Features

Design for Cleanability

In the average American commercial building, we spend more than half as much money on cleaning as on energy, and the chemicals used in cleaning threaten both the environment and human health. This article takes a look at design strategies that can reduce the need for cleaning or that can make cleaning easier, more effective, or less harmful.
Environmental Building News—September 1, 2005

Design for the Birds: Protecting Birds from the Hazards of Glass

Windows claim the lives of hundreds of millions of birds each year in the U.S., posing a greater threat to the avian population than cat predation, pesticides, or oil spills. The threat can be avoided, however, and the design community holds the key.
Environmental Building News—August 1, 2005

Natural Landscaping: Native Plants and Planting Strategies for Green Development

While the conventional lawn requires water, energy, and chemical inputs to keep it lush and green, natural landscaping offers a more environmentally friendly alternative that’s also cheaper and easier to maintain.
Environmental Building News—July 1, 2005

Hospital, Heal Thyself: Greening the Design and Construction of Healthcare Facilities

Healthcare facilities play a critical role in treating illness but, in doing so, they also contribute to human and ecological illness. In this article senior editor Jessica Boehland explores the connections between hospitals and health and illuminates some strategies to improve their performance.
Environmental Building News—June 1, 2005

The Natural Building Movement

Under the radar of the larger building community, the natural building movement has been undergoing a resurgence in recent years. This article explains the allure of such building systems as strawbale, cob, and cordwood and explains how the motivations driving natural building mirror those behind green building.
Environmental Building News—May 1, 2005

Making the Case for Green Building

The benefits of green building range from reduced infrastructure and faster lease-out to improved health and easier employee recruiting. There are lots of reasons to build green, and this article lays out 46 of them to help you make the case!
Environmental Building News—April 1, 2005

Greening Affordable Housing

America’s shortage of low-income housing presents not only a challenge but also an opportunity for green designers, builders, and remodelers. By meeting the affordable housing crisis with green buildings, we can lower the cost of living in these homes and apartments while protecting both the environment and the health of occupants.
Environmental Building News—March 1, 2005

Recycled Content: What is it and What is it Worth?

Recycled content is often the most visible -- and touted -- environmental attribute of green building products. Government programs have encouraged the use of recycled-content products to deal with solid-waste concerns, and green-building rating systems reward designers for specifying these products. But divergent definitions cause confusion, and a limited view of environmental performance might be giving recycled content more attention than it deserves.
Environmental Building News—February 1, 2005

Insulation: Thermal Performance is Just the Beginning

Ten years after EBN first covered insulation, Alex Wilson returns to the subject, presenting a survey of insulation materials and addressing their life-cycle implications.
Environmental Building News—January 1, 2005

Integrated Design

Integrated design is essential for delivering a cost-effective green building. Successful practitioners have come up with ways to get the whole team collaborating effectively and thinking outside-the-box. Not only are they delivering green projects within conventional building budgets, but many are doing it for a conventional fee. EBN editor Nadav Malin shares their advice on how to make it work, and make it pay.
Environmental Building News—November 1, 2004
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FSC Certification Available for All SierraPine Composites

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High-Performance Window Films

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News on the Toilet Testing Front

Rob Meyers says, “Finally, an explanation for the great miso shortage of 2005.” More...


Thermal Mass and R-value: Making Sense of a Confusing Issue

Nadav Malin says, “A Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation report: Technical Series 07-119, "Monitored Thermal Performance of ICF Walls in MURBs" monitored a...” More...


Ductless Mini-Splits and Their Kin: The Revolution in Variable-Refrigerant-Flow Air Conditioning

Rob Meyers says, “Exciting stuff, GSHP performance without all the cost and hassle. Any word on mini-splits that will heat domestic water...” More...