The annual Buildings New York trade show that ran this month on June 16 and 17th at the Javits Center was certainly smaller than years past, but it nonetheless served up a powerful punch. Attendees and exhibitors alike came with a clear intent to stir up new business and grab new project opportunities. And word on the street implies that many companies were quite successful in finding those 1 or 2 real projects that made their entire effort worthwhile.

The Green part of the BuildingsNY show was brought more into the fold this year. Instead of expanding into the adjacent annex, the Green Buildings exhibitors were moved into the same space as the BuildingsNY exhibitors, only to be surrounded by green curtains designating the booth and green carpet for the floor.

Sustainable products could not have come at a better time. A new awareness of Green was clear in those professionals that attended the show. It was a clear sign that sustainability is going to be a normal part of business and building from this point out. In fact, eventually BuildingsNY exhibitors may be replaced more and more with Green BuildingsNY exhibitors (if they don’t green their own companies first), making it a completely green show. Environmentalism is only to become more widespread.

At the show, New York House, ‘the home and real estate magazine for smarter living’, presented its 1st annual Innovative Green Design Awards, which included awards to Universal Fibers, Inc. for their ReFresh Fiber (www.universalfibers.com), GE Consumer & Industrial for their Hybrid Water Heater (www.geconsumerandindustrial.com), and ILOS Corporation for their Meteor Lighting (www.meteor-lighting.com).

The U.S. Energy Group (www.use-group.com) who specializes in integrating energy control, monitoring, and analysis systems for buildings came out to introduce their new Building Portfolio Monitoring System as well as their new Use H20 system to help property managers reduce water usage and control costs.

LightStep Technologies (www.lightsteptechnologies.com) based out of Belfast came out to introduce their unique, intelligent evacuation technology. With just five main products to choose from, including PathFinder, HallFinder, DoorFinder, StairFinder, and ExitFinder, it’s easy to select and specify. In addition, their Stairfinder product conforms to New York local law 26, of important interest to high rise building owners.