Attendance was visibly lower at this year's International Builders' Show, but a record 363 vendors featured green products - more than double the number last year - said a spokeswoman for the National Association of Home Builders, AP reports (via Salon).
Increased competition among green product suppliers has driven down costs and made it more affordable to build green homes. Radiant floor systems, for example, are now more affordable than four or five years ago, says Matt Belcher, president of Belcher Homes.
However, most products at the convention didn't represent major advancements in innovations. Instead, they made modest improvements on how the products are made or made the products more widely available.
At last year's show, the association launched its National Green Building Program, which aims to compete with the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED rating tools.