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06/24/10: Aspiring Young Designer Wins GREENGUARD's First-Ever Social Media Contest at 2010 NeoCon World's Trade Fair; Receives Apple iPad as Prize
Contact:
Rachel R. Belew,
PR & Communications Manager
678.444.4047 or 678.548.7889
rbelew@greenguard.org
Aspiring Young Designer Wins GREENGUARD's First-Ever Social Media
Contest at 2010 NeoCon World's Trade Fair; Receives Apple iPad as Prize
22-year-old
uses Twitter and smart phone technology to showcase over 75 manufacturers
of GREENGUARD Certified products
(Atlanta, GA.)-An
up-and-coming young designer with a passion for healthier indoor environments
has been declared the winner of the GREENGUARD
Environmental Institute's first-ever social media contest this month
at the NeoCon World's Trade Fair
in Chicago.
Nathan Bush, 22,
a recent graduate of the University
of Louisville with a bachelor's degree in Interior Architecture,
was the first contestant to photograph the showrooms of over 75 manufacturers
of GREENGUARD Certified products and share those photographs on the
popular microblogging site Twitter.
Dubbed the #NeoConTWEST,
the scavenger-hunt-inspired contest was a first-of-its-kind social media
competition intended to engage and inform the architects and designers
who attended NeoCon by using Web
2.0 technology. GREENGUARD provided a
list of more than 75 participating manufacturers, as well as their
showroom numbers, to help guide contestants through the competition.
For Bush, who learned about the competition on-you guessed it-Twitter,
the contest was a huge success.
"Companies
(like GREENGUARD) are beginning to understand the millennial generation
and their desire for dynamic interaction with companies outside of a
formal brand," Bush says, adding that Twitter is quickly becoming
a source of inspiration and opportunity-and not "just another unproductive
and leisurely social media outlet."
Part of that "dynamic
interaction," says Bush, was the real-time educational aspect of
the #NeoConTWEST. Bush was stunned to learn that indoor air is two to
five times more polluted than outdoor air, but relieved to find out
that there are manufacturers who are committed to reducing indoor air
pollution by certifying their products for low chemical emissions.
"This is vital
information for everyone involved in the built environment, including
operations and maintenance, furnishing, textile, carpet designers and
manufacturers, and especially the A and D industry, which is specifying
building materials and furnishings," Bush says. "The mission
of an interior architect and designer is to enhance the function, safety,
and aesthetics of interior spaces. Indoor air quality has to be part
of the equation…. This is the same concept as not dumping toxic
by-products into the streams and rivers you intend to fish from, source
your water from, or allow your children to swim in. I would suggest
that anyone unfamiliar with indoor air quality concerns take a look
at the FAQ section of
GREENGUARD's website."
Of course, participating
in the contest was also fun and exciting, says Bush, who tweets under
the username N8DesignStudio.
It even required some strategic planning on his part.
"My strategy
was to cover two floors per day," he says. "Before NeoCon
began, I printed the floor plans for the exposition and highlighted
all of the showrooms whose manufacturers had products that were listed
as GREENGUARD Certified. That way I could easily flow through each floor.
Seems it worked out well."
So well, in fact,
that Bush has become the proud new owner of an Apple
iPad-a gadget this ambitious young designer plans to use as a presentation
tool for prospective employers and clients.
"I want to
be part of a team that creates cities that are continuous with the landscape
and provide healthy built environments that are beneficial to their
users. Our spaces need to be both healthful and beautiful with great
indoor air quality."
About the GREENGUARD Environmental Institute (GEI)
The GREENGUARD Environmental
Institute aims to protect human health and improve quality of life by
enhancing indoor air quality and reducing people's exposure to chemicals
and other pollutants. As an ISO-IEC Guide 65:1996 accredited, third-party
organization, the GREENGUARD Environmental Institute certifies products
and materials for low chemical emissions and provides a resource for
choosing healthier products and materials for indoor environments. All
certified products must meet stringent chemical emissions standards
based on established criteria from key public health agencies. GREENGUARD
Certification is broadly recognized and accepted by sustainable building
programs and building codes worldwide. For more information and a complete
listing of certified products, visit www.greenguard.org.
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