Vinyl and Asphalt are Green at Greenbuild

vinyl for life image

Or so they are trying to tell us. The Vinyl Institute claims that vinyl is sustainable, versatile, energy efficient and durable. They even built a website, Vinyl in design, to "familiarize architects and designers with the range of solutions vinyl provides for today's and tomorrow's design challenges."

No mention of its manufacture from chlorine and fossil fuels, Phthalate plasticizers, dioxins, recyclability, or any of the other reasons that so many green designers are trying to build without the stuff.

So when you are finished looking at their lovely booth, have a look at:
TreeHuggerTV: Sam Suds and the Case of PVC
The Pluses and Minuses of Vinyl
Vinyl Flooring and Phthalates Linked to Autism in New Study
Greenwash Watch: 12 Ways Vinyl Siding is Green

Not quite as elegant as the Vinyl for Life booth is the one all covered in signs saying "Asphalt: The Sustainable Pavement." They have a website called, of course, Pavegreen, where they tell us that "From the production of the paving material, to the placement of the pavement on the road, to rehabilitation, through recycling, asphalt pavements minimize impact on the environment. "

No mention of petrochemicals, skin cancer from asphalt fumes, heat island effects. I don't know in what world paving asphalt and building highways is green, and it does seem odd seeing them in Greenbuild.