Green Link, Incorporated is an innovative engineering company manufacturing advanced architectural supports primarily for the Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration (HVAC/R), electrical, plumbing, and roofing/construction markets. The company nimbly engineer rooftop and ground-mounted mechanical equipment, cable management, pipe, and duct support products designed for extreme sustainability, directly informed by contractor feedback. All Green Link products are U.S.-made and are the most durable, versatile, cost-effective, and professional-looking support solutions on the market.
Interview with Lisa Mulder, VP of Green Link, Incorporated.
Easy Engineering: What are the main areas of activity of the company?
Lisa Mulder: Green Link manufactures our “Universal” and “Big” Bases (7” and 12” in diameter, respectively) which attach to seven “KnuckleHeads,” answering each commercial roof project’s challenges with tremendous versatility. Each KnuckleHead has level-ability up to one inch to accommodate inevitably varying rooftop surfaces where conduit and mechanical equipment must remain level to properly function. Made of military- and auto-grade, weather impervious, glass-reinforced nylon with a constant operating temperature of 275 degrees Fahrenheit, Green Link’s seven head types include strut, stanchion, light pipe, heavy pipe, solar, paver, and pedestal. Each of these may be either loose-laid (to avoid roof membrane penetration, maintaining the roofing warranty), mechanically attached via our bases’ four center holes, and/or, for the strongest attachment, chemically bonded with our Green Link Adhesive/Sealant for durable adhesion to nearly any roof membrane (PVC, primed TPO, modified bitumen, EPDM, etc.). We are a trusted brand in no small part due to our hyper-responsive customer service and in-house engineers and technical advisors who, without extra charge to customers, ensure each project is sound before we recommend our system’s solution.
We also designed our latest product, the MetalHead, described below.
E.E: What is newsworthy about our new products?
L.M: There is currently nothing on the supports market as durable or versatile as ours, and yet we remain cost-competitive. We consistently have the pleasure of educating contractors and distributors about the “cost vs. the price,” given that our KnuckleHead and MetalHead products will outlast the life of the roof, each with extensive warranties (respectively 10- and 20-years), versus 5-6 years maximum for rubber crumb products or toxin-leaching wooden blocks. The MetalHead is our latest product. Each is an anodized, sealed extruded aluminum block support (9.5” wide x 5” tall) with an incorporated strut channel top, weighing a mere two pounds but able to withstand over 10,000 pounds compression. The line of accessories to accompany the MetalHead provides broad versatility, including a stackable manifold which resolves dissimilar metal challenges when accommodating multiple metal lines. Nearly indestructible and impervious to weathering, even on coastal areas, MetalHeads will never be thrown in the landfill; they will be used again on the next job or are fully recyclable.
E.E: What are our product lines/ranges?
L.M: In addition to our KnuckleHead and MetalHead lines – utilizing our strut and stanchion KnuckleHeads – Green Link’s best seller systems offer ability to vertically elevate mechanical equipment and/or pipe and duct supports via low-profile or elevated Green Link Strut Frames, including ability to directly incorporate an electrical box. We are also conducting testing on the “Magneto” a high-powered magnetic attachment system, as well as other roof deck attachment solutions which resolve waterproofing challenges where membrane penetrations are necessary.
E.E: At what stage(s) are our active markets?
L.M: Green Link markets are ripe for benefitting from our highly engineered and tested products, particularly since sustainability is and will remain a global priority. A changed mindset in construction toward adaptation to extreme weather and seismic events is necessary. With tested product lines serving a multitude of markets, we now turn our energy to implementing hard-hitting, efficient marketing efforts, focused on broadening our brand traction to help the greatest number of customers, worldwide. Separately, but certainly related to structural resilience, Green Link’s CEO has also developed a revolutionary adhesive in the wooden construction industry called “Climate” which withstands heretofore intolerable cycling wind gusts and seismic activities. With initial tests demonstrating 300% elasticity and 120-mile an hour durability, “Climate” provides uncommon resilience to hurricane-, tornado-, and earthquake-prone areas with simply a bead applied between the shear wall and the roof in new or retrofitted structures.
E.E: What can we comment about our market trends?
L.M: The effects of climate change are many and worsening; we are neither immune nor tone-deaf to that. As our tagline denotes, we are committed to sustainability in all we do. The lifecycles of Green Link products are deliberate and will not be soon – if ever – landfill-bound, as they can be reused for the next job or recycled. Plastic and metal manufacturing has a long road ahead toward reaching necessary efficiency and technical innovation before they may be produced with low-/no-greenhouse gas emissions; until then, we remain far ahead of our competition in producing sustainable, recyclable products with high functional and aesthetic value.
E.E: What are the most innovative products marketed?
L.M: If scrutinized in both design and material choices, one can’t help but notice the inherent innovation of each of our products. We foresee tremendous growth in the coming three years as we refine and expand our sales team, as well as continued investment in innovative business and manufacturing operations. Though of current lesser marketing priority, there is also room for tremendous expansion in our cleanroom industry floor penetration products, Chem Seals.
E.E: What estimations do we have for 2022?
L.M: Expect great things! Green Link is on track to reach our internal sales goals and representatives getting closer to target sales per thousand (population) in each respective sales territory. With increased investment in their testing, we will also be able to fully promote our lesser-selling items and round out our brand’s complementary systems offerings. We cannot wait to grace the world’s commercial roofs with our products we love to share, quietly and sustainably improving people’s lives.