The AIA Dallas Committee on the Environment (COTE), USGBC North Texas, and the CSI Dallas Chapter will host North Texas Sustainable Showcase 2013, featuring the latest green building products and technologies for commercial and residential use, July 11, at The Dallas Arboretum. Now in its sixth year, the showcase is for architects, engineers, interior designers, developers, contractors, owners, facilities managers and others interested in the sustainable building industry.

This year’s keynote speaker is FAIA LEED Fellow Bob Harris. He has more than 20 years of project experience, with a focus on environmental issues ranging from land preservation advocacy to sustainable urban design. Harris was elected to College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects in 2007. This event will also provide panel presentations by experts in the industry that will review reasons to choose healthy materials, how they affect designs, and how to implement them in projects.

The World Health Organization says that up to 30 percent of new and remodeled buildings worldwide have poor indoor air quality, and that concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOC) are up to 10 times higher indoors than outdoors. These gases are emitted as gases from thousands of products, such as paints and lacquers, paint strippers, cleaning supplies, pesticides, building materials and furnishings and adhesives. Identifying alternatives to pollution sources that release harmful gases or particles is a vital step toward building healthier buildings. Short-term and long-term adverse health effects range from allergies and asthma to chronic respiratory disease and damage to the brain and nervous system.

For information or to register, visit NTXSustainableShowcase.com.