NEW YORK, NY— New York’s leading green home and real estate magazine, NewYorkHouseMagazine.com, announces judges for the third annual Innovative Green Design Awards competition. This independent panel of experts represents leaders in sustainable architecture, interior design, green products, and retailing. They will convene tomorrow to determine the winners in each home product category and recognize outstanding achievement in innovation, design, manufacturing, and efficiency.

The 2011 IGDA Judges are:

Paulette Cole, CEO and Creative Director of ABC Home. Cole is a visionary presence in both retail and socially responsible business. She has been in the sustainable furniture and design business for more than 20 years and has been taking huge strides towards making ABC Home and Planet into a 100 percent socially responsible store.  Her store currently offers more than 650 items made from recycled, reclaimed, and salvaged wood. According to Cole, her ultimate green goal is, “Green justice; legislation and business and consumer demand working in partnership with the planet.”  Having a visionary like Paulette Cole on this panel of judges is definitely going to raise the standards.

Paul Gleicher, Founder of Gleicher Design Group, LEED AP. Gleicher is a veteran when it comes to design and architecture.  Gleicher is an LEED Accredited Professional, a member of the United States Green Building Council, and a true master of architecture and design.  Gleicher Design Group has been supporting green designs for 20 years now, and most recently reinvented itself as a leader in green design by integrating environmentally safe ideas into all of its projects.  Along with his solo acclamations, Gleicher and his wife, wife Lisa Sharkey have co-authored a book titled, Dreaming Green, which tracks the building and renovation of several homes including their own personal New York City townhouse.

Robin Wilson, author, nationally recognized ecofriendly and healthy space interior consultant and designer, Robin Wilson Home. Wilson has become a leading advocate for clean construction methods. She is the first woman to license her name to ecofriendly kitchen cabinetry. Retailers will carry the Robin Wilson Home line of bedding and bath products and pillows by 2012. She will also appear on a segment of #1 rated HGTV television show “Selling New York” in Fall 2011.

Wilson has recently been named an ambassador for the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. She has been working to better the environment through design for years and is known for converting both the Harlem office of President Clinton and the White House Fellows office into environmentally sound spaces.  Wilson prides herself on her design firm, Robin Wilson Home and has recently written a book, Kennedy Green House, which documents the renovation of Bobby and Mary Richardson Kennedy’s home and showcases the latest green technologies and sustainable building practices, designed by Wilson.

Returning to the panel is Doug Mazeffa, the Research Director for Greenopia, the nation’s leading green directory. Greenopia includes all ecofriendly retailers, services and organizations that meet a strict set of standards which Mazeffa sets.  Mazzeffa is responsible for creating the criteria for all of Greenopia’s business, product, and corporate directories. His environmental guides have been featured in USA Today, NBC, CNBC, iVillage, Huffington Post, Fast Company, Fox News, Slashfood, The Enquirer, as well as top media outlets. Mazeffa earned his Master's in Corporate Environmental Management from the Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management. During his time there he studied life cycle analysis, eco-labels, green markets,and consumer perception of the environment. His thesis revolved around analyzing which environmental attributes consumers cared about when making purchasing decisions, and how that information could accurately be portrayed on an eco-labels and environmental ratings. His knowledge and experience from being on the board of the Clean Business Certification and Clean Business Investment Summit will play a vital role in the judging of this year’s IGDA competition.

Another returning judge is Cheryl Terrace, Owner of Vital Design, Ltd. Terrace and owner of eco-decorating and green interior design firm Vital Design Ltd., has dedicated her career to promoting 'human and earth friendly' design. In the business of creating greener homes since 1997, Terrace’s work has been featured in homes and businesses throughout the Hudson Valley. She has offices in Manhattan and upstate. She has participated in the renowned Kips Bay Decorator Show house in Manhattan, and was the first eco designer to be featured in their show house. She has been  featured on Planet Green Networks "Simply Green with Danny Seo" as well as publications like Traditional Home and Interior Design Magazine, Westchester Home, New York Living, Natural Home, Domino, Sustainable Residential Interiors, and New York House.

The judges will convene on August 10 in New York City and ScheinDigital will announce the winners within one week.

ScheinDigital is a diversified media company founded by Jonathan A. Schein, whose holdings include NewYorkHouseMagazine.com, a green home and real estate website with an emphasis on green and sustainable design, architecture, and residential multi-family and home building, as well as products and services for the home; GreenRealEstateDaily.com,a national daily news service devoted to green real estate and business issues; FilmFestivalToday.com, a website and conference medium focused on the business of film and entertainment; ScheinMediaEvents, which produces exclusive, high-level professional conferences and networking events;and FlierWire.com, a web-based press release wire service.