Last week’s GreenBusiness Works Expo was true to its name—all “business.” It was refreshing to see so many green businesses and so much optimism. I guess that’s the benefit of working in a sustainable industry—sooner or later you know your product or service will be needed. The general feeling at the Expo was that everyone’s products and services would be needed “sooner.” I would venture to guess that the attendance at this year’s expo was up four-fold from last year. Stephanie Armistead should be commended for putting together such a comprehensive forum. When you get the likes of Interface, Chevron, Georgia Power and several state congressmen, you know you’ve hit a tipping point.

The Expo also included a Southern Solar Summit, which was a huge hit and many of the breakout meetings were standing room only. The big takeaway was “if Germany can do it, Georgia can do it.” We were reminded by three or four speakers that Germany, which gets about the same amount of sun as Alaska, is the number one user of PV solar, and Georgia lags behind New Jersey and N. Carolina. Hopefully, this message was not lost on the public officials in attendance.

I spent a lot of time at the RedBird LED display checking out their impressive LED display. I’m ashamed to say that I have not kept up with all the advances in LED lights. For example, I didn’t know there are now LED tubes that can replace T12 or T8 fluorescents (requires ballast removal). LED tubes are as elegant in design as they are efficient. The directional light they provide eliminates the need for expensive architectural fixtures.

The one product that impressed me the most was the thermal-solar-powered dehumidifier at the Hannah Solar display. Using desiccant crystals, moisture is taken out of air before it enters a standard HVAC system greatly reducing the load and energy needs. The hot “solar” water serves to dry the desiccant over and over. The system also has the benefit of cooling water before it reaches a hot water tank. Apparently, this is not new technology and has been used in Japan for many years.

Selfishly, the best part of the Expo was when VERUS’s very own Eric Taub and Keith Kantor, CEO of Service Foods, participated in a panel discussion on carbon. Keith’s is one of our clients and surprised us all when he announced that his sales rose 30% after Service Foods became Carbon Neutral early this year. Keith’s company should be commended for its green practices, which I am sure also contributed to its increase in sales. Keith coined a phase: “green is clean” and in the food industry “clean” is very important. Service Foods provides home delivery of all-natural food all over the country and it’s obvious that his customers appreciate his support of the environment.

We look forward to next year’s expo.