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comment Products - May 2009
All products featured here have been screened and approved by our partners at BuildingGreen. Click here for more information on product evaluation and criteria. If you have an interesting product to showcase, please contact our products editor, Mark Piepkorn, at greensource-products@buildinggreen.com.
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LIFE Wool Textiles Unika Vaev is the exclusive distributor for the U.S. and Canada of Australia-based Instyle’s LIFE (Low Impact For the Environment) sustainable commercial upholstery and screen textiles. The line, made of 100-percent wool, has been designed to minimize environmental impacts at all stages—raw materials, production, use, and disposal. The rapidly renewable, biodegradable fabrics are made from either third-party certified organic wool, or “eco wool” that’s been tested in its raw state for negligible pesticide residue. Non-mutagenic dyes that don’t contain heavy metals are used, and no flame retardants or anti-static treatments are applied. ICF Group—Unika Vaev; Norwich, CT. |
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Navien Tankless Water Heaters The Navien Condensing 98% line of sealed-combustion natural-gas and propane tankless water heaters from Korean manufacturer KD Navien boasts models with efficiencies in excess of 98 percent... hence, the name. All the usual benefits of tankless, plus less fuel use and lower emissions. Several dozen units can be cascaded to achieve the large volume of hot water required in restaurants, entertainment and sports establishments, swimming pools, and hotels. The “A” models have a built-in recirculation feature that can potentially reduce operating costs compared to similar systems in commercial settings. Before specifying recirculation in a residence, particularly as a retrofit, do deep research. Navien America Inc.; Irvine, CA. |
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Roxul Mineral Wool Insulation The Canadian company, Roxul, offers the U.S. market DrainBoard—a high-compressive-strength mineral wool board used with foundation walls and structural concrete as a drainage system that also provides R-4 insulation per inch. Mineral wool is vapor-permeable, water-repellant, non-combustible, dimensionally stable, chemically inert, and doesn’t degrade or support mold. It’s made with natural basalt rock and recycled slag. Blankets and formed products for thermal, acoustic, and fireproofing insulation for walls, floors, curtain walls, pipes, and tanks are available for the commercial market. Roxul also offers additional residential products, including batts, in the Canadian and greater world markets—but, sadly, not in the U.S. Roxul, Inc.; Milton, ON, Canada. |
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Thermomax Evacutated-Tube Heat Pipes Thermo Technologies is the east-coast U.S. distributor for Thermomax, a European company with manufacturing facilities in Italy, Northern Ireland, and Wales. Thermomax produces evacuated-tube “heat pipe” solar collectors—including temperature-limiting Mazdon “Memotron” tubes (TMA600) with integrated overheating protection that limits the maximum heat-exchange temperature to 250 degrees F. Heat pipes use a contained phase-change fluid to create one-way heat flow to a heat-exchange manifold, eliminating potential heat loss through the collectors. The collectors’ selective absorber surface—95 percent absorption and 5 percent emittance—is an environmentally friendly titanium nitride oxide coating from Germany. Thermo Technologies also offers balance-of-system components and design services. Thermo Technologies; Columbia, MD. |
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DeLonghi DE500P Dehumidifier Many of the most significant IAQ problems are due to too much moisture in the building envelope. While preventing leaks, wicking, and unvented vapor sources are top priorities, it’s sometimes also necessary to remove unwanted water from indoor air. The standalone DE500P 50-pint dehumidifier from Italian manufacturer DeLonghi squeezes 1.81 liters of water per kilowatt-hour from a room—nearly 50 pints a day, putting it among Energy Star’s upper achievers for standard capacity dehumidifiers. Quiet operation in temperatures as low as 44 degrees F makes this is a good candidate for any part of a building. Available at a number of retail chains, or their online store. DeLonghi America, Saddle Brook, NJ; |
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GenYDoors A cost-competitive and environmentally preferable option to buying new doors for renovation projects was developed in Finland a number of years ago: resurface them. GenYDoors uses water-based adhesive and high-impact polystyrene to renew existing flat-panel interior doors into paneled-door lookalikes—keeping old doors out of landfills and sidestepping the environmental debts of making new ones. This system makes especially good sense for non-standard sized doors. White, beech, and cherry finishes are offered. The only potential hitch is that the old doors need to be brought to a GenYDoors shop—and the first location outside of Europe is in Vancouver, Canada. GenYDoors Inc.; Coquitlam, BC, Canada. |
Building Green Top Ten products: August 2008 | January 2009
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