Greenbuild: First Impressions

By Joe Salimando                  www.eleblog.com

Note: This is the first of three reports from the Greenbuild show and conference, held (by USGBC) Nov. 16-19 in Chicago. The views below do not necessarily represent those of NECA.

Although the USGBC’s Greenbuild annual show has been around for a while, and I have been around for even longer, my recent visit to the event, held Nov. 16-19 in Chicago, was my first.

I was not there to represent the NECA-IBEW/NLMCC, for which I work, or any of my other clients. I paid my own way – and I’m no financial hero these days – to look around, listen, walk the show, and learn.

There were 1,000-plus exhibitors. The show was massive. A few notes about that:

Key exhibitors – WESCO, the large electrical distributor, had a booth in Aisle 100. The company had a lot to say in its booth; I shipped home two thick catalogs (one on green, one on energy) just to take a look later at what the company is doing. One could not help but notice the wind turbine in the booth; it’s from Windtronics, but carries the Honeywell brand. You can buy it from WESCO.

Rosendin Electric – this NECA-member company had a booth, the only electrical contractor to do so. The San Jose, CA-based contractor, one of the biggest, was there to make contact with alternative energy project developers who might have been walking the show.

NECA Los Angeles & IBEW LU #11 – they had a booth, too. I ended up dropping in there several times. The Chicago Chapter of NECA had some people there, in the booth – including Frank Peters, the assistant chapter manager.

Why were those “key exhibitors?” Well, I put myself in the shoes of a NECA member (or other electrical contractor) walking the show, and I think – if you had the energy to cover the entire thing – you probably would have noticed those three booths before any others.

About walking the show: As it was so huge, I sat down the week before going to Chicago and made a list of which companies I wanted to try to see. Even though there were not that many electrical/lighting/alternative energy companies – compared to the vast number – my list still was pretty doggone long.

What was interesting in walking the thing, which anyone from the electrical biz would have noticed, was that in between electrical booths, there were anywhere from a half-dozen to 18-20 NON-electrical people. Lots of sustainable stuff – carpets, ceiling tiles, green certification organizations, HVAC people, you-name-it.

I guess it’s fair to say I expected that, as I had sat down with the list of everyone before arriving in Chi. But it’s one thing to “notice” on paper, and absorb such a thing in your brain; it’s quite another to see all of that non-electrical stuff with one’s eyes (and experience the mileage with one’s feet!).

In the WESCO booth, which was in aisle 100 of Greenbuild’s show floor, the electrical distributor showed off solar panels and a wind turbine (the WinTronics turbine carries the Honeywell brand name, by the way).

Press events

As a freelancer, many of my assignments come from tED magazine (The Electrical Distributor) and its website, www.tedmag.com. SO: I had a “press” badge, showing that I was with tED. This got me into press conferences and earned me a few on-the-show floor appointments (discussed in one of the two Greenbuild blog entries to follow).

What comes is a personal observation and, if it seems quirky to you, please note that I’ve been trained as a reporter. I write what I see.

In at least two of the press conferences, I had the distinct impression that I was in some other world. There were numerous such events, so if I am vague enough here, I will avoid slandering any person or company.

In one event, the applause from the other attendees was dramatic and loud, every time a speaker (and there were several) finished. The room was full but, as I discovered when I looked at the sign-up list on the way out, only four of the other people (five total if you include me) were from legit media. The applause was coming from folks who were – I suspect – recruited to fill out the room . . . friends of the two entities sponsoring the press event.

How do I know these people were not from the media? There’s a basic rule, folks, that predates my birth: No cheering in the press room!

Another event was promoted to me beforehand as a key press event (via several e-mails) by a high-profile company. But most of the seats in the press-conference room were taken, it turned out, by people from a given “green” construction company (this was not the company giving the press event)! How did I know this? All of them were wearing the construction company’s pullover shirts (incidentally, this was NOT Rosendin).

Now, if you’ve paid attention to the green “movement,” there is some greenwashing out there. Even if you don’t know from where that word came, you have seen some really strange stuff happening in the green/sustainable and renewable energy fields.

Here was yet more of this nonsense. I walked out of that second event before 10 minutes had elapsed.

This is exactly the kind of thing that people in a field that’s under a microscope might think about avoiding.