Green building products help projects earn points towards LEED certification. There are a wide variety of green building products available and with anything in the “go green” product market, savvy consumers must be aware of greenwashing. To help combat inflated eco-friendly claims, Sustainable Industries has named its choices for the top 10 green building products of 2009.  

 

A panel of four green building experts, Eden Brukman, Barry Giles, Alistair Jackson and Paul Schwer, chose the top products. Brukman works at the Cascadia Region Green Building Council and is an architect with extensive experience in the sustainability field. Giles has been a LEED Accredited Professional for the past five years and is the founder of BuildingWise.

 

Jackson is a principal of O’Brien and Company where he is the senior consultant for the company’s LEED for Homes certification service. Sustainable Industries named Schwer, president of PAE CONSULTING ENGINEERS, INC, as one of the top 25 Green Building Leaders in 2004. Additionally, his company was named one of the 100 Greenest Companies in Oregon earlier this year. 

 

The products nominated for the top 10 green building products were judged on several different criteria including their compatibility with the LEED for New Construction rating system, environmental performance, value, scalability/market impact, innovativeness and design aesthetic.

 

After researching all of the nominated products, the judges came up with their choices for the top green building products of 2009.

Oregon-based Eleek is proving to be a leader in green building products. The company has made an appearance on the top 10 green building products list every year, since its inception in 2006. In the list’s inaugural year, Eleek’s Recycled Metal Lighting product made the list. In 2007, the Waterbox Sink made the cut while Masa Cabinet Hardware put Eleek on the list again in 2008.

 

Sustainable Industries is a magazine for green businesses on the West Coast. The magazine included the award announcement as a free supplement to their July 2009 issue. Download the entire report:  Top 10 Green Building Products 2009 (PDF).

 

Photo: tandemracer