3-day expo seeks to build 'green' awareness
McCormick Place hosts conference and draws acclaim
By Mary Owen Tribune staff reporter
November 8, 2007

A recent interior design graduate, Madhoolica Dear was at McCormick Plaza on Wednesday learning about recycled carpets and cork flooring.Dear, whose future clients will want to be environmentally conscious, is one of 20,000 people registered to attend the three-day Greenbuild International Conference and Expo, which started Wednesday. The conference features more than 850 exhibitors who provide products and services for building "green.""I want to see the new products and stay ahead of the curve," said Dear of Westmont. "Some of the new technology is very interesting. It's like science fiction."

The sixth annual conference kicked off with an announcement by former President Bill Clinton and Mayor Richard Daley about three joint projects between the city and the Clinton Foundation to retrofit buildings and make them more energy-efficient. The buildings will include the Merchandise Mart, the Sears Tower and privately owned, multi-tenant housing.

"Chicago has always led by example when it comes to protecting the environment," Daley said. "The Clinton Climate Initiative will play a major role in helping us reach our goal of making Chicago the most environmentally friendly city in the country."

Clinton, who spoke to a crowd of more than 7,000 people, noted that 75 percent of carbon emissions come from urban areas, and most of that from buildings. "I'm not going to pretend this is going to be easy," he said. "We can do this. But to do this, we have to prove it's good economics."

Before the speech, Clinton and Daley praised the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, the owner and operator of McCormick Place, for receiving special recognition by the U.S. Green Building Council, a nonprofit group that sets national standards for environmentally friendly structures.

The council, which organized the conference, rates buildings on environmental performance based on several categories, including location, water efficiency, materials, energy use and indoor-air quality. McPier was cited for McCormick Place's West Building, which opened in August. The council said the annex was the largest new building in the country to receive the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Certification.

Exhibitors, which included small and large businesses selling everything from paint to bathroom supplies, said their products would help buildings win LEED certification. Paul DeJuliis, co-owner of Pennsylvania-based Expanko, showed off small squares of cork flooring that he said lasts as long as wooden floors, but don't require an entire tree to be cut down. The flooring is made of discarded bark that was already been holed out for wine corks. "It's 100 percent post-industrial waste," he said. "We just strip the bark off the tree, and the tree can be saved." He said the popularity of cork flooring has started to grow in the last five years and that trade expos are the best way to educate consumers about the benefits. "We're still a small, an almost minuscule, part of the market," DeJuliis said. "It's an awareness factor."

Bill Stacy approached the expo in terms of General Motors Corporation's more than 6,000 dealerships. Stacy, GM's director of strategic operations for dealer networks, said he wants to help dealerships be more environmentally conscious. "If we can help provide a guide for them to improve their energy efficiency, it will be an advantage to the environment. It just makes good business sense," said Stacy, who was looking at an exhibit featuring dual-flushing toilets, waterless urinals and low-volume water appliances.

The conference also features dozens of guest speakers talking about environmental trends in the building industry. Attendees come from more than 40 countries, spokeswoman Taryn Holowka said. This year's conference theme is "Transforming our community," which encourages people to think environmentally beyond a single building, she said. "It's not just thinking about the infrastructure," Holowka said. "We want people to think about the community, walkability and smart development, not just about more development, and combating urban sprawl."

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