BackPage Primers

Programmable Thermostats

Programmable thermostats can save a lot of energy, but to do so, the have to be operated correctly.
Environmental Building News—November 1, 2009

Upgrade to LEED 2009?

Projects currently registered under LEED-NC 2.2 can transfer to LEED 2009 before certifying. Should your project switch?
Environmental Building News—October 1, 2009

Tankless Water Heaters

Tankless water heaters have some downsides, but mostly offer advantages over conventional storage water heaters.
Environmental Building News—September 1, 2009

Constructed Wetlands for Wastewater

Constructed wetlands, when used to treat wastewater, can keep nitrogen and phosphorous from the water supply and cut costs by controlling the size of needed drainfields.
Environmental Building News—August 1, 2009

Thermal Bridging

Thermal bridging, when one material conducts heat much better than materials around it, can reduce the effectiveness of insulation to a surprising extent.
Environmental Building News—July 1, 2009

Brominated Flame Retardants

Keeping furnishings, appliances, and building materials from catching fire and burning up is important, but many flame retardants aren't good for us or the environment.
Environmental Building News—June 1, 2009

Adaptive Thermal Comfort

Adaptive thermal comfort broadens our understanding of the comfort zone by accounting for human behavior and perception, and factors like amount of clothing and air movement.
Environmental Building News—May 1, 2009

Porous Paving

Pavement that allows infiltration of stormwater comes in a variety of types, and offers many environmental and even cost benefits.
Environmental Building News—April 1, 2009

Graywater Collection and Use

If properly stored and separated from potable water, graywater collected from sinks, showers, and clothes washers can be used to irrigate landscaping.
Environmental Building News—March 1, 2009

Using Fly Ash in Concrete

Fly ash lowers the environmental footprint of concrete and improves durability. Pouring and curing concrete with high levels of fly ash requires special treatment.
Environmental Building News—February 1, 2009
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Ezkote Green

Mark Piepkorn says, “Looks like we were following the same path at the same time. :)” More...

Mark Piepkorn says, “Hi Tom - yeah, this is confusing. It's made by a subsidiary of US Mix, US Spec. Through some convoluted...” More...

Tom Curtin says, “found it at us spec.com” More...

Tom Curtin says, “Does not appear on manufactuer website!!” More...


CBRE Experiments With One-Day Energy Reductions

Allyson Wendt says, “Ethan, I just looked back at their press release, and those savings figures are for the single day (it isn't...” More...

Ethan Goldman says, “It's impressive that they were able to coordinate and move that fast (though I would be shocked if all the...” More...


Green Roof Study Finds Big Variation in Stormwater Retention

David Lanfear says, “I am appreciative of this testing and am very interested in the ongoing findings. As I research and develop living...” More...


Structure as Finish: The Pros and Cons of Leaving Off Layers

David Ottavio says, “Thank you both for your comments. The project that we are looking in to using this type of system is...” More...

Martin Holladay says, “David, While earth tubes were promoted in the late 1990s and early years of this century by Passivhaus Institut founder Wolfgang...” More...

Alex Wilson says, “There was a lot of interest in earth tubes to temper or preheat air for ventilation back in the '80s...” More...

David Ottavio says, “We are looking at incorporating earth ducts into the cooling strategy for a project in the early stage of design. I'd...” More...


2030 E2

Allyson Wendt says, “Hi Bill, I haven't seen anything like that--tools that really measure triple bottom line metrics are just starting to be developed.” More...

William Marston says, “Is anyone aware of someone working on such a tool aimed at the 350ppm target? Of course such a tool must...” More...