Local company finding gold in green | News

CINCINNATI (FOX19) - Not everyone thought opening a green building supply business in the midst of a major housing recession was a good idea.

"Everybody thought I was crazy, but it's going very well", says Heather Curless, the owner of Greener Stock, a supplier of green building and remodeling materials in Columbia-Tusculum.

The store opened this January. "I think we hit the market at the right time. We had a little experience once the spring-summer remodeling season hit."

Although housing may be in a recession, the market for energy-saving and ecologically friendly products has been taking off. Some of that is because of new federal spending, along with existing federal and state programs that promote green and especially energy-saving products.  There is also more green consiousness in recent years.

The rise in energy prices is also bringing in more businesses, from people who don't want to keep being hit by big bills. "If you make your home more efficient, you're going to be saving more in your utility costs down the road. I like to push that as a first step for folks", Curless says.

Greener Stock sells a variety of home products. Interior materials feature composition from substances that won't emit dangerous fumes into household air, as happens with plastic compounds. Cork flooring is a large seller, and the store also sells woolen carpeting. Exterior materials tend to emphasize energy-saving performance, while the company also sells items for specific household uses, such as high-effiency toilets, solar powered vent fans, and rain barrels.

Curless was motivated to start the company because many new green inventions have been rolled out in other parts of the country first. "I'm an architect, so I've been following a lot of these products for a while, and they haven't been available locally."

She has been able to change that in many, but not all cases. "We just recently have been trying to find a resource for solar shingles. We can't even get that product here." So far the suppliers are only selling in sunny areas like the Southwest.

Besides traditional sales and consulting, Greener Stock has had success reaching people through seminars and special events. At 10:30 Saturday morning (September 25) they are holding an event on non-toxic cleaning methods. In November they are participating in the 2010 Green Homes Summit.

That event, presented by the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects, the Homebuilders Association, and others is in its second year. Curless will make a presentation on how to build green and make it pay. The show will also includes tours of LEED-certified houses in Northside, Hyde Park, and Downtown.

Being based in Columbia-Tusculum, so far Greener Stock has seen more business from remodeling than from new homes. There also do business involving LEED (U.S. Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified projects, but most of that involves new homes and businesses, since the standards are tough to meet for an older building without taking it down to the frame.

Much LEED activity is in public buildings, especially schools, and Curless says this is an area where Cincinnati, backed by Ohio's school construction program, is a national leader.  2010 figures show Ohio with a quarter of the nation's green school buildings, and the 21 green school buildings within the city limits of Cincinnati surpassing 42 different states, including the entire state of New York.  Cincinnati also beats all other cities in Ohio in green school buildings.

Greener Stock is at 3528 Columbia Parkway in Columbia-Tusculum.