EcoCommercial Building engages diverse network members to challenge today’s building

PITTSBURGH...The pressure on green building owners and developers continues to rise as building products offering greater sustainability become available and higher building performance is expected.

At the same time, interpretations of these terms are evolving. Reaching the next level of green building raises many questions: Are we focusing on the right metrics and components? How do we attain the proper balance of performance and environmental responsibility?

Bayer MaterialScience LLC’s EcoCommercial Building (ECB), a network of leading providers of high-performance building products and services, addressed these questions at its fourth annual ECB Executive Workshop October 23-24, 2013.

Presentations at the workshop provided insightful commentary on energy management, design, retrofit financing and transparency in building products.

“Once again, the ECB Workshop addressed relevant industry issues – real issues that we are dealing with – and allowed us to openly discuss those issues,” said Paul Bertram, Director of Environment and Sustainability for Kingspan. “Each year, the workshop provides a dynamic exchange of industry trends and challenges that impact our businesses.”

 “This year’s Executive Workshop generated conversations and ideas outside the agenda,” says Julia Rubino, Director of ECB North America. “It was our fourth annual workshop, and you could see how the event has evolved and relationships have formed over the years. Our members will continue to have discussions around this agenda to help solve problems and identify opportunities in their respective businesses.”

Russell Perry, Vice President of Washington, DC-based SmithGroupJJR, the 7th largest architecture and engineering firm in the United States, added “the ECB Workshop was unique because it brought together a group of industry representatives from across the supply chain,” said Perry. “Together, we must find a way to help raw and component material suppliers become more comfortable with designer and specifier expectations for material transparency and disclosure. The workshop provided an effective forum to start the conversation.”

The complete roster of presenting organizations at the fourth annual ECB Executive Workshop included: Gensler, The Durst Organization, Kingspan, Resilient Floor Covering Institute, SmithGroup JJR, Deloitte, Johnson Controls, Green Campus Partners and Bayer MaterialScience.