Green Building Gets Crowded

With so many companies either launching green tradeshows or adding green elements to shows that already existed, it's no surprise that two shows serving the exact same sector of this budding business have appeared.

Hanley Wood in February will roll out its Green Products and Technology Media Franchise that, following the company's multimedia model, will include a magazine, Web site, e-newsletter and tradeshow, the Green Products & Technology Expo.

Geared toward green residential building, the expo will debut next October in Austin, Texas.

Rick McConnell, Hanley Wood's vice president of exhibitions, said exhibitors would be residential green building manufacturers and service providers and attendees would be residential architects, contractors, designers, custom homebuilders and government officials that have an impact on related legislation.

The tradeshow will also have a conference with 40 separate sessions, "and that's pretty aggressive out of the block, I'd say," McConnell said.

Jonathan Reese, exhibits director for West Coast Green, a two-year-old green residential building show in San Francisco, said the Green Products & Technology Expo sounded "like an identical show" to his. And he may be right.

West Coast Green took place Sept. 20–22 at San Francisco's Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. Reese said the show's exhibitors manufacture green residential building products and any component that "goes into building a house that is green." They also develop green technology and provide green services.

According to Colette Turbeville, West Coast Green's director of marketing and public relations, the show's attendees are typically builders, architects, interior designers and visionaries in the green building industry.

In other words, they are the exact same exhibitors and attendees that Hanley Wood hopes to have at its Green Products & Technology Expo. And, though neither show has booked its dates for 2008, both are shooting for the September–October timeframe.

"It's going to be kind of a pain," Reese said, of the two shows taking place so close together. "With the downturn in the housing market, it's going to stretch things."

He added that a lot of West Coast Green's exhibitors come from Austin, which is known as a city of environmentally conscious inhabitants.

A big difference between the two shows is that West Coast Green opens up to the public on one of its days, while Hanley Wood's will be trade-only.

West Coast Green is also bigger, at least for now. The recent edition attracted more than 11,000 attendees and 263 exhibitors to a 50,000 net square foot showfloor.

McConnell estimated the launch of Green Products & Technology Expo next year would draw between 3,000 and 5,000 attendees and fill a 40,000 net sq. ft. showfloor.

West Coast Green also partners with the U.S. Green Building Council, the government entity that administers the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System. The USGBC promotes the show to its members, who receive a discount to register, according to Reese.

USGBC also produces its own green building show, Greenbuild Intl. Conference & Expo, distinguished from the other two in that it mainly serves the commercial sector. Last year's Greenbuild took place Oct. 15–19 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Kimberly Lewis, USGBC's director of conference and events and Greenbuild's show director, said, "We actually work with Hanley Wood on several levels in the industry."

Even though the USGBC partners with West Coast Green, she felt the introduction of another green residential building show was of value to the industry.

"The more the better," she said. "Our mission is market transformation, however it is accomplished."

McConnell, Lewis and Reese all said they were open to future strategic partnerships with other events in the green building sector.

In the meantime, Hanley Wood is working hard to get its show ready to go in a year's time.

"We saw a need to put a show together for contractors, designers and builders," McConnell said. "It seemed real natural to get this off the ground."

A number of companies and associations have launched green tradeshows or added green elements to existing shows for the construction industry. An example is The Intl. Builder's Show/TecHOMExpo, owned and operated by the Natl. Assn. of Home Builders, which scatters green products and services throughout the showfloor.

But Hanley Wood took it one step further with an entire media division:

• Green Products and Technology will be a magazine published four times a year with product information, case studies on innovative green homes and best practices data for 35,000 builders, remodelers and architects identified as active in green building.
• Green Product News, a bi-weekly e-newsletter, will have the latest product information and news to builders, remodelers and residential architects.
• GreenProductsMagazine.com will be a Web site serving the community of residential construction professionals who build and design in environmentally friendly ways.

McConnell said instead of hiring new people for the show, Hanley Wood would tap those within the company who already had expertise on going green. Managers of the Remodeling Show and JLC Live, among others, have incorporated green elements into their showfloors and conference programs.

Even though the green movement was a part of existing shows, McConnell said, it was important for Hanley Wood to create a unique show that focused on green residential building.

"The green building industry is a community," he added. "We are certainly going to walk the walk, and talk the talk on this (show)."

That means the show itself also will be green, with paperless marketing, recycling bins and other efforts to reduce its environmental impact as much as possible, according to McConnell.

"How we run the show should be an example to the industry," he added.

Hanley Wood has four operating divisions with tradeshows in each and 36 residential and commercial construction print titles including Builder, Remodeling and Custom Home. Affiliates of JPMorgan Partners own the $250 million company.