Green Product Association Welcomes First Global Trade Partners and Opens Tiered Membership
Green Building Product Promotion goes global; supports growth of companies of all sizes.
Boston, MA, March 13, 2010 --(PR.com)-- The hunger for green building products is on the rise all over the world. McGraw Hill’s “Smart Market - Global Green Building Report” notes that, “At $4.7 trillion, the (global) construction industry contributes 8-10% of global gross domestic product” and is projected to grow steadily, despite the state of the economy. Additionally, the expected boom in infrastructure and building development in Asia and other markets, together with the race for innovation in green and clean tech, are expected to generate tremendous opportunities for growth and promotion of green building products. The Green Product Association (GPA), the only global association to promote the entire life cycle of green products for construction and operations, recognizes these opportunities and today announces the establishment of its Global Trade Partner network to accelerate market adoption of green products for companies of all sizes.
GPA’s Global Trade Partners include governmental International Trade and Investment Offices, World Green Building Councils and other entities in both the public and private sector who represent trade and commerce. Representatives from China, Canada, Mexico, Russia, UK, Vietnam, Mauritia and Israel were the first to join, representing trillions in market investment. GPA is working with these and other partners to create effective channels for product promotion to developers and specifiers and to proactively address challenging issues such as conflicting standards and regulations across international markets.
Many innovative, game-changing technologies will come from small and mid-sized companies. Recognizing this fact, GPA membership is now tiered to ensure that companies of all sizes and market-share can participate and benefit from the Association’s global initiatives. Companies who join by April 30, 2010 are included as Founding Members and have a seat on GPA’s interim Advisory Board, providing leadership and direction for GPA market activities.
Heidi Jandris of A. Jandris & Sons, CMU manufacturer and GPA Founding Member, explains, “Our company has taken several steps at our manufacturing facility to reduce oil, water, and energy consumption. Most of our production waste is recycled into local industries. By becoming founding members of the Green Product Association, we are working to generate a network between manufacturers to open recycling channels between industries, increasing the feasibility and availability of recycled content.” A. Jandris & Sons is one of many companies that see a unique value of the Green Product Association to accelerate both their company and the industry.
GPA has a full program schedule planned for 2010 with dozens of events addressing Education & Training, Product Promotion, Tools & Resources, Standards and Certifications, Innovation and Eco-Industrial Synergies. The first industry Roundtable organized by GPA, on March 4th, focused on the issue of “Transparency and Trends in Green Building Products.” UL-Environment and Healthy Building Network addressed the challenges to product evaluation and specification, from data transparency (the focus of the Pharos tool) to third party certification and validation (provided by UL-E through its programs). HBN’s Bill Walsh came right out with a challenge to the audience: “The people who are going to drive the change are the people buying (and specifying) the products.”
Design firms with global portfolios were in attendance, including Perkins Eastman, Goody Clancy, SBRA, Icon, SGH and others, as were GPA Founding Members Xerox and A. Jandris & Sons. “It was incredibly useful to hear about the different venues to analyze and evaluate products and to hear the issues faced by well-intentioned manufacturers as they try to incorporate recycled materials into their lines,” said Perkins Eastman Associate Principal Jana Silsby. “The dialogue brings to the forefront the issues of transparency and toxicity. I assume every concerned architect is facing these same issues. It is crucial to have a venue where the issues are discussed and potential solutions brought to light. NEXUS always seems to be at the forefront of the issues of designing healthy and sustainable projects.”
The Green Roundtable / NEXUS is a non-profit organization whose mission is to mainstream green building through education, policy and technical assistance. The mission of the Green Product Association, a program of NEXUS, is to lead an industry-wide market transformation so that all construction and building operation products meet a continuously increasing level of sustainability throughout their life cycle. For more information, visit www.nexusboston.org/GPA or call (617) 374-3740.
Contact:
Aaron Desatnik
The Green Roundtable / NEXUS
617-374-3740 x 127
aaron@greenroundtable.org www.nexusboston.org
###
GPA’s Global Trade Partners include governmental International Trade and Investment Offices, World Green Building Councils and other entities in both the public and private sector who represent trade and commerce. Representatives from China, Canada, Mexico, Russia, UK, Vietnam, Mauritia and Israel were the first to join, representing trillions in market investment. GPA is working with these and other partners to create effective channels for product promotion to developers and specifiers and to proactively address challenging issues such as conflicting standards and regulations across international markets.
Many innovative, game-changing technologies will come from small and mid-sized companies. Recognizing this fact, GPA membership is now tiered to ensure that companies of all sizes and market-share can participate and benefit from the Association’s global initiatives. Companies who join by April 30, 2010 are included as Founding Members and have a seat on GPA’s interim Advisory Board, providing leadership and direction for GPA market activities.
Heidi Jandris of A. Jandris & Sons, CMU manufacturer and GPA Founding Member, explains, “Our company has taken several steps at our manufacturing facility to reduce oil, water, and energy consumption. Most of our production waste is recycled into local industries. By becoming founding members of the Green Product Association, we are working to generate a network between manufacturers to open recycling channels between industries, increasing the feasibility and availability of recycled content.” A. Jandris & Sons is one of many companies that see a unique value of the Green Product Association to accelerate both their company and the industry.
GPA has a full program schedule planned for 2010 with dozens of events addressing Education & Training, Product Promotion, Tools & Resources, Standards and Certifications, Innovation and Eco-Industrial Synergies. The first industry Roundtable organized by GPA, on March 4th, focused on the issue of “Transparency and Trends in Green Building Products.” UL-Environment and Healthy Building Network addressed the challenges to product evaluation and specification, from data transparency (the focus of the Pharos tool) to third party certification and validation (provided by UL-E through its programs). HBN’s Bill Walsh came right out with a challenge to the audience: “The people who are going to drive the change are the people buying (and specifying) the products.”
Design firms with global portfolios were in attendance, including Perkins Eastman, Goody Clancy, SBRA, Icon, SGH and others, as were GPA Founding Members Xerox and A. Jandris & Sons. “It was incredibly useful to hear about the different venues to analyze and evaluate products and to hear the issues faced by well-intentioned manufacturers as they try to incorporate recycled materials into their lines,” said Perkins Eastman Associate Principal Jana Silsby. “The dialogue brings to the forefront the issues of transparency and toxicity. I assume every concerned architect is facing these same issues. It is crucial to have a venue where the issues are discussed and potential solutions brought to light. NEXUS always seems to be at the forefront of the issues of designing healthy and sustainable projects.”
The Green Roundtable / NEXUS is a non-profit organization whose mission is to mainstream green building through education, policy and technical assistance. The mission of the Green Product Association, a program of NEXUS, is to lead an industry-wide market transformation so that all construction and building operation products meet a continuously increasing level of sustainability throughout their life cycle. For more information, visit www.nexusboston.org/GPA or call (617) 374-3740.
Contact:
Aaron Desatnik
The Green Roundtable / NEXUS
617-374-3740 x 127
aaron@greenroundtable.org www.nexusboston.org
###
Contact
The Green Rouhdtable / NEXUS
Aaron Desatnik
6173743740
http://www.nexusboston.org
Aaron Desatnik
6173743740
http://www.nexusboston.org
Contact
Categories