Valley residents can attend the third annual BIG Green Expo and Conference at the Phoenix Convention Center Friday and Saturday to learn about environmentally friendly products for their homes and businesses.
The BIG — which stands for Build it Green — conference covers many different aspects of sustainable living, including “green awareness,” solar power, sustainable building practices and how to make an existing home or business more environmentally friendly.
Tina Robinson, the conference’s exhibit director, said each year the show has more than 10,000 attendees and 200 exhibitors. This year, there will be 25 speakers from 21 companies at the conference portion of the event.
The expo provides an opportunity to “learn and live the green life,” Robinson said. Attendees can learn about green solutions in the conference hall and then go to the expo hall to see the exhibits of products available to live sustainably, she said.
One of the vendors and sponsors of the expo is Castle Rock Homes, a custom-home builder which uses a special insulating concrete form called BuildBlock to create energy efficient buildings. Owner Gary Fetters said in an email that the expo provides a large attendance and a chance to educate about sustainable living.
“We choose to participate in the BIG show primarily because of the amount of ‘Green traffic’ the show attracts and also to educate the public about how to build using green technology,” Fetters said.
Fetters said that Castle Rock Homes builds 20 homes, seven churches and three fire stations annually with BuildBlock forms.
Robinson said that the Expo was developed out of necessity in the marketplace, as buzz around becoming more energy efficient grew within the business community. Before BIG there was no event in the Valley that addressed sustainable living, Robinson said.
In 2009, AZ Big Media, an Arizona publishing company that publishes niche magazines and runs award ceremonies and expos, recognized the opportunity to start an expo for sustainable living.
The BIG Green Expo and Conference is now the biggest sustainable living event in the state for business and home owners, according to the AZ Big Media website.
Contact the reporter at hjlurie@asu.edu
