The much-anticipated West Coast Green conference, a smorgasbord of green products and services, ended Saturday after three days of presentations, exhibitions, and networking at the San Jose Convention Center.
Anyone with an interest—no matter how fringe—falling under the ever-expanding green umbrella would have been delighted by the spectacle. It certainly drew a crowd. There were 225 speakers, 400 exhibitors, and 14,000 attendees.
Solar technology companies exhibited next to bamboo furniture makers. And fast-talking clean tech venture capitalists spoke on stages where minutes earlier self-proclaimed experts on green marketing and branding wowed adoring crowds.
Yep, something for everyone at West Coast Green, even celebrity gawkers. Al Gore made a speech, although journalists, like untrustworthy children, were chaperoned into the auditorium and given a whole 5 minutes to snap a photo and absorb the vibe.
My favorite part of the conference was the exhibit hall. As I walked down the aisles, bulging on either side by ambitious vendors with often wild displays, I felt privileged to be there—and to have received a free press pass.
Here are a few exhibitors, not all hi-tech, that piqued my interest:
Brondell: No1 or No 2?
This San Francisco company wants to smarten up your toilet. It already markets deodorizing and heated toilet seats and a 21st-century bidet, called the Swash, that promises to save trees by reducing the need for toilet paper.
Now Brondell is working on a water-saving product that could have much broader appeal. The Perfect Flush attaches to toilets and lets users chose between heavy and light flushes. The company claims it will save you 50% of your toilet water usage, which accounts for 40% of total household indoor water usage. This could save consumers about $100 a year, according to a Brondell spokesman.
The Perfect Flush will go on sale in January and retail for under $150. There are dual-flush toilets already on the market, which can range from about $100 to more than $400. The benefit of Brondell’s creation is that it attaches to most existing toilets (it gets its power from 2 AA batteries) and therefore eliminates the need for buying a new toilet (i.e. shopping time, extra material waste) and hiring a plumber (costly, unless you’re a DIYer).
Smart House: Amazing Controls
Amazing Controls president Raj Marya wants to bring “consciousness to a building.” His Los Gatos, California company helps building owners monitor and control power, water and gas usage and drive down consumption.
An owner can put a limit on the amount of water that is to be used over a given time and get notified when it is exceeded. The technology can detect leaks and shut down systems automatically. Security, like alarm systems and biometrics, can also be integrated, as can controls for home theatres, pools and spas.
Marya said that once building owners have intelligence about their consumption, they promptly reduce it and save money.
The system relies on third-party vendors, such as Agilewaves (see later), for “controls,” like the monitoring and manipulation of an irrigation system. Amazing Controls’ value is in its ability to integrate the energy monitoring and control devices and then serve them up for the user in a Web-based interface.
Launched in 1996 and privately funded, the company already has high-profile customers like Disney and Paramount Pictures. Marya said he’s in the process of cutting a major deal in the Middle East worth “hundreds of millions” of dollars, but he declined to give further details.
Smart Consumption: Agilewaves
Agilewaves is the muscle behind Amazing Controls’ power, water and gas monitoring for homes and businesses. The company has cracked the code for collecting large amounts of data needed to monitor these systems and then displaying the usage in real-time over a Web-based interface.
As with Amazing Controls, the idea is that once people can monitor their use of electricity and other basic services, they’ll reduce their consumption. Agilewaves claims the savings often are upwards of 20%.
Based in Menlo Park, California, chief technology officer David Brock said the company is in the process of raising its first round of venture capital funding. He would not disclose which VC firms the startup has been talking with.
Raise the Roof
This was the exhibit for all those budding horticulturalists. It’s low-tech, but it can save money and improve the environment.
LiveRoof’s product covers otherwise drab and monotonous roofs with plants. The plants are delivered in plastic trays that are attached to roofs. This approach differs from that of so-called “built-up roofs” in that it is limited to a layer of plants and doesn’t include walkways, fountains, trees or other heavy products that go into making fully fledged gardens atop some buildings.
It’s a simple idea, but it has benefits: improves insulation and noise reduction, reduces energy consumption and extends the life of a roof.
LiveRoof is based out of Spring Lake, Michigan, but it has a network of 20 retailers around the U.S. Each retailer tailors the plants for the local environment. There are other “modular” system providers out there, and LiveRoof doesn’t exactly have complicated technology to hold off competitors with.
But retailer Tom Hawkins, based out of San Clemente, California, said LiveRoof beats the competition because its trays are shallow, only 3.5 inches, which reduces weight and the need for strengthening roofs. Also, the plants come fully grown, making them easier for clients to maintain.
Big Brother Google: Aquaduct
Is there anywhere to hide from Google? The search giant’s philanthropic arm had on display this year’s inaugural winner of the “Innovate or Die” competition. The contest encouraged people to develop solutions to climate change and had a whopping $5,000 reward.
Aquaduct is a bike that stores and filters water as it is propelled by the rider. It’s intended for rural communities in the developing world, where people often must walk long distances to fetch water. Team Aquaduct no doubt thought they’d kill two birds with one stone: help rural folk get to the water and then purify on the way back.
No word if anyone intends to commercialize the idea. No doubt people living in rural areas will have a hard time affording these bikes. But perhaps some charitable organization would think this solution is more effective and lasting then others and fork out cash for free or subsidized distribution.
Light Me Up
Adura Technologies is another entrant into the smart building fold, but unlike Amazing Controls it is targeting one aspect of it: lighting. The San Francisco company supplies networks of wireless monitors for light fixtures that help building owners track consumption and detect outages. The information is displayed through a Web-based interface.
Once installed, users can shut off or dim lights with their mobile devices. Since each fixture has its own monitor and control device, the system would allow employees in an office to tailor their lighting to their own preferences.
Adura is financially backed by Vantage Point Ventures. Chief executive Zach Gentry said Adura differs from the competition because it is easily scaleable to the enterprise level and because the company focuses on existing commercial buildings.
You call this a home?
Finally, here’s a video about SG Block’s Harbinger House. Placed at the center of the exhibition hall, it’s a two-story, 1700-square-foot home built of recycled shipping containers. The video was produced in-house by Blue Practice, the San Francisco PR firm that helped organize West Coast Green.