GreenBuild 2005 Grows Dramatically

The U.S. Green Buildings Council's GreenBuild conference, held most recently at Atlanta's Georgia World Congress Center November 9-11, 2005, has grown dramatically in the past three years with this years event attracting 9,724 attendees and approximately 500 exhibitors. This makes it the largest Green building symposium-of any kind-in the United States.

Accordingly to Tom Morrison, Vice President of Marketing for Kaivac, Inc, "GreenBuild's growth clearly demonstrates the growing interest in Green facilities and operating buildings in a more sustainable, healthier manner."

The conference included seminars and presentations from a variety of noteworthy speakers throughout the week. Representing the JanSan industry was Stephen Ashkin, who presented his workshop sponsored by ISSA, High-Performance Healthy Cleaning.

Additionally, ISSA presented a panel discussion on Green Cleaning and LEED that included such notable industry experts as:

• Rob Kohlhagen, JohnsonDiversey

• Rick Woodward, Coastwide Laboratories

• Eric Miller, UNICCO Service Company

• Steve Ashkin, President of the Ashkin Group

However, Morrison indicated he was also a bit disappointed in the conference, "I was surprised, considering that this was a Green conference, how many of the attendees were unaware of cleaning's impact on the health and well-being of building occupants," he said. "It shows that we in industry have a lot more work to do, communicating the importance of our industry's role in protecting and building a healthier environment.

 Additionally, Morrison says he had expected to see more JanSan companies and organizations attend the event. There were only four paper companies, there chemical manufactures, and Kaivac. "Although there were some JanSan distributors and building service contractors, "says Morrison, "most attendees were architects, engineers, building product manufactures, and specialized consultants."