From the reclaimed barn wood building materials to the soy ink signage, the new booth created by Kohler Co. for the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo was planned to leave a big impression while following the U.S. Green Building Council’s green tradeshow guidelines.
Inside the booth are many of the company’s innovative water-saving products, showcased in the kind of gracious, forward-thinking setting for which Kohler has become renowned.
“Greenbuild is about innovation in all aspects of all processes. In keeping with that, we looked at how we planned and executed a tradeshow in a completely new way,” commented Rob Zimmerman, engineering manager for water conservation and sustainability at Kohler. “To be genuinely conscientious, we had to analyze every element right down to what happens to the booth and its contents after the show is over.”
The Kohler booth is made up of four distinct suites: three common commercial spaces (a hotel restroom, a stadium restroom, and a healthcare restroom) and a residential space to show visitors how they can impact the environment by using water-conserving technologies and sustainable products. The attention to the materials used for these vignettes and the conservational nature of the overall display were planned out to the smallest details.
All displays were designed to fit into one 53-foot truck to limit the transportation costs.
The structures are built from reclaimed barn wood, and portions of the booth will be reused for other shows.
The products will be donated after the show and all the other building materials were designed for repackaging upon return shipment. BD+C
Related Stories
| May 29, 2013
Realtors report positive trends in commercial real estate market
Realtors who practice commercial real estate have reported an increase in annual gross income for the third year in a row, signaling the market is on the road to recovery.
| May 29, 2013
6 award-winning library projects
The Anacostia Neighborhood Library in Washington, D.C., and the renovation of Cass Gilbert’s grand Beaux-Arts library in St. Louis are among six projects to be named 2013 AIA/ALA Library Building Award winners.
| May 28, 2013
LED lighting's risks and rewards
LED lighting technology provides unique advantages, but it’s also important to understand its limitations for optimized application.
| May 28, 2013
Minneapolis transit hub will double as cultural center [slideshow]
The Building Team for the Interchange project in downtown Minneapolis is employing the principles of "open transit" design to create a station that is one part transit, one part cultural icon.
| May 24, 2013
James Turrell's art installation turns Guggenheim Museum into 'skyspace'
James Turrell, an artist whose projects are more properly defined as "light sculptures," will have a major installation at the Guggenheim Museum this summer, turning Frank Lloyd Wright's famed serpentine atrium into a show of shifting colors and textures. The site-specific project, Aten Reign, will run from June 21 to September 25.
| May 24, 2013
First look: Revised plan for Amazon's Seattle HQ and 'biodome'
NBBJ has released renderings of a revised plan for Amazon's new three-block headquarters in Seattle. The proposal would replace a previously approved six-story office building with a three-unit "biodome."
| May 23, 2013
Supertall 'Sky City' will house 4,400 families in Changsha, China
Broad Sustainable Building has completed a long and arduous approval process, and is starting excavation and construction on Sky City in June, 2013. The proposed "world's tallest building" will be a mixed-use project that could accommodate life and work needs of up to 30,000 people.
| May 23, 2013
Are design-build contracts killing small architecture firms?
Are federal design-build contract laws unfair to small firms? AIA thinks so, citing an interesting fact: an architecture firm spends a median of $260,000 to compete for a design-build project.
| May 23, 2013
Is the 'bring your own device' discussion stumping your IT group?
A new twist to the communication challenge most companies and IT departments face is the “bring your own device,” or BYOD, conundrum. I call it a conundrum because it is stumping many IT professionals.