A Day at the GREENBUILD 2010

GREENBUILD was held this year in windy Chicago from November 17 – 19, and like prior years put its best foot forward with dazzling innovations in almost every LEED category.

For this writer, illumination as a category shone the brightest as the wave of SSL products flooded the aisles with their new claims for higher FCs that have better max to min ratios in years as new fixture designs start to adopt the more directed LED lighting.

The DOE hosted all day seminars on how to save precious tax dollars we spend as a country, simply by using LEDs, and while the chanting and cheerleading was loud and clear throughout the show, my interviews with several lighting fixture manufacturers would reveal otherwise. As followers, are struggling to adapt to the new LED landscape, feel that the money is still in CFLs, and are rethinking their business approach on how to create value without drastic transformations to their go to market. In a way it is a replay of the CFL scene from ten or so years ago, where the most nimble players are learning the LED game faster and getting out of the gate quicker.

Ironically, an indication that not all have been “Greensized” was revealed upon closer inspection of their displayed fixtures, where I found the “banned” incandescent light bulb.  So, for those that are the leading edge on a changing energy landscape, Much – Kudos, though just be aware there are those in some cases faking it till they make it.