One of the largest trade shows where Draper exhibits each year is Greenbuild. It claims to be the world’s largest conference and expo focused on green building, and I am sure that is true. Greenbuild is sponsored by the USGBC (US Green Building Council), the folks who brought us LEED and really got the green building movement started. It happened October 22-24 in New Orleans, and I was privileged to be there.
Across the board, Draper seeks to be a responsible corporate citizen, with sustainable operations and products that are transparent and support our customers’ efforts to be sustainable. So we show all of our product lines at Greenbuild, and have GREENGUARD Gold certified products for AV, gym equipment, and window shades, as well as Cradle to Cradle Certified window shade materials.
But the exciting story–the place where Draper can really help our customers save money, greenhouse gas, and fossil fuel while keeping buildings comfortable–is at the windows. Draper has a unique package for our customers. We can cover windows of all sizes, shapes, and orientations, inside and out, and block up to 95% of solar heat gain in the process. We use venetian blinds, rack arm louver systems, and roller-operated shades on both sides of the windows. Covering both sides means that, in a temperate climate, the solar heat gain can be blocked in the summer and admitted in the winter (using exterior shading products), and the winter’s glare can be managed for occupant comfort (with interior roller shades).
Clint Childress explains some of Draper’s solar control solutions.
No other manufacturer has this full range of options on the market today. So it’s a lot of fun to go to Greenbuild and share this story. We were also privileged to be the only exhibitor showing two exciting new window shade materials from Mermet. The first is Evolve®, a new window shade material with 72% recycled content (from water bottles!) and a takeback program where Evolve® can actually be recycled into more Evolve®. The second, T Screen with KOOLBLACK™, offers great performance benefits as the interior of the fabric is dark in color for maximum viewthrough with minimum glare, and the exterior is light-colored with extra reflectivity from the proprietary KOOLBLACK™ coating.
The Greenbuild audience is loaded with specifiers, architects, contractors, facility managers–all eager to learn new ways to improve the efficiency and safety of their buildings. They take a lot of classes, and they are seriously looking to learn while they are visiting the exhibit hall too. The conversations are always excellent: interesting and challenging. We love sharing our story and helping people plan to control daylight and solar heat gain. We learn from our Greenbuild visitors and from other exhibitors too.
Our team at Greenbuild 2014 included Clint Childress, Richard Wilson, Jeff Miller, Zac Farber, Ross Rhoades, Chad Tabor, Chris Broome, Lee Denhart, Harold Seib, and me. It was a pleasure to hang out with these guys and enjoy some fine New Orleans cuisine. Next year Greenbuild will be held in Washington, DC. Hope to see you there!
