Building Green, publisher of Environmental Buildings News and GreenSpec, just released their top 10 green building products for 2006, and Community Energy’s Renewable Energy Credits made the list. Although not directly related to the “kerfuffle” about the Whole Foods/Renewable Choice Card, this is important to the REC debate for a couple of reasons.

  1. EBN is one of the most respected sources of information on green building, and they feel RECs are worthwhile. To me this is a huge vote of confidence in RECs as part of overall environmental sustainability efforts.
  2. RECs are not strictly a building product, but a service choice, yet purchasing RECs can make a huge dent in a building’s lifecycle impact. Typically, RECs receive relatively little attention, because they are not as sexy as other options such as solar panels or salvaged-timber bathroom partitions. Adding RECs to a list of important green products broadens people’s perspectives on what green building can be. For example, this highlights that you don’t have to build a new building or undergo a major renovation to green your buildings, but you can start right away with RECs.