The Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) will introduce GreenFormat at the U.S. Green Building Council's Greenbuild Conference and Expo, Nov. 18-20, in Boston.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - The Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) will introduce GreenFormat,www.greenformat.com, at the U.S. Green Building Council's Greenbuild Conference and Expo, Nov. 18-20, in Boston. Demonstrations of the format will be conducted throughout the event in booth No. 352.

CSI will also offer an education session, “CSI GreenFormat: Review of the Construction Product Sustainability Reporting Guide Release Version.”

The session is open to all conference attendees on a first-come, first-serve basis and will take place at noon, Wednesday, Nov. 19.  CSI and the Metropolitan New York Chapter will also hold a post-conference education session from 2-6 p.m., Friday, Nov. 21.

“Incorporating LEED into Project Specifications” is for construction specifiers, designers and other team members who need to know how to integrate LEED requirements into specifications. The session will include directions for using GreenFormat in specifications.

“We are excited to release GreenFormat and will be offering educational sessions and demonstrations at our booth throughout Greenbuild,” CSI Executive Director and CEO Walter Marlowe said. “We have completed an extensive testing process with manufacturers and have received many positive comments on the new format. Those in the construction industry that rely on CSI formats and practice guidelines will find GreenFormat reliable and easy to use, and a real benefit for bringing organization to the information overload that exists today.”

Developed in collaboration with CSI member specifiers, product manufacturers, BuildingGreen, Inc. and the Charles Pankow Foundation, GreenFormat is a new web-based CSI format that provides a standardized framework for identifying the sustainable properties of building products. Designers, constructors and building managers will be able to use GreenFormat to find basic information about products to help meet 'green' requirements.

MasterFormat divisions in a spec-friendly layout organize product listings in GreenFormat. The format's categories focus on topics that are important to design and product selection decisions. To enter products into the database, building product manufacturers complete an online questionnaire that collects sustainable information about their products. Data from the completed questionnaires is then displayed in a standardized manner to ease sustainable design decision-making.

More than 100 manufacturers already participate in GreenFormat. CSI is offering manufacturers a FREE account and product listing on GreenFormat if they sign up by Jan. 1, 2009.

To find out more about GreenFormat, visit CSI in booth No. 352 at GreenBuild or visitwww.greenformat.com.