• IRS (Interior Removal Specialist, Inc) Construction Demolition and Recycling Facility Tour  If you want to know more about sustainable deconstruction, diversion, and recycling, or maybe you were at Greenbuild and didn’t get to go on this tour, check out our article and come along for the ride!  IRS will be sharing a video version of this tour as well soon, and we can share a link to that when they do.  

• The USGBC CA BuildSMART Trailer - BuildSMART is an Inspiration for green building materials and community outreach around better and healthy building.  I appreciated Valentina Mejia’s video tour, and I'd love even better to get the opportunity one day to see the trailer out in action in the community if possible.  Check out our brief video introduction!

• The Building Skills Green Janitorial Workforce Development Program - We need to be thinking about how to fill future green building professional career paths! This organization was great to see, and I hope they continue to expand their offerings.  

• Quite a few new companies to meet on the Expo floor - I saw many new products and services across industry segments, including colorful cement-free low-carbon concrete, foldable ICFs, IAQ monitoring systems including a reactive powerful and yet compact commercial system, a new plug-in induction cooktop with internal backup power, and lots of hemp! Even sustainable gym equipment. I also learned about a few companies which help mine low hanging fruit I hadn't yet thought about to save energy and money.  I hope the images below will give you a sense of some of the interesting and fun products and services - and people - I encountered on the show floor this year. 

• Old and new Friends:  Starting with colleagues on the IRS Tour and sitting at the same table in the Innovative Building Materials Summit, speaking at and attending sessions, and across the expo floor, I was pleased to meet new people and also to see some people I haven’t seen in person in years.  

• Speed Dating - Yes, you read that right.  I thought about just reporting on Greenbuild’s professional Speed Dating to get to know people a few minutes at a time, but I was drawn in to try it for the first time, and I must say I really enjoyed the experience.  Everyone had an interesting career and story to tell.  I've never been so excited to meet tax experts! One of the last people I spoke to say he could do this for 8 more hours - I almost agreed!  The spirit was right on - everyone sincerely wanted to be there and to connect.  (And yes, one of my top goals is to help people connect like this and feel this conversationally invigorated when we're not at a big event!) 

• At the Innovative Building Materials Summit, early speakers affirmed that green building policy is not dead, with about 125 active state and local US policies in place. The growth of green building was not dependend on the federal government before, and we can certainly keep making progress now.  Attendees also heard about some exciting nature-based materials that are ready, in development and still in research phases.  Manufacturers also presented on significant, transformative projects to do business more sustainably.  Later conference sessions built on the idea of nature-based materials.  Attendees were reminded that 85% of today's commonly used products contain toxic chemicals, and yet only 5% of products disclose ingredients. Some good news is that the tools really do exist to solve this problem and to do so much better - if we work on the will and also really get in the minds of clients - and the public - and offer them something amazing that they really want and need. 

• During the Innovative Materials Summit on November 4, Mindful Materials and the organization's members and partners launched the Common Materials Framework (CMF) Toolkit. Some say this is the start of a long but critical, maybe ten-year effort to successfully align, integrate and digitize sustainable building materials data, but it’s also worth recognizing people and organizations who have been trying to make this happen for decades.  This feels like a real, actionable turning point! 

• I also attended quite a few engaging conference sessions.  There were definitely some schedule conflicts where I'd have attended more than one concurrent session, so I plan to give several recordings a listen when they become available!  I had to leave before Friday's keynote, and that is on the top of my list.  I have to admit after the optimism of the Materials Summit, I did note the sessions on the politics related to green buildings were sobering.  It was admittedly tough to hear accounts of how bipartisan spirit and interest in a more sustainable future exist but are weak, and how those in politics and at NGOs are literally changing their vocabulary to kowtow out of necessity to get anything done, almost as a trick, as if concern for sustainable and healthy buildings, the surrounding ecosystems and communities, an energy and environment-positive economy, and the ability of future generations to thrive are almost something to hide or mask.  The bottom line? Think long term, seek opportunities doggedly and creatively, and certainly don't give up, as being a squeaky wheel and bering in the room at all are essential for holding or gaining ground in the national landscape. 

• Greenbuild Keynote: Louis Virtel and Julia Louis Dreyfus started their conversation with the importance of storytelling, which I am of course going to agree with! Key for me was how Julia personalized climate change and loss.  Here's someone who happens to be famous, but who built a sustainable home 25 years ago  and who lost that beloved home in the Palisades Fires.  As Julia recounted, "Climate change is here. It is not coming, it is here.  What must we do here, what must we do now to adjust the way we live and think about how we live... It won’t be the last time it happens." 

In introducing Louis Virtel and Julia Louis Dreyfus at the start of the keynote conversation, Informa's Sherida Sessa said something most of us in the audience know all too well: "The problems [we're trying to solve] are too large and complex for anyone alone."  That's comforting in a room where thousands have shown up to get the job done.  USGBC's Peter Templeton acknowledged it can be tough to stay positive and keep going against headwinds, but he reminded everyone among other things that coal was taken over by clean energy this year and that 93% of new power is clean power on the US Grid.  We'll take the wins.  Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass reported some recent wins and plans, including the city's 100% clean energy goal for 2035, a 77% 3-year increase in installed electric vehicle charging, the doubling of wastewater to drinking water to 70 million gallons per day, the end of coal electricity for LA literally this month, along with the installation of the country's largest solar and battery energy project this past summer.  As Mayor Bass affirmed, sustainable initiatives simply do not hurt the economy; they help, they improve the quality of life, and they contribute to a sustainable planet.     

Greenbuild and other large events are exciting because they remind us that there are still so many people and organizations “in the room” or “tent” and that you’re not alone in wanting to build better and healthier for the future, but it's also clear these days that many people don't yet know we can and need to do better, or who would even support blatantly unsustainable building and energy policies and practices.  So I felt optimistic and drew so much great energy from everyone I met, and hope I have that energy right back.  But I also worry about all the people who don’t know to ask for more sustainable materials or how to measure or improve their indoor air quality.  There’s more work to do! 

I’ll hope to attend and see many of you in New York City at the next Greenbuild, but we can do and share so much together in the meantime!  Additionally, we need to remember that even those of us in “the tent” aren’t all in the same places at the same times, especially when in-person opportunities can be a significant investment.  Only through sharing and keeping conversations going in any way we can can we continue to do better for ourselves and our families, our neighbors, our friends and colleagues across the globe, and for future generations.     

So I really hope to see you or hear from you well before a potential New York trip, somewhere in-person or at a webinar or other online event, posting on Rate It Green or on another resource, sharing on a social channel, landing in my inbox, or just showing up anywhere you have something to say, ask, or want to learn!  And next time you are wondering if you should go to something, my advice is to just, “Go.”  I am glad I pushed myself out the door.  Let's connect every which way we can! 
 

Here are some notes and photos of some organizations I mentioned above, and also a few other people I met and organizations I saw and learned about at Greenbuild 2025!
 

USGBC CA's BuildSMART Trailer is the ultimate Expo Floor hang out spot! I'd love to see the trailer in action teaching renters and homeowners about sustainable products and materials!

Making new friends on the IRS (Interior Removal Specialist, Inc) Construction Demolition and Recycling Facility Tour 




After the IRS tour, I enjoyed learning about the Tommy Carts system for transporting construction and demolition waste efficiently, and more easily in tighter spots. The carts and bar code system allow for efficient tracking and processing as well.  

I used a thermal camera to see the difference between insulated and non insulated mechanical pipes with Alfonso Ruiz, Executive Director of the International Association of Heat & Frost Insulators and Allied Workers, Labor Management Cooperative Trust. We all know heat loss is huge in mechanical systems - insulating is low hanging fruit. 




 

Rouzbeh Savary, President of C Crete Tech, showcased his cement-free low-carbon concrete. The company apparently saves a ton of carbon dioxide emissions per ton of C-Crete binder used.  C-Crete's pastel palette comes from natural rocks or industrial byproducts. 




 

Robert Viets, Vice-President of Celblox, manufacturers ICF's in Reedsburg, Wisconsin. Celbox blocks fold flat for shipping and are made with extra high strength webs and studs, for added durability, particularly in climate-vulnerable / high-risk areas. 


 

Yasmine Nugent of Emissis North America explained how enPact reduced the energy consumption of chillers and other refrigeration systems 10-25% through the use of a nanofluid additive and by employing control logic to optimize compressor behavior and stabilize temperatures while reducing energy waste.




The team at Copper baked and gave out cookies, a great sales technique! I love the wood handles on this plug-in induction stove with back up power.  Lisa and Audrey were a fun team.  Next time, I hope to be in time for their chili. 




Hemp seemed to be everywhere - what a super community positive energy over in the hemp section(s) of Greenbuild’s Expo! I informally counted over 15 hemp-related organizations.  Also, these people all seem really excited about what they do and about scaling hemp in building.  TGregg Gnecco from IND Hemp, pictured, is rolling out a hemp-based erosion control mat with zero plastic netting. Gregg is also basically a hemp educator and talks up the other hemp companies, too. That's Connor Liles of Sativa Building Systems, Inc on his right.  I also enjoyed meeting TJ Fiala of Structural BioComposites. I didn't take a good enough photo of the Industrial Hemp Lumber he invented, but we will just have to collaborate on an article to share more. 


 

Lunawood is a Finnish manufacturer of chemical-free thermally-modified low-carbon wood for exterior façades/cladding, decking, interior panelling, battens, and landscaping applications. Jesús Castro and his colleagues recently announced and opened a US mill in Cleveland, Georgia to produce local white ash and yellow poplar for their North American collection. 

On the list of fun exhibits was definitely SportsArt with Green Exercise Equipment!  Get your steps in with their energy efficient equipment, and you can also power (some of) your house.  I do like to see some products that are more consumer facing too, to be honest.  Getting regular people to think of energy efficiency and sustainability is important for getting everyone thinking and for growing demand.  And this is something industry professionals can help with across less obvious segments, too.  Yes, there's also a picture of me on the treadmill, and yes I am sharing the one of Steve! 

Donald and Chloe from Air Things were patient as I had a moment of guilt and admitted to them that I have an Air Things Wave Plus at home that is still in the box.  I first wrote introductory level IAQ content years and years ago about how we need to educate more widely and promote monitoring as a start to understanding how much work there is to do, and then I wanted to make the perfect video to show off how indoor air quality monitors work - and so I bought more than one monitor...  and never took them out.  Even when I undertook a significant HVAC upgrade to VRF heat pumps with 3 ERVS and meant to measure our IAQ before and after.  I promised to fix this and make the video soon.  I also met the Gray Wolf Sensing Solutions team, and James Richardson at Fellowes Brands and I had a great conversation about reactive HVAC and IAQ.  I learned consistently from all of these folks that the show air quality was pretty good! So now I have to go finally measure at home.  




It was great to hang out "by the fire" with Julie Du Brow of USGBC California - it's been a while since we got to say hello in person!





The Dunn Edwards team might win for the swag that's a combination of fun, funny, and practical?  I got read all the sustainability and health information about this nail polish, and we had a good laugh over it, too.  Certainly a conversation starter, so it was very clever in that sense.  




These amazingly friendly people from Canada deserve a shout out.  Longboard does a lot of work in California, Carol, Whitney and Selma are super friendly people, and it's clear they have a terrific company culture.  I really like how they present materials samples in an appealing and educational way for clients (and attendees), and I was thrilled they're open to creating content so they can help teach others out there who might not be in the green building industry or able to attend the show. Great team and industry spirit! 

Speed Networking was surprisingly fun - and not stressful! A good number of people participated, and I heard a lot of positive feedback. 




I thought Louis Virtel and Julia Louis Dreyfus did a good job of balancing storytelling with inspiration, especially so early in the morning.  Julia shared her loss in the Palisades Fire, but she was very interested in where we go from here and how we do better, because more climate change effects are coming.  She also brought up some of the striking equity issues from the fires, even though diverse groups of people also suffered losses.  




Last but not least, here's a visual and a reminder that the Launch of the Common Materials Framework (CMF) Implementation Toolkit at Greenbuild was/is a significant milestone for the future of specification, transparency and impact measurement and just how industry professionals can talk with each other ,and ultimaely including lients as well as awareness and sophistication increase, about sustainable building materials more consistently and easily.  Now, how fast will everyone get on board and start and keep consistently making changes? There's a lot of hard work to do! 


 

And that's a wrap for Greenbuild 2025!  There are conference educational sessions I might hope to report on more specifically and more people I met I where wish I had taken better photos of their products and booths.  But I hope this post gives a good idea of what it was like to be at Greenbuild 2025, and I hope to be in New York City next year to report more!  In the meantime, I'd love to connect!  I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible to help you showcase what you do, share your expertise and stories, and ask your green building questions across segments or across the world.  The more we keep talking and sharing, the faster we can build better, healthier buildings for everyone.