Pressroom
News Releases and News Stories about The Green Design Center |
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Wondering About Mercury in Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs? Many people are replacing incandescent light bulbs in their homes and offices with compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). It's a great way to save energy. But CFLs contain mercury. If you use CFLs, you should read this advisory from the Environmental Protection Agency on what to do if a CFL breaks, and how to properly dispose of them.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article looks at the challenges that homeonwers have determining the green qualities of building products, with comments from Safe Building Solutions owner Andy Pace, who also created the Degree of Green program to help clarify confusion over green products. Going for an environmentally conscious lifestyle? Here are some tips in getting started M Magazine writer Jenny Rebholz interviews Safe Building Solutions founder Andy Pace on 10 things homeonwers can do to create living spaces that are well designed yet environmentally friendly and better for human health. Betsy Hicks of the Alternatives in Health podcast interviews Safe Building Solutions owner Andy Pace on the health benefits of green building products. The link to thepodcast site = http://www.podcastblaster.com/directory/podcast-27514.html (Scroll down to episode No. 48.) Or click here for the mp3 file.
From multinational corporations and academic institutions to market segments and individuals, globe-oriented people across the U.S. are turning a watchful eye to green initiatives, says investment banker Beverly Macy in an article for California Green Solutions. Her article includes insights from Safe Building Solutions owner Andy Pace. Green Options Offer Plenty to Consider "Environmentally friendly flooring options for homeowners include bamboo, cork, linoleum, rubber, recycled tile, carpet and American hardwoods," writes Donna Marie Pocious in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel." Each is green for different reasons. Some are suited to busy foyers and family rooms, while others are best installed in a quiet home office. Price and design implications vary, too." Her article includes insights and advice from Safe Building Solutions owner Andy Pace.
Green Building Products Encompass Broad Array at Greenbuild Firestone and the Asphalt Paving Alliance might not come to mind when you think "green." But the significant presence of the two organizations at the recent Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Chicago points out just how mainstream "green" is becoming.
SBS Launches Degree of Green Website A website dedicated to supporting the new Degree of Green™ home building products rating system has been launched. Retailers participating in the Degree of Green™ program to educate consumers and contractors on green home building products now have a website to support their efforts. The site, www.degreeofgreen.com, was launched as thousands of business professionals from around the world gathered in Chicago for Greenbuild 2007, considered to be the premier expo on green building products.
About 14 years ago, Andy Pace struggled to sell a group of Milwaukee-area architects environmentally friendly paint. “Only one person asked for information after my presentation, the next year only three did,” said Pace, vice president of Mitchell, Pace & Associates, a commercial-construction products distributor based in Genesee Depot. “At the time, the commercial industry wasn’t ready for it, and the term green wasn’t more than a color. “We determined it just wasn’t taking off on a commercial level.” How times have changed. Mitchell/Pace just opened a green building-products division called Mitchell Pace Environmental, created to accommodate the growing number of architects and contractors looking to incorporate sustainable materials into their commercial and large condominium projects.
Increasingly, consumers seeking building products with lower inherent toxicity are looking more closely at ingredients and asking tough questions. In the architectural coatings industry, those ingredients that have the potential to be hazardous are commonly classified as volatile organic compounds, or known better by their acronym, VOCs. Products that are either touted as “Low-VOC” or even “Zero VOC” are not necessarily free from potentially harmful ingredients. Some contain what are classified as Hazardous Air Pollutants or HAPs, and these chemical compounds can differ from VOCs.
Finally, a Green Rating System for the Retail Market What products count as green today? That question might be easy to answer if you’re a designer, architect or engineer. Just read through the data sheets and compare the information to the current LEED requirements. But those answers may not be as apparent to builders, contractors and end-users. That’s what prompted Andy Pace to develop a new rating system call Degree of Green. “The Degree of Green system allows homeowners and contractors to make educated decisions regarding the environmental and health aspects of the products they might use in their buildings and remodeling products,” said Pace, an 18-year veteran of the building materials industry and owner of Safe Building Solutions in metropolitan Milwaukee.
Defining What 'Green' Actually Means Anyone searching for home improvement materials recently has likely noticed a proliferation of products -- from paints to cabinetry -- now marketed as "green." But what that term exactly means is somewhat elusive, says Andy Pace, owner of Safe Buildings Solutions. As a result, Pace has developed a new "Degree of Green" rating system to educate consumers on how well a product meets their particular needs.
Pace to Share Building Knowledge at Home & Remodeling Show Safe Building Solutions owner Andy Pace will share his construction and design expertise with homeowners during the 17th annual Home and Remodeling Show presented by the Miwaukee chapter of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry at Wisconsin State Fair Park.
Degree of Green Rating System Launched A new rating system has been developed to help consumers and contractors determine the green, healthy and sustainable levels of home building and
Chinese Recalls Unnerve Shoppers Amid consumer concerns about the safety of products from China, businesses like Safe Building Solutions in Waukesha are stocking fewer China-made items until more reliable information becomes available on the materials used in manufacturing there. "We don't know if what we're being told is correct," Safe Building Solutions owner Andrew Pace told a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter in an article on sourcing products from China. "I can't just get in my car and go over there and go look." Click here to read the entire story “Chinese recalls unnerve shoppers.”
Is Your Home's Air Healthy or Full of Toxins? Your home is your castle, a refuge, a major investment, pride of the neighborhood, a repository of dreams and aspirations. Of course, it just might be making you sick— bombarding you with pesticides, assaulting you with radon and bathing you in a variety of electromagnetic radiation or volatile organic compounds. Oh, and your vacuum cleaner could be stirring up clouds of skin cells, dust particles and insect parts that settle deep into your lungs.
Building Materials Supplier Seeing 'Green' Company finds increased demand for healthier, eco-friendly products Andy Pace was selling traditional construction materials to Midwestern retailers in the early 1990s, when a seemingly routine project turned his entire company around. Paces' family business was supplying a coating system for an underground parking structure, but those applying the product became violently ill and were rushed to the hospital. "Why would we want to risk business by selling dangerous products?" Pace recalls thinking. The Waukesha company reorganized itself with a new name, Safe Building Solutions, and a new product: "green" home improvement materials.
SBS Expands AFM Safecoat Distribution Territory Safe Building Solutions is now distributing the healthy and eco-friendly line of AFM Safecoat paints and finishes to major portions of the U.S.
SBS Wins IQ Award for el: Kitchen Line ‘Using human-friendly materials’ Local business supplies safety and style When three employees of Mitchell, Pace & Associates – a material supply company based in the Town of Genesee – had to be hospitalized because of inhalation complications while working on a condo project in the mid-90s, Andy Pace didn’t get mad, he got motivated. “We were supplying and installing a water-based coating for the building’s parking structure,” Pace said. “We didn’t realize that water-based didn’t necessarily mean that it was safer, it just meant it contained water.” Today Pace and his wife, Valerie, own and operate Safe Building Solutions, a supplier and retailer of products that emit lower levels of residual chemicals than standard building products.
BMW and Safecoat |
improvement products. Safe Building Solutions owner Andy Pace developed the system and has enlisted national green building products experts Lyn Falk and Michael Fallarino for the panel that reviews various products. 