Huttig launches green workshop

Huttig Building Products is launching its first Greener Selections Workshop on 17 Feb 2009 in St. Louis at the St. Charles Convention Center. The program, which costs $20, covers "what “green” really means, summaries of key certification programs, resources you need to know, and best ways to sell green."

The full-day event will include several presentations, two keynote speakers, and giveaways and prizes.

Bronx development marks milestone

The non-profit Women’s Housing and Economic Development Corp. celebrated the opening of a new milestone last week -- the largest affordable Energy Star certified building in the country, called Intervale Green. The non-profit says that the Bronx, N.Y., multi-family housing project is "thirty-three percent more energy-efficient than a standard building." The organization also has an online press kit available. The complex was built with eco-friendly materials and features energy-efficient appliances.

Forest product co. hires new Northeast rep

Cikel America, a subsidiary of Brazilian forest products maker Cikel, has announced that it has hired a new regional sales manager for the New England and Upstate New York territory. Mark Kolbe, previously an outside sales representative for Hoboken Floors, said, "It’s exciting to represent an FSC certified company that owns and properly maintains a large portion of Brazilian forest."

By the way, Floor Daily posted the same item, and here is some more Cikel staff news from about a month ago.

For your browsing pleasure

I added the Shop Eco blog to my blogroll on the right side of the page. Enjoy.

New safe-for-drinking hose saves water

Teknor Apex has two new hoses: the Healthy Habitat and the AquaPure Neverkink. The basic idea of both is that they are lead-free, so you can use them safely for drinking water. Also, both feature a reduced flow rate, which the company claims leads to water conservation -- presumably because less water spills out on the ground. Course, when I was a kid we drank from any old hose we could get. Lead, asbestos, Bosco -- that stuff was salt and pepper to us. And we liked it!

This blog in a nutshell. Or a word cloud.

It's a little self-indulgent, I know, but I plugged this blog's URL through the Wordle Web site and created the graphic above. It's a neat way to capture an essence of a Web site, or any block of text, for that matter. Click on the image for a closer look.

Online training program for pro dealers signs two orgs

The Certified Green Dealer Program, an online training site for pro dealers and distributors, has signed on two new clients: the Construction Suppliers Association, serving dealers in Georgia and Alabama, and the Indiana Lumber and Builders' Supply Association. The folks running the program are also proud of their Web traffic.

Full disclosure: The Certified Green Dealer Program is run by LBM Journal, a competitor of my magazine, Home Channel News (I'm the managing editor).

New cabinet underlight features LEDs

Juno Lighting is pushing its new Pro-LED under-cabinet fixtures. According to the company, the product uses only one-eighth the energy of an equivalent halogen- or xenon-based product.

Stimulating the Home Channel

Congress and the incoming administration want to hit the ground running as it comes to the planned economic stimulus package. Brian Beutler has an excellent summary of the green provisions in one draft wending its way through the Washingtonian Halls of Power. A few highlights that target the home channel:

• $2.5 billion for a new program to upgrade HUD sponsored low-income housing to increase energy efficiency, including new insulation, windows, and furnaces.
• $6.2 billion to help low-income families reduce their energy costs by weatherizing their homes.
• $300 million to provide consumers with rebates for buying energy efficient Energy Star products to replace old appliances, which will lower energy bills.

Looks like there may be opportunities coming up.

How to select green furniture

Check out this article from Today GreenDay on selecting eco-friendly furniture:

Look for furniture made from reclaimed materials. Houses, kitchen tables, pianos, baseball bats — think of all the wood that is used to make things each day and then think about all the scraps left over from construction and manufacturing and the landfill waste from discarded wood items. Instead of using new wood to make dining room chairs and beds and bookshelves, some green designers are turning to wood that’s already in play.