Green Building Products
The Alaska Building Science Network is seeking to increase the use of building products that do not harm human health, which minimize overall environmental impact through the creation of an Alaska Green Building Products Guide.
The ABSN has contacted more than 580 distributors and manufacturers through-out the state of Alaska and over 800 products have been nominated. Standards for 21 product categories have been established through an advisory committee of local building experts and soon the Alaska Green Building Products Guide will be available in print form as well as on the internet.
The Municipality of Anchorage has awarded ABSN a grant to help fund production of the guide and ABSN is still seeking funding for infrastructure development, printing, and distribution of the guide.
The nomination period for the first printing of the Alaska Green Building Products Guide is closed, however we are accepting nominations for the 2009 printing. For a nomination packet please contact:
Anna Hilbruner
absngreen@alaska.net
907-562-9927
F: 907- 770-5412
We would like to send our sincere thanks to the Municipality of Anchorage and our advisory committee, consisting of:
Ginny Moore - Flattop Technical Services
Geoff Feiler - Heat Loss Analysis
Paul Cotter -
Jeanne Carlson - Green Star
Community Need:
As Alaska continues to grow, new homes are built, old homes are remodeled and new businesses are constructed. This new construction comes at a time when green building design, energy efficiency and locally-made products are gaining popularity. Illustrating this fact, there are currently 2 LEED certified and 18 LEED (*1) registered projects in Alaska, the majority of which were registered in the past two years. The National Association of Home Builders just released their Green Building standard and government contracts are requiring ISO 14001 certification (*2) and environmentally preferable purchasing policies. Consumers and businesses alike are recognizing the value of “going green.” While guides such as GreenSpec by Building Green support consumers in their search for green building products nation-wide, the time and resources required to track down products available in Alaska can sway the consumersfrom purchasing locally available green building products. There are currently no local guides promoting green building products in Alaska.
1. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ is a nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings.
2. ISO 14001 was first published in 1996 and specifies the requirements for an environmental management system. It applies to those environmental aspects which the organization has control and over which it can be expected to have an influence.