BuildgingGreen has announced the top 10 green building products for 2008. Every year, a new list of top green building products is picked from the many new products that have been added to the GreenSpec Directory. The GreenSpec Directory is a veritable bible for green building and green products for the home.

Products are added to the Top 10 Green Building Product list for varying reasons, including saving energy, decreasing emissions, using sustainable materials or being produced in a more sustainable manner. This year's list is no exception, with new green products ranging from fabric to water heaters.

This year's list of top green building products for interiors include the following:

1. Safe 'N Sound Emerald Doors - The eco-friendly doors from Masonite are solid-core doors with a wheat-straw particleboard core and composite wood surfaces. The rest of the doors are made with FSC-certified wood, creating a completely environmentally friendly, highly functional door.

2. PlybooPure Bamboo flooring - Smith & Fong created the first FSC-certified bamboo flooring. The beautiful eco-friendly flooring is a healthier flooring option, emitting far fewer pollutants thanks to its formaldehyde-free binder. Bamboo is naturally one of the most sustainable materials available today.

3. Natura Paint - Benjamin Moore now offers a line of eco-friendly paints with no-VOCs. While many low VOC paint brands add colorant with additional VOC's, Natura paint is tinted with no VOC colorant. The resulting paint has very little odor and few pollutants.

4. PolyWhey Floor Finish - I think this has to be one of the more interesting products added to the list. This environmentally friendly floor finish makes use of recycled whey proteins that are a byproduct of the dairy industry. Most importantly, the non-toxic finish is water based, instead of petroleum based. Lastly, PolyWhey is also stronger than most water-based products, with even fewer VOCs than typical water-based finishes.

5. O Ecotextiles - This gorgeous collection of organic, sustainable fabrics not only makes use of natural materials, but also uses an entirely environmentally friendly production process. The manufacturing eliminates many harmful substances often found in textile production, while providing fair trade work environments.

6. Integrity Block - This amazing building block is made of a mix of soil and up to 60% recycled content. The green building blocks are designed to replace concrete masonry units, with far less concrete, lower transportation costs and fewer emissions.

7. Matrix Total Home System - An all-in-one HVAC system that really does it all...saves energy with a gas-fired furnace, boiler, water heater and heat recovery ventilator. And it's already pre-wired for air conditioning. Not only does this unit save energy and emit fewer greenhouse gases, but homeowners win by having to service one unit, instead of five.

8. SunCache Solar Water Heater - The SunCache solar water heater is an integral-collector-storage (ICS) water heater that uses solely the sun's power to heat water. Placed on the roof, the water heater stores water in a panel until hot water is needed. Cold water flows through the unit, getting heat from a copper heat exchanger and flowing into either a hot water tank or tankless water heater. For obvious reasons, this form of renewable energy works best in warm climates.

9. Agilewaves Resource Monitor - The Resource Monitor is a web-based system that tracks your usage for water, electricity and gas. This smart system even calculates carbon footprints, based on the data. The green building monitor allows homeowners to keep tabs on utilities, making it esier to conserve resources.

10. Rainwater HOG Tanks - These versatile water storage tanks are what every green building needs. The tanks come in two varieties, one for potable water and one for non-food-grade water. The water tank's narrow size allow them to be installed almost anywhere - from under decks to inside of walls. The HOG tanks can even be used as storage for passive solar heating systems.

SOURCE:  Nature Repurposed

http://www.naturerepurposed.com/2008/11/top-green-building-products-for-2008.html