Editor's Letter - Building a New Market

During an economic cycle that is testing the operating budgets of companies in all business sectors, it was heartening to see some 27,000 people gather in Boston in mid-November for the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo.

For several days, the Boston Convention Center and surrounding hotels were abuzz with the type of activity that an event with hundreds of exhibiting companies and thousands of attendees can create.

In the exhibit hall, attendees showed interest in the products and services being marketed by more than 850 companies. Exhibitors offered energy-saving insulation products, low-flow toilets and building materials made with recycled content.

The green building phenomenon that has been spurred on by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) is relatively young, but there can be little doubt that its momentum and influence have done nothing but rise throughout this decade.

For collectors, processors and consumers of secondary commodities, the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) system created by USGBC has formed a more receptive audience of architects, engineers and contractors who are seeking out recycled-content products to earn points in the LEED system. The phenomenon is new enough that it can be difficult to measure in dollars or tons of recyclables consumed to what extent LEED has bolstered secondary commodity markets.

Judging by the number of architects, contractors and building owners who have become regular attendees of the Greenbuild Conference and who have been involved in constructing LEED-certified buildings, however, the impact has been substantial.

One result has been a rush by established and entrepreneurial makers of flooring, insulation and other building products to offer products containing scrap commodities.

Makers of steel and aluminum building products also have been able to tout their scrap content, and consumers of recovered fiber who make insulation and tissue (for ongoing use in LEED-certified commercial buildings) have also begun to present their environmental credentials to those involved in LEED projects.

The momentum for recycled-content building products makers does face some factors that could cause it to sputter, most undeniably in the form of an overall construction market that has slowed considerably in the past two years.

Additionally, the new LEED 2009 points system to be introduced next year will focus more on energy savings and carbon footprint factors, possibly to the detriment of the number of points weighted toward on-site recycling and recycled-content products.

That could make it more imperative for collectors, processors and consumers of secondary commodities to tell the story that recycling conserves resources and energy.