One Greenbuild exhibitor with whom I talked yesterday grimaced when I commented on the size of the crowd that had just left their booth. “Yeah, lots of people are coming by,” he said. “But I’m not sure it’s the right people. We’ve had three architects stop by. Three.”

I turned with him to watch the passersby and vaguely remembered a similar comment last year, with the threat to not return.

To another exhibitor I commented, “There seems to be a lot of students here.” He laughed. “The questions they ask!” His colleague who’d just arrived asked, “What are they asking?”

“This morning I got a question about wind loads,” the exhibitor said with a shake of his head. “It depends on what class they’re taking this semester.”

An exhibitor across from the USGlass booth had another opinion. “They used to stop by, even if they had no interest in our product, just to see what we did. They were so curious: ‘how are you green?’ Now they have the ‘trade show swagger.’ They go straight to what they want to see, and won’t make eye contact with you.” (I ducked my head sheepishly knowing full well what he meant.)

That’s the trick with this event. The crowds are big, especially in the seminars, and certainly no one’s going to argue that it’s an event nearing a timely end as many trade shows inevitably seem to do. But as I mentioned yesterday, on the one hand it’s a sophisticated crowd that is going to expect a company to back up it’s green claims. And on the other hand, it’s a crowd filled with students who will be designing and constructing tomorrow’s buildings. And they won’t be designing a building with the goal of making it reach some green goal; green will just be part of the blueprint DNA, if you will.

On another note, I went with my colleague yesterday to pick the USGlass booth for Greenbuild 2012. The show will fill three halls in San Francisco’s Moscone Center. “There’s no main hall,” the woman in charge patiently explained to my colleague’s question. But she did discourage us from looking at the one hall that wouldn’t feature seminars. It’ll be interesting to see what new technology glass companies will have to offer next year, and whether the attendees will look for it.

Greenbuild isn’t like many of the trade shows at which glass companies exhibit. Although this year’s event, which opened last night at the Metro Toronto Convention Center, attracts a wide range of building professionals looking for the latest in all things “green,” it also attracts students, consultants and others looking to perpetuate the latest turn of the green trend. The attendees come hungry for knowledge, and the enthusiastic crowd holds a certain excitement that doesn’t feel like a trade show; a feeling perpetuated by the fact that last night’s soft opening of the exhibit hall featured mingling over drinks and appetizers served just outside Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope’s spacious booth, and tonight’s keynote address features the band Maroon 5.

While it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement for the green buzz, the event in a lot of ways calls attention to a very simple and very important question: what is green?

There are lots of answers to this question, and it’s easy to focus on just one answer while ignoring the bigger picture. For example, many glass manufacturers point out LEED should recognize glass as a recycled material, because cullet is such a big component, but on the other hand, the manufacturing process itself is hugely energy intensive (although many companies are taking steps to improve or “green” those processes).

One company I talked to earlier today pointed that aluminum has the same issues. Many exhibitors here will point to their aluminum products and say it’s “green,” because aluminum can be recycled, but maybe it’s not as energy efficient as other structural options (although there have been a number of aluminum products here that are taking great strides in improving aluminum as an energy saving option as you’ll see in our USGNN show reports).

There’s not a single answer to the question. I’d argue asking the question is more important than getting a “right” answer. Even those products promoting one “green” feature might be better than not seeking to improve the energy performance of a building, or considering how to reuse materials or existing projects. On the other hand, this is an audience that knows that green is not a trend, it’s a new way of life, and it’s an audience that’s not just asking “how is your product green” but increasingly demanding “prove it.”

Another GlassBuild America is in the books! As the USGlass staff gets down to work on analyzing the announcements and buzz at this year show for our print review, we can’t help but come across those tidbits that, well, you really can only get at a tradeshow.

For example, when Ellen Rogers, editor of our Decorative Glass Magazine, stopped to ask one decorative glass fabricator why they weren’t displaying a particular product line, she was told that their supplier had moved to another industry, one apparently more lucrative than glass: selling medical marijuana. I’ve been hearing a lot about companies diversifying into new fields but, I must say, that was a first for me…

When I stopped by the KL-Megla booth to learn more about its recent acquisition of CHMI, the booth representatives were excited to share information on their privacy glass, Smart Glass – specifically, that they were in the process of installing the dynamic product in a certain entertainment idol’s home. As I headed away from the booth, pen in hand, I got a friendly request not to drop the name of this Mr. X. C’mon guys, you sure there’s no project photos you can share here?

Meanwhile, DWM editor Tara Taffera was tickled by a clever and cost-effective display in the Mecal booth. Attendees could see the manufacturer’s equipment in action – via a Skype display in the booth that allowed attendees to talk with plant operators across the country. I thought it especially interesting that a tool like this, which would seem to negate the need for travel, would be at a trade show – but in reality it seems the perfect mix of technology and good old-fashioned networking with the fine folks working the booth.

While pausing in our own booth 2411, I couldn’t resist snapping this photo here. Those of us used to making the trade show rounds know that the last day of many shows tend to see a bit of a drop in attendee traffic. But I considered it a good sign that these exhibitors had out their putters rather than their drivers, as it seemed that business was still being conducted on the event floor until close to the end. That seemed to be a common comment through the show, that those people who are traveling are really focused on getting business done.

So what was the strangest/most memorable/most unique thing you saw or heard at the show? Share it in the comments below!

Now on a personal note, thanks to Vesuvius’ Ren Bartoe and the crowd he persuaded into joining him in an enthusiastic rendition of “Happy Birthday” during Monday night’s GlassBuild Welcome Reception there at the convention center. I’m looking forward to celebrating a milestone next year with some of my favorite people (psst, that’s you, dear reader!) during next year’s GlassBuild, which organizers have announced is scheduled for September 12-14 in Las Vegas.

Before that though, from the comments at this last show it sounds like I’ll be seeing a number of you at Greenbuild at the beginning of October – if you’re walking that floor be sure to stop by and see USGlass in booth 6050S!

Guardian’s Russ Ebeid commanded the Glass Performance Days (GPD) stage Friday as he closed the keynote addresses  that took place over the course of the day.  After a presentation that had the entire hall silent, Ebeid added ‘a personal message.’ There was a pause as he explained to the audience, ‘About two years ago I lost my boss, my mentor, and a friend of 39 years, Bill Davidson.’ He proceeded to explain that with the change in leadership to a very capable 5-member board, as he explained, ‘Now it is the time for me to step aside to the next level of management.’

Ebeid added, ‘I always thought good business could only follow if you have a good personal relationship with your customers,’ and thanked his rapt audience for just that. The audience replied with a standing ovation that you might say has lasted for four days as qoutes from Ebeid’s talk have been on many lips here in Tampere, Finland.

While Ebeid’s presentation and official announcement of his retirement this coming September has certainly been a highlight of the event, many people here have been citing the earlier presentation from Ambassador Oreck as well for a job very well done. Oreck had jokingly guaranteed ‘I’m the only ambassador to speak at a glass performance conference,’ but with his fascinating talk on the work the Green Embassies League is doing to promote the use of high-performing products he might become the only ambassador to be asked back to speak at a glass performance conference.

Of course an informative presentation should hardly be a shock here – the event is known for its high quality content and this year has not disappointed. I’m still trying to sort through the overwhelming amount of information I’ve taken in while bouncing around among the five concurrent tracks, and am working on delivering that content to you!

One of the really neat additions to this year’s program was the architecture competition. Conference organizers are giving something back to the Tampere community, having organized an architecture competition to design a glass pavilion around a parking garage in the heart of town. It’s a small project but the four submissions all made a bold statement; in the end ALA Architects in Helsinki won the job for their beautifully sculptural ‘Magnolia’ design that will envelope both parking garage and the tree for which the project is named. In two years time the GPD committee will be announcing the winner of a student contest (they are alternating student and professional competitions) and the downtown area will have a permanent reminder of the beauty and performance of glass.

While the North American contingent seems to be somewhat smaller than in past years, it’s included some new faces. I had a chance to chat before the conference dinner (yum and fun!) with Michael Spellman, IGE Solutions, who is taking it all in for the first time. Urmilla Sowell, GANA’s technical presenter, is a first-time attendee and presenter as she’s scheduled to share later today information on resources, standards, codes and associations. Earlier today I had a few minutes to talk with John Rovi as he’s excitedly planning out his GPD blog post for later this week. And of course one of the great things about the event is all of the new friends I’ve made from Holland, Australia, Romania, Finland and well beyond. 

As the conference’s last day winds down here, however, there is but one question on everyone’s mind … we’re all just awaiting the moment when we find out the theme for tonight’s famous farewell party …