a week before I post full reviews of the speaker sessions, exhibits, and other activities. It will probably be another week, at least, to process and post the speaker interviews. I will, however, be posting a few daily observations with photos. Come back soon for more.

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While others debate whether we’re living through the final days of print media, I wonder if some day virtual conferences will replace physical ones. Are the webinars of today comparable? Do they offer an equally compelling exposition or learning experience? Actually I’m not entirely certain that’s a fair question. Although similar, the [...]]]>

While others debate whether we’re living through the final days of print media, I wonder if some day virtual conferences will replace physical ones. Are the webinars of today comparable? Do they offer an equally compelling exposition or learning experience? Actually I’m not entirely certain that’s a fair question. Although similar, the two venue types are so utterly different it’s difficult to make comparisons.

A year ago I might have thought it unlikely that a webinar could equal a face-to-face conference. But two things have changed my opinion. First, over the past twelve months I’ve endured terribly disappointing lectures at some of the biggest events. There are few things more frustrating than traveling long distances and paying good money for event registration, flight, rental car, hotel, and meals only to be tortured by painful presentation skills and horrendous graphics. It’s even worse when delivered by someone you respect and were looking forward to. Second, I’ve attended several well produced and informative on-line sessions. There’s still some disparity between virtual and face-to-face events, but technology and web speed are helping to narrow the gap. I can say with absolute certainty that my office chair is far more comfortable than any stackable convention chair. My couch is even better.

Even though a traditional conference is experienced live, I usually feel a strange detachment from the speakers. If the event is large enough, I might be seated several hundred feet from the podium. If the speaker is sufficiently interesting, attendees will swarm the stage, making it impossible to actually meet the person. Even with a computer between speaker and attendee webinars can be more intimate with a conversational tone.

A good example is the webinar hosting service BrightTALK. To celebrate Earth Day last year they organized their own virtual educational program called the Green Building Summit. I was invited to present a session about the environmental impact of buildings. It seems odd to use these words, but I actually met a number of interesting people. BrightTALK held a mini summit focused on sustainable building design earlier this year, where I also presented. It too was a well attended and an informative day of educational sessions (we posted about it here, here, and here).

For Earth Day this year they’ve assembled another strong day of interesting content. It’s free to attend and open to the public. The schedule of sessions is as follows (all times are PST):

• 5:00am Stakeholder Impacts on Building Sector’s Global Carbon Abatement. This session will be presented by Christian Kornevall, the Director of the Energy Efficiency in Building Project (EEB) at the WBCSD.
• 9:00am The Economics of Green Building. This session will be presented by George Elvin, PhD, the DIrector of Green Technology Forum.
• 10:00am Sustainable Federal Buildings: Mariposa Land Port of Entry, AZ. This session will be presented by Melissa Farling, Brian Farling, and Eddie Jones of Jones Studio.
• 11:00am Bridging Ecological Research and Urban Design. This session will be presented by Alexander Felson of Yale University – Forestry and Environmental Studies.
• 1:00pm Adobe – LEED and Beyond. This session will be presented by Randall Knox III, the Senior Director of Global Workplace Solutions at Adobe Systems.
• 2:00pm What’s Good and What’s Next: The Future of Sustainable Materials. This panel discussion will include Jameson Detweiler, CEO of GreenKonnect.com, Sasha King, Co-founder and Director of Product Research and Development at epOxyGreen, and will be moderated by yours truly.
• 3:00pm Solving the Cost Hurdle for Green Retrofits: GreenFinanceSF. This session will be presented by Richard Chein, LEED AP, CGBP, with the City and County of San Francisco.

I plan to attend as many as possible and will post reviews the following week. In the 10am time slot are three friends – Melissa, Brian, and Eddie. They’ve been telling me about the Mariposa Land Port of Entry project for months and it sounds amazing.

Speaking from the perspective of a past presenter, the BrightTALK system has a few minor shortcomings that limit the ability to employ the kind of animations, builds, or transitions that are key features of my slideshows. There are trade-offs and compromises that require some adjustment. At their core maybe webinars are actually a bargain made between organizers, speakers, and attendees. They’re not necessarily a direct replacement for face-to-face conferences but something supplemental with both advantages and drawbacks. This Thursday I know I’ll be lying on the couch in casual clothes, shoes off, with a cup of coffee, and my new iPad watching the BrightTALK sessions in more comfort than I’ve ever experienced at any conference. What about you? What will you be doing on Earth Day?

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Is there a word to describe that phenomenon where something is invisible to you until someone points it out, then you become hyper aware of it? You know what I mean. Your best friend buys a car you’ve never heard of or seen before, and suddenly you see that car everywhere. That’s how I’m [...]]]>

Is there a word to describe that phenomenon where something is invisible to you until someone points it out, then you become hyper aware of it? You know what I mean. Your best friend buys a car you’ve never heard of or seen before, and suddenly you see that car everywhere. That’s how I’m starting to feel about water issues. I can’t tell whether I’m now more aware, or if I’m seeing increased discussion of the topic because it represents a potentially dire crisis needing attention. As an example, when entering a bookstore over the weekend I was met with a whole magazine rack filled with the latest National Geographic; a special issue about water. I see water everywhere now.

Less than a year ago I hadn’t yet delivered a presentation exclusively about water. Water was part of a larger slide show I’ve been giving around the country, but I didn’t have enough material for a dedicated lecture. Then I met Joseph Treves and Sherri Akers who were organizing the Mar Vista Wise Water Use Expo (I posted about it here). Mar Vista is a very progressive bedroom community in Los Angeles aggressively pursuing knowledge and looking at how to transform their neighborhoods into more sustainable communities. They asked me to develop a short, but powerful, show just about water. The three of us crafted a compelling message concerning excessive water usage in southern California, how changing climate conditions are impacting supply potential, and the very serious need for conservation. When delivered it was one of the briefest shows I’ve ever done; a mere twelve minutes. But based on reaction it was one with significant and lasting effect. From it, I’ve met more fascinating people than all of my previous shows combined.

Janie Thompson was in attendance that evening. She’s told me several times how my show convinced her to rip up her lawn and stop eating meat. Although that kind of reaction was not my intention, it’s nice to hear. Too often I think audiences forget what’s been said the minute they leave the venue. But Janie was so moved by the entire event that she decided someone had to start generating awareness in her own community of Encino. That person turned out to be her.

Janie is what I would call a fireball. If you ever meet her, and I recommend that you do, good luck getting a word in. Don’t misunderstand that comment as a negative. She talks fast and has a lot to say. As a result of what seems like boundless energy she’s single-handedly bringing greater attention to water issues throughout the Valley and within her community. She’s also created her own event inspired by the one in Mar Vista last year. It’s called the Valley Water Expo. It’s scheduled for Thursday, April 22 (the fortieth anniversary of Earth Day) from 6pm to 9pm at the Balboa Sports Center. It’s free to attend and will have  exhibits and speakers, including me.

Also participating will be Chris Brown, the Director of the California Urban Water Conservation Council; Pamela Berstler of Green Gardens Group LA (G3LA); and Thomas M. Erb, the Director of Water Resources at the LA Department of Water and Power. Each of us will present for fifteen to twenty minutes and will be followed by a panel discussion. Janie has also gathered an impressive collection of manufacturers and service providers who will have exhibit tables. There will be a one hour block dedicated to those exhibitors between 6 and 7pm. To sweeten the deal even more, there are more than fifteen raffle items that will be given out during the evening.

Over the past nine months I’ve presented four times exclusively about water. That’s not a large number, but it tells me that either I was oblivious to the growing importance of the topic, or there’s greater public interest than I knew of. Either way, it appears that water use issues are becoming more relevant and communities are getting more engaged in the discussion.

I wish Janie luck and thank her for asking me to participate. I look forward to the event and hope that if you’re in the LA area you’ll stop by. I’m certain that many Earth Day events are scheduled throughout the city, but I bet this one will be the most interesting. Join us.

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Some of the most interesting developments today in sustainable building materials might be occurring at offices and laboratories within federal agencies. One example is the Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) in Madison, WI. This century old government lab, operated by the U.S. Forest Service through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, [...]]]>

Image courtesy of Ecor web site

Some of the most interesting developments today in sustainable building materials might be occurring at offices and laboratories within federal agencies. One example is the Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) in Madison, WI. This century old government lab, operated by the U.S. Forest Service through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has conducted remarkable scientific research on wood products and their potential commercial application. During the late 1980s a research general engineer named John Hunt began experimenting with dimensional fiber products. His primary focus was wet formed molded hardboard panels made from bio-based low yield wood, recycled paper, and agro fibers. His ground-breaking work led to a number of commercial products with names like Spaceboard and Gridcore.

In 1992, Robert Noble created Gridcore Systems International (GSI), licensed the patented Gridcore technology from the FPL, and developed a business plan to commercialize the proprietary process of molding cellulose fibers into three dimensional structures to create high performance panels from recycled resources. Although an interesting and unusual material, Gridcore was not the first, or only, product of its kind. It’s lineage can conceptually be tied to similar products made from pressed straw, wheat, paper, and byproducts of agriculture.

Seven years after its founding the company shuttered their Long Beach, CA manufacturing facility and halted production. “We made a strategic mistake in trying to position the product as a commodity product to compete with others such as plywood and MDF,” says founder Robert Noble during a recent interview, “and attempted to compete with those on price.” Engineered wood panels live in a category where price alone typically drives purchasing decisions. GSI found it difficult to communicate the environmentally favorable attributes of their product in such a selling climate.

Image courtesy of Ecor web site

So why am I telling you about a failed enterprise? Because people, and companies, occasionally have to fail in order to achieve greater success later. Sometimes the product is right but the timing, marketing, or sales strategy is wrong. There are business leaders who believe you can’t succeed without failing at least once. Getting back on the horse after falling off demonstrates fortitude and determination that leads to something better. And that’s exactly what happened.

In 2005, Robert Noble called John Hunt, still at FPL, to catch up and hear about what new projects he had in the works. As it turns out, Mr. Hunt had just finished work on a refined version of Gridcore now called Ecor®. The new product is based on the same technology, but the raw material options are dramatically expanded to include almost any recycled cellulose fiber resource.

Again, Mr. Noble licensed the new technology, reassembled the former team, and launched Noble Environmental Technologies Corporation in San Diego, CA to produce Ecor® composite panels. Ecor® Advanced Environmental Composites are made from 100% recycled content. Raw material fiber sources include waste corrugated cardboard, waste newspaper, and agricultural fibers. But the most interesting is what Mr. Noble terms Bovine Processed Fiber – that’s code for processed cow poop.

Most cattle feed in the U.S. is corn silage. The cows’ four stomachs remove nutrients from the feed and fiber passes through. Their waste can be processed in an anaerobic digester through a 28 day cycle that mimics the biological system of the cow; with similar temperature and bacteria present. One byproduct, called acidogenic digestate, is used to make Ecor® and is composed principally of lignin and cellulose fiber.

Agricultural byproducts, waste agricultural material, and natural processed fiber represent remarkable opportunity as raw material resource. Most of us are familiar with municipal solid waste (MSW); it’s what we drag to the curb each week, is collected by garbage trucks, and delivered to landfills or incinerators. Even though the U.S. generates more MSW than any other country, it represents just 1% of the total known waste produced nationally. Industrial, special, and hazardous wastes make up the other 99%; material that doesn’t usually go to a landfill. But that’s merely the proverbial tip of a colossal waste iceberg. Agricultural waste, which typically never leaves the site where it’s produced, is four times larger in volume. And Ecor® can tap that vast supply as its raw material supply.

Beyond the abundant sourcing potential, Robert Noble and his team are proposing other strategies that could be game-changers. One program that will be available as the company expands its operation is one they call YOURCOR. They will partner with other companies to convert their own paper or fiber waste into new panels which can be used by that same company as new construction material. They are literally closing the loop. And at the end of its life, Ecor® will buy back the material. They call this RECOR. The material can be reused or repurposed, or it can be ground and returned to the production cycle as raw material.

Image courtesy of Ecor web site

Currently, the product is available as 24” x 96” flat sheets or corrugated panels. All are unfinished. From a design perspective, flexibility is one of the most interesting attributes of Ecor®. It can be shaped, molded, combined, and treated in any manner you can conceive. Take a look at their web site image gallery to see examples of their own capability experiments. It’s strong and durable. Early testing suggests that flat sheets combined with corrugated ones to create hollow core composite panels are stronger than many engineered wood products like OSB, MDF, or plywood. But because the core is hollow, you get the benefit of strength without the weight.

Aesthetically, Ecor® communicates its natural bio-based heritage. Panel color varies depending on the initial recycled raw material, but is generally greenish brown. One side has a slight dimpled texture and the other is relatively smooth. Both offer interesting tactile potential. If sheets of paper, or paper-based products, are placed in the mold just prior to pressing, it can be fused into the panel surface. It’s not another layer on top, it actually is the surface, and is completely intact. There’s no degradation. The panels are hydroscopic, meaning they attract moisture, and should receive stain or color treatments well. I was shown a number of beautiful stained samples. I haven’t used Ecor®  yet, but I’m looking forward to testing it in several upcoming retail projects.

Mr. Noble and team may have been early with Gridcore, or may have approached the market with the wrong brand message, but the sustainable building materials market today seems ready and eager for Ecor®. Even though the product is new, it is built on years of experience and knowledge. The manufacturing process hasn’t significantly changed. The institutional knowledge is intact, they’ve learned valuable lessons from their previous launch, and they are ready to take another better positioned shot. I wish them luck, and hope that other designers will discover this fascinating story and compelling product.

If you would like to see samples or learn more, contact their National Sales Representative David Lasher. Ecor® is available in a variety of raw material content mixes, but David assures me that eventually I’ll be able to get panels with as much processed cow s**t content as I desire. I can’t wait.

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