Every year, Sustainable Industries publishes a list of the Top 10 Green Building Products. The magazine chooses the winners based on five criteria: environmental performance, scalability / market impact, innovation, design aesthetic, value, and compatibility with LEED. But besides those commonalities, the winning products, which range from solar collectors to bamboo plywood, share few traits. Check out the winners below.
1. Acadia Combined Heating and Cooling System
The Acadia System maintains 200% efficiency even when outdoor temperatures drop below 0 degrees. At peak functionality, the system saves users 70% in energy costs.
ec-H20 technology uses tap water to clean any surface of any substance. It has the potential to save 245 million gallons of water each year if installed in all new floor-cleaning machines.
A transpired solar collector and fresh air heating system, the Inspire can cut heating costs by up to $5 for each square foot of InSpire Wall installed.
4. Kama EEBS Structural Systems
This light gauge metal stud framing system stops thermal bridging and creates an energy-efficient building envelope.
As the name implies, Plyboo is a form of Forest Stewardship Council-certified bamboo plywood.
The RainTube rain gutter filter is made entirely out of post-consumer high-density polyethylene–AKA old milk jugs.
The Separett Villa is a 100% PVC-free composting toilet that separates solids and liquids. This cuts odor and makes it easier to reuse waste urine for fertilizing and composting.
These ultra-efficient windows could potentially eliminate the need for a building’s heating system. At the very least, the windows can cut energy bills by up to 50% monthly.
Solatube captures sunlight and redirects it into a tube to bring daylight to parts of a building that otherwise are shrouded in darkness.
This winning entry isn’t a product–it’s a lighting restoration service from Eleek. When the company restores a fixture, it updates wiring to modern codes and installs a new lamp base to make it compatible with CFL and LED bulbs.