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New, Expanded Edition of GreenSpec Directory Provides Easy Access to Green Building Product Information
Thursday, February 2, 2006
CONTACT:
Jerelyn Wilson
802-257-7300 ext. 102
Brattleboro, VT--The expanded and revised 6th edition of the widely used GreenSpec® Directory of environmentally preferable building products contains nearly 2,000 listings, providing architects, building owners, and builders with the most complete source for green building product information.
"With the rapid pace of change in building products manufacturing, we revised over 90% of our listings," says GreenSpec coeditor Alex Wilson. "Each year, both the volume of product information and the need for objective review expand significantly," he adds.
The GreenSpec Directory is published by Brattleboro, Vermont-based BuildingGreen, Inc., and includes 1,997 product listings. Thousands of building-industry professionals use the book to identify and gather unbiased information on products that can improve the environmental performance and energy efficiency of buildings. More than 200 product listings were added in this edition, and 100 were dropped. Products dropped include those discontinued in the past year, those for which the manufacturing has changed (reducing recycled content, for example), and those that fail to qualify under new, tighter GreenSpec criteria.
"Each year we raise the bar with some of our product criteria," notes Wilson. "As a result, the GreenSpec content changes with each new edition."
The criteria used to screen products for GreenSpec have been refined over more than eleven years by the editors of Environmental Building News, the oldest and most respected publication serving the green building industry. These criteria are published in the new 6th edition, and they can be downloaded from the BuildingGreen.com website in the updated article "What Makes a Product Green?"
Of particular note in the new 6th edition of GreenSpec are some significant changes to the criteria the editors use in selecting products for inclusion. Among the new or refined criteria are products that reduce stormwater pollution, products that help noise control, and products that enhance community well-being. "We re-examine our criteria for what makes a product green at least annually," said Wilson. "In the 6th edition, we made more changes than in recent years."
"Unlike most other directories in the construction and design sector, GreenSpec does not charge for listings or for the review process," said Wilson, "and we don't accept advertisements." The product research process is supported strictly by publication sales, allowing GreenSpec to maintain an editorial independence and a high level of integrity--a feature GreenSpec users greatly appreciate, according to Wilson.
The 475-page GreenSpec Directory also includes "Guideline Specifications" language in the CSI MasterFormat™ structure that can help architects and specifiers develop green project specifications. The directory costs $89. GreenSpec-listed products can also be found in the online BuildingGreen Suite, a subscription-based information service available for $199 per year.
For more information on GreenSpec or other resources published by BuildingGreen, Inc., visit www.GreenSpec.com or call 800-861-0954 (outside the U.S. and Canada, call 802-257-7300).
BuildingGreen, Inc., has provided the building industry with quality information on sustainable design and construction since its founding in 1985. Its publications include Environmental Building News; the GreenSpec® Directory; the residential product directory Green Building Products; and the integrated, online BuildingGreen Suite.
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A cover image of the GreenSpec 6th edition can be downloaded at http://www.buildinggreen.com/press/images/index.cfm
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