By Joel Makower

I’ll admit to entering the halls of Greenbuild — the mammoth green building conference and expo, held last week in Phoenix — with a cynical theory: Greenbuild would be filled with greenwash. I assumed that with nearly 1,100 exhibitors, up 25 percent from the previous year amid a horrid economy, the U.S. Green Building Council, the event’s organizers, had lowered its standards, accepting anyone that had a green story to tell. It would be, I surmised, a case study in what happens when green goes mainstream: that good intentions and high standards give way to the lowest common denominator of the mass market. We’d seen it before with organic foods, where just about any fat-laden, additive-intensive food could be deemed “organic.” I assumed history would repeat itself here. I’m happy to report that I was wrong.

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http://www.greenerbuildings.com/blog/2009/11/16/searching-greenwash-greenbuild