NAHB Green: 550 attendees, 60 exhibitors and 33 breakout sessions

NAHB Green: 550 attendees, 60 exhibitors and 33 breakout sessions
Tags: Appliances, Heating & Cooling, Lighting, NAHB, Water Saving Devices
May 11, 2011 - Teena Hammond

Salt Lake City is a not-so-distant memory. The NAHB Green Building Conference & Expo, May 1-3, was an amazingly busy three days, starting with a green home tour of area construction, then two full days on the exhibitor floor, including the Monday night awards dinner. The three-day conference attracted approximately 550 people and 60 exhibitors.

As I walked around the expo floor each day, I learned a little about a lot of things. I guess that makes me dangerous now. I heard about customized rainwater harvesting systems from Brae Rainwater Technologies and found it fascinating how one system can collect thousands of gallons of reusable rainwater to be used in any non-potable application.

And then, over at the Bayer Material Science booth, I discovered more about spray polyurethane foam (SPF) and how it works to create a protective air barrier to practically eliminate air leakage in a building to save on energy costs.

One of my personal favorites was the Plug 'n Save Energy Products booth, where Dan Conroy showed off the PV Solar Shutter he invented. The product is simple – small solar panels that are easy to self-install on the backside of indoor shutters. It's the perfect way to access solar power without a large investment.

Next up were the sessions – there were 33 sessions spread out over two days, so some of my toughest decisions were which ones to attend and which to bypass, since there weren't enough hours in the day to cover everything. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Mike Holmes, host of Holmes on Homes and Holmes Inspection on HGTV, as he spoke passionately about green homebuilding. I also learned quite a bit more about Daybreak, the sustainable and affordable community created just outside of Salt Lake City by Kennecott Land with homes built by many builders, including Garbett Homes.

A big topic being discussed throughout the conference was how to get appraisers to recognize the value of green homes, and how the energy-cost savings in lighting, heating and cooling and appliances in highly efficient homes should offset the amount of a mortgage that homeowners qualify to receive. As Rene Oehlerking, marketing manager for Garbett Homes pointed out, it costs less, for instance, to operate a 100mpg car than one that gets 14mpg, and mortgage companies need to recognize the difference.

Overall, the conference was a highly successful venture. My colleagues and I met many interesting people and discovered many new products and companies to write about. Their stories will be appearing on our website in the near future.

Reader Comments

Ted Clifton

about 12 months ago

I agree with Teena, it was a great conference, even though it was much smaller than years past. There seemed to be a lot of emphasis on how to sell it, green or otherwise, which is what we all need right now.

I have to disagree about Mike Holmes, I found him to be a crashing bore, interested only in promoting himself and his brand. He seemed to have no clue about our Green Building Programs, when he asked how many in the audience had certified a home to the LEED program. Only two people raised their hands, and he seemed to lord it over us from then on that we weren't paying attention to the demand for Green. It was he who has not paid attention, we have certified many times the number of homes that have been certified LEED to the National Green Building Standard, the various Built Green® programs in Washington State, Earth Advantage in Oregon, and other equally rigorous Green Building programs in Texas, New Mexico, Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia, Colorado, and too many others to count. (Please accept my apologies for leaving out so many of your great programs in the list above)

I guess if that is what you have to do to sell it, I am not interested. I will stick to good-old-fashioned show and tell: Show my customers what it is, and tell them why it works.