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Zachary Delbex-Smith's Blog
SEMA/AAPEX 2007 When Greener Vegas first planned to investigate what's “Green” at this years SEMA & AAPEX conventions, I was a little skeptical at what I might find. After all, SEMA (Specialty Equipment Marketing Association) and AAPEX (Automotive Aftermarket Products Expo) are all about making your vehicle look really cool or go really fast…Right? What could be “Green” about any of that? Well, take my word for it – “Green” can be “Mean”! Click on any image for a larger image How about a 7 second quarter mile Biodiesel dragster or a 600 Horsepower Biodiesel Hummer? How about a Hydrogen Fuel Cell vehicle topping out at 207 mph? Or, what do you think of petroleum-free motor lubricant made from beef tallow? All of these (and lots more) were on display at the 2007 SEMA/AAPEX shows, here in Las Vegas October 30 through November 2. In addition to showing that green can go fast and look cool, coordinators at this years show decided to include “The Green Zone”. This special section of the AAPEX show (held at the Venetian Ball Rooms), featured manufacturers whose products were specifically shown to be more environmentally friendly than in the past. Also, the AAPEX show guide that lists all exhibitors throughout the show, included icon markers identifying those products that are manufactured under the environmentally conscious ISO 14000 specifications. At the SEMA show The Ecotrek Foundation sponsored a booth displaying several specialty Alternative Fuel Vehicles, including the 600 HP Hummer. The GM Corporation had on display an E85 Ethanol burning ‘34 Chevrolet Coupe powered by a turbocharged flex-fuel engine making 525 horsepower. Nearby, Ford proudly showed their “Fusion Hydrogen 999” which recently set a 207 mph land speed record for a fuel-cell powered car. While all that was going on inside the Halls, out front on the Silver Lot, both Toyota and Volkswagen promoted the future by featuring content-rich, media learning centers where viewers were encouraged to spend time learning how they (and their driving habits) impact the world we live in. Volkswagen presented the “Dieselution Tour” while Toyota rolled in their “Highway to the Future” mobile hybrid experience. Both of these Displays are very interactive with numerous hands-on kiosks featuring use of alternative fuels, carbon footprint calculators, virtual driving stations, and lots of good GREEN information. My skepticism now aside, it is clear that there is Green to be found at SEMA/AAPEX. These efforts made by the auto industry are a huge positive step for our planet. Greener Vegas hopes that the number of vendors participating in “The Green Zone” and the number of featured alternative fuel vehicles increases with each future show. The SEMA/AAPEX shows are presented annually in Las Vegas . --Tim Stimple (Greener Vegas) Webmaster note: "This site built using 80% recycled code "
Going Green at the
It was easy to see the enthusiasm of Gerald Sawyer; Chief Operating Officer for the World Market Center , as he met us at the recycling complex located at the rear of what will soon be the largest trade show complex in the world. Twice a year the World Market Center hosts more than 600 exhibitors who ship in more than 1500 truck loads of display furnishings. Mr. Sawyer explained the unique problems faced by a complex of this size that must remove literally hundreds of truckloads of excess Styrofoam, cardboard, and plastic (used in furniture packing) in a just few short days. His solution was to purchase and install the necessary equipment on-site in order to reduce the volume of this mass to a manageable size, and at the same time prevents it from ending up in the local landfills.
A standard bailer is used to compress plastics; a large crosscut bailer reduces cardboard to shreds, and a machine to melt Styrofoam (which is 90% air). During peak show times as many as twenty workers separate and load materials into the respectable machines as fast as the trucks loads can be dumped into the recycle area. A local recycling services company provides the manpower and transportation to remove the compressed, shredded, and melted material, which is then sent to various recycling plants for further processing. In the case of Styrofoam (one of the worst environmental offenders), the broken pieces are melted into small manageable ingots. The ingots are then shipped overseas where a processing plant remakes the material into new usable Styrofoam, thus virtually no waste.
While the equipment was a large investment Mr. Sawyer calculates that investment will be paid off in 2.5 years by saving the World Market Center $300,000 a year on waste removal costs. The savings to our environment are even greater.
As the World Market Center grows from its current 2.9 million square feet, to nearly 5 million square feet when the next phase opens in July of 2008, to the approximate 12 million square feet when the center is completed in 2013. "…of course by then we will have added a second recycling complex similar to this one at the north end of the complex" Mr. Sawyer proudly explained as we ended our tour.
Click here for a detailed fact sheet on the World Market Center
Artists rendering of WMC when complete in 2013
Click Here for an update to this story
Webmaster note: "This site built using 80% recycled code "
It was easy to see the enthusiasm of Gerald Sawyer; Chief Operating Officer for the World Market Center , as he met us at the recycling complex located at the rear of what will soon be the largest trade show complex in the world. Twice a year the World Market Center hosts more than 600 exhibitors who ship in more than 1500 truck loads of display furnishings. Mr. Sawyer explained the unique problems faced by a complex of this size that must remove literally hundreds of truckloads of excess Styrofoam, cardboard, and plastic (used in furniture packing) in a just few short days. His solution was to purchase and install the necessary equipment on-site in order to reduce the volume of this mass to a manageable size, and at the same time prevents it from ending up in the local landfills.
A standard bailer is used to compress plastics; a large crosscut bailer reduces cardboard to shreds, and a machine to melt Styrofoam (which is 90% air). During peak show times as many as twenty workers separate and load materials into the respectable machines as fast as the trucks loads can be dumped into the recycle area. A local recycling services company provides the manpower and transportation to remove the compressed, shredded, and melted material, which is then sent to various recycling plants for further processing. In the case of Styrofoam (one of the worst environmental offenders), the broken pieces are melted into small manageable ingots. The ingots are then shipped overseas where a processing plant remakes the material into new usable Styrofoam, thus virtually no waste.
While the equipment was a large investment Mr. Sawyer calculates that investment will be paid off in 2.5 years by saving the World Market Center $300,000 a year on waste removal costs. The savings to our environment are even greater.
As the World Market Center grows from its current 2.9 million square feet, to nearly 5 million square feet when the next phase opens in July of 2008, to the approximate 12 million square feet when the center is completed in 2013. "…of course by then we will have added a second recycling complex similar to this one at the north end of the complex" Mr. Sawyer proudly explained as we ended our tour.
Click here for a detailed fact sheet on the World Market Center
Artists rendering of WMC when complete in 2013
Click Here for an update to this story
Webmaster note: "This site built using 80% recycled code "
It only takes a s(eco)nd...
Is that shirt you're wearing green? Well it should be. And your pants should be green, and your shoes should be green, and your hat should be green, and - if the exhibitors at this year's Pool Tradeshow have anything to say about it - your underwear should be green too! By the way, you can have all your green clothing in almost any color you want.
Of course were talking about "green" clothing made in the environmentally conscious sense - organic cotton, water or vegetable-based dyes, water soluble glues, ozone-bleaching, and other natural processes.
"It only takes a second to change the world" was the motto for more than 60 exhibitors who were part of the "s(eco)nd" section of the 2008 Pool tradeshow where they displayed all types of fashion and accessories that showed "Green" can come in any style and color
Staff of "Organik"
Disply by "Livity Outernational" Better yet, after talking with many of the exhibitors, Greener Vegas found that these companies are not just being trendy by offering "green" fashion; almost all of these owners are making a true commitment to the environment by doing things like using recycled paper for their business cards and brochures, contributing monies to carbon offset programs like Carbon-Fund and 1% for the Planet, utilizing sweatshop free manufacturing and promoting Fair Trade. Some even power their facilities using renewable solar and wind energy. You can find a complete list of the show's green exhibitors here: S(eco)nd ShowGuide
In addition to the green vendors at this year's show, Advanstar, the show's producer, allowed Greener Vegas to implement a plastic ID badge recycling effort and to recycle left-over show materials at the close of the event. This amounted to nearly 2 tons of paper, plastic, and cardboard. Follow this link to see the impact of this recycling here
Bamboo flooring designates the "s(eco)nd" area of the show
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Webmaster note: "This site built using 80% recycled code "
Is that shirt you're wearing green? Well it should be. And your pants should be green, and your shoes should be green, and your hat should be green, and - if the exhibitors at this year's Pool Tradeshow have anything to say about it - your underwear should be green too! By the way, you can have all your green clothing in almost any color you want.
Of course were talking about "green" clothing made in the environmentally conscious sense - organic cotton, water or vegetable-based dyes, water soluble glues, ozone-bleaching, and other natural processes.
"It only takes a second to change the world" was the motto for more than 60 exhibitors who were part of the "s(eco)nd" section of the 2008 Pool tradeshow where they displayed all types of fashion and accessories that showed "Green" can come in any style and color
Staff of "Organik"
Disply by "Livity Outernational" Better yet, after talking with many of the exhibitors, Greener Vegas found that these companies are not just being trendy by offering "green" fashion; almost all of these owners are making a true commitment to the environment by doing things like using recycled paper for their business cards and brochures, contributing monies to carbon offset programs like Carbon-Fund and 1% for the Planet, utilizing sweatshop free manufacturing and promoting Fair Trade. Some even power their facilities using renewable solar and wind energy. You can find a complete list of the show's green exhibitors here: S(eco)nd ShowGuide
In addition to the green vendors at this year's show, Advanstar, the show's producer, allowed Greener Vegas to implement a plastic ID badge recycling effort and to recycle left-over show materials at the close of the event. This amounted to nearly 2 tons of paper, plastic, and cardboard. Follow this link to see the impact of this recycling here
Bamboo flooring designates the "s(eco)nd" area of the show
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Webmaster note: "This site built using 80% recycled code "
Las Vegas ' newest and largest GREEN commercial building, The Molasky Center, nears its grand opening. The 265,000 square foot high-rise has been built to the U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) LEED Standards earning a Gold Certification.
Pamela Puppel, Media Director for the Molasky Group, was kind enough to give Greener Vegas a pre-opening tour.
From ground floor to rooftop the entire building has conservation built-in. The automated parking garage features "priority parking" for 24 bicycles for health-conscious employees, with showers and lockers available in the ground floor 24 Hour Fitness center that is now open. The uppermost floor of the 7 level parking deck incorporates solar photovoltaic panels on the roofs which contributes power back into the Las Vegas grid.
The Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) has moved their corporate offices and now occupies 7 of the 16 floors. Speaking of water - The Molasky Center utilizes a state-of-the-art "Dolphin" water reclamation system that captures and filters the building's waste water and feeds it into the landscape. Even the toilets feature special "user selectable" low-flow plumbing to minimize water waste.
The theme of recycle/reuse is apparent on (and in) every floor. Special raised floor construction allows for pressurized air to be vented up from the floor. This has shown to be 30% more efficient than standard ceiling vented air conditioning. The building insulation is composed of shredded blue-jeans. Many rooms and public areas minimize electrical use of unnecessary lights by making use of motion or natural light sensors.
Planners at the Molasky Center also went green when choosing furnishings and décor. For example much of the cubicle furniture is covered with a fiber made from natural corn silk, many carpeted areas utilize recycled fiber carpet squares, Countertops are fabricated from shards of recycled glass, and bamboo (a highly renewable resource) was chosen for several wall and floor treatments
In addition to the previously mentioned, other tennents who are now, or soon will be open, include Jason's Deli, Bank of Nevada, The Java Detour, and Legal Copycats.
So as you drive along I95 and pass by the new Molasky Corporate Center with its gleaming green glass - know that its not just "green" on the outside…it's a whole new way of doing business in Las Vegas.
Webmaster note: "This site built using 80% recycled code "
Pamela Puppel, Media Director for the Molasky Group, was kind enough to give Greener Vegas a pre-opening tour.
From ground floor to rooftop the entire building has conservation built-in. The automated parking garage features "priority parking" for 24 bicycles for health-conscious employees, with showers and lockers available in the ground floor 24 Hour Fitness center that is now open. The uppermost floor of the 7 level parking deck incorporates solar photovoltaic panels on the roofs which contributes power back into the Las Vegas grid.
The Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) has moved their corporate offices and now occupies 7 of the 16 floors. Speaking of water - The Molasky Center utilizes a state-of-the-art "Dolphin" water reclamation system that captures and filters the building's waste water and feeds it into the landscape. Even the toilets feature special "user selectable" low-flow plumbing to minimize water waste.
The theme of recycle/reuse is apparent on (and in) every floor. Special raised floor construction allows for pressurized air to be vented up from the floor. This has shown to be 30% more efficient than standard ceiling vented air conditioning. The building insulation is composed of shredded blue-jeans. Many rooms and public areas minimize electrical use of unnecessary lights by making use of motion or natural light sensors.
Planners at the Molasky Center also went green when choosing furnishings and décor. For example much of the cubicle furniture is covered with a fiber made from natural corn silk, many carpeted areas utilize recycled fiber carpet squares, Countertops are fabricated from shards of recycled glass, and bamboo (a highly renewable resource) was chosen for several wall and floor treatments
In addition to the previously mentioned, other tennents who are now, or soon will be open, include Jason's Deli, Bank of Nevada, The Java Detour, and Legal Copycats.
So as you drive along I95 and pass by the new Molasky Corporate Center with its gleaming green glass - know that its not just "green" on the outside…it's a whole new way of doing business in Las Vegas.
Webmaster note: "This site built using 80% recycled code "
A World of Green
It is encouraging to note that as we move forward in 2008 that more and more conventions held here in Las Vegas are providing exhibitors the opportunity to highlight their "green" products. Even industries that you may not expect to be going green are. For example at this year's "World of Concrete" a number of exhibitors were on display in the "Green Site" section of the convention.
The way companies approached being green covered the three "R"s of conservation - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. For example:
REDUCE -- A number of companies have developed more efficient insulating materials or reflective coatings to reduce consumer energy costs while other companies have reformulated chemical compounds used in concrete work to reduce VOCs and carbon emissions created during production.
REUSE - Wastewater pollution from concrete pours has become an issue. One company, Slurry Recycle Solutions, has developed a system to capture, filter, and reuse the wastewater created from concrete mixers.
RECYCLE - Utilizing recycled material that would otherwise be thrown into our landfills to manufacture new building products is another way go-green. Enviroglass, out of Austin TX., produces countertops and flooring materials from recycled glass and porcelain. These countertops were installed here at the Molasky Corporate Center as part of their LEED certification process.
In fact, it is the U.S. Green Building Councils LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards that have driven much of the trend in developing these products and services. As more and more contractors seek LEED certification, the construction industry must supply this demand. This encourages more and more companies to find "Green" alternatives for their clients. It seems that necessity is also the "mother of 'green' invention".
For a complete list of all WOC
Greensite Participants Click Here.
Webmaster note: "This site built using 80% recycled code "
It is encouraging to note that as we move forward in 2008 that more and more conventions held here in Las Vegas are providing exhibitors the opportunity to highlight their "green" products. Even industries that you may not expect to be going green are. For example at this year's "World of Concrete" a number of exhibitors were on display in the "Green Site" section of the convention.
The way companies approached being green covered the three "R"s of conservation - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. For example:
REDUCE -- A number of companies have developed more efficient insulating materials or reflective coatings to reduce consumer energy costs while other companies have reformulated chemical compounds used in concrete work to reduce VOCs and carbon emissions created during production.
REUSE - Wastewater pollution from concrete pours has become an issue. One company, Slurry Recycle Solutions, has developed a system to capture, filter, and reuse the wastewater created from concrete mixers.
RECYCLE - Utilizing recycled material that would otherwise be thrown into our landfills to manufacture new building products is another way go-green. Enviroglass, out of Austin TX., produces countertops and flooring materials from recycled glass and porcelain. These countertops were installed here at the Molasky Corporate Center as part of their LEED certification process.
In fact, it is the U.S. Green Building Councils LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards that have driven much of the trend in developing these products and services. As more and more contractors seek LEED certification, the construction industry must supply this demand. This encourages more and more companies to find "Green" alternatives for their clients. It seems that necessity is also the "mother of 'green' invention".
For a complete list of all WOC
Greensite Participants Click Here.
Webmaster note: "This site built using 80% recycled code "
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