Atlanta, GA, November 9, 2005--BuildingGreen, Inc., publisher of the GreenSpec® Product Directory and Environmental Building News®, today announced its 2005 selections of the Top-10 Green Building Products. This fourth annual award, announced at the U.S. Green Building Council's Greenbuild Conference in Atlanta, recognizes the most exciting products added to the GreenSpec Directory during the past year (though some products may have been on the market longer).

"Most of the Top-10 products this year have multiple environmental attributes," noted GreenSpec coeditor Alex Wilson.

2005 saw the introduction of an ice-based thermal energy storage system that makes off-peak cooling practical for smaller commercial buildings and homes. Until now, making ice at night to provide daytime cooling was limited to large commercial buildings that used chillers. "This is a very significant development," said Wilson, "that will enable utility companies to reduce the use of peaking power plants that are often the most polluting; it will also save a lot of money for building owners who pay electricity demand charges or have time-of-day electricity rates."

BuildingGreen's Top-10 product selections, as in previous years, are drawn from new additions to the company's GreenSpec Product Directory. More than 160 products have been added to the GreenSpec database during the past year. "New products seem to be appearing at an ever-faster pace," said Wilson. The GreenSpec database his company maintains now includes almost 2,000 product listings, representing several times as many actual products.

A big driver in the development of green products continues to be the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED® Rating System (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), which awards points for the use of certain product types or for the energy or water savings that certain green products can achieve. "Designers of LEED buildings are looking for green products, and manufacturers are responding," said Wilson.