Tech Pioneers Who Will Change Your Life

The corporate to-do list at Serious Materials is succinct and ambitious: save the planet, create jobs for a work-hungry America, and prove that the color of money and eco-friendly building materials is one and the same. "If we were making energy-saving materials 10 years ago, there would be no market," says the 47-year-old CEO, Kevin Surace, a veteran of several high-tech stalwarts. "No one was interested, because energy was relatively cheap. And 10 years from now will be too late." The company is laboring furiously to develop "sustainable green building materials that save energy and money, improve comfort and aggressively address climate change," he says. Chief among them: ultra-insulated windows and glass — rated R-11, vs. the industry norm, R-3 or R-4 — that can reduce energy and maintenance costs 40% in the nation's buildings. Another, EcoRock, is an alternative to gypsum drywall and requires 80% less energy to produce.

—Bob Diddlebock

See TIME's 2009 Person of the Year: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.