Buildings & Project Types
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Buildings & Project Types
Deep Dives
Get up to speed on complex topics. You can also earn CEUs and download PDF Spotlight Reports.
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We Must Decarbonize Existing Buildings by 2050—but How?
Feature Article
Curbing carbon emissions requires that we address our vast stock of existing buildings. Here’s how to make the case and get it done.
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Waste Not, Want Not: Case Studies of Building Material Reuse
Feature Article
Reclamation and reuse of building materials can be a tough sell and hard to design for, but many project teams have learned to make it work. Here’s how.
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Saying Goodbye to the Office—and Hello to Housing
Feature Article
The way we use (and don’t use) our offices is irrevocably changing. But what are we going to do with all these vacant buildings?
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Existing Buildings Are Architecture’s Future
Feature Article
Take a plain old building and turn it into something remarkable, and you’ll also help save the planet.
Quick Takes
Jump straight to the essentials with these short explanations of green building concepts.
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Certified Communities: When Greening Neighborhoods One Building at a Time Isn’t Enough
Explainer
A comparison of community-scale certification programs.
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Retrofit or Build New? How Product Teams are Choosing
Infographic
Reasons to retrofit, reasons to tear down and build new, and how to decide.
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Putting the “Pre” in Post-Occupancy Evaluations
Infographic
Don’t just take a survey and walk away. There’s a better way to do POEs that can dovetail with the integrative process, improve project outcomes, and save clients money.
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Checklist for Implementing an Occupant Engagement Campaign
Infographic
Use this checklist as a guide to implementing an occupant engagement campaign.
Product Guidance
Unbiased information from our product experts helps you separate green from greenwash.
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High-Efficiency Commercial Window Inserts
Product Review
Alpen’s WinSert commercial window inserts significantly improve the thermal performance of aging window systems, without the cost or aesthetic concerns of full replacements.
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How Low-Flow Can You Go with Plumbing Fixtures?
Product Review
BuildingGreen-Approved toilets, urinals, showerheads, and faucets automatically meet CALGreen and LEED v4 water-efficiency standards.
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Win the Turf Wars with Rubber-Free Artificial Fields
Product Review
You don’t have to choose between recycled tires and natural grass for athletic surfaces. There’s a spectrum of good options in between.
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A “Waterless” Urinal Without the Odor
Product Review
Sloan’s Hybrid urinal is water efficient and uses a pre-programmed, bi-weekly rinse that minimizes odor and maintenance problems.
In The News
We break news down to the essentials and provide expert analysis.
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Portfolio Program Targets the “Brown” Assets LEED Left Behind
News Analysis
USGBC’s Portfolio Accelerator aims to solve ESG’s biggest problem: net-zero commitments and other promises that lack realistic implementation plans. But the emerging program is nothing like LEED.
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Existing Building Performance Standards Urgently Needed
News Brief
The pressure is on in the U.S. to mandate existing building decarbonization. ACEEE has analyzed domestic and international laws for best practices to broaden the reach of this climate change mitigation tool.
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IRA’s 25C Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit: Just the Basics
News Analysis
This program provides a tax credit to homeowners for energy efficiency improvements in residential homes.
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The IRA’s Green and Resilient Retrofit Program: Just the Basics
News Analysis
This program will administer grants and loans to owners or sponsors of HUD-assisted multifamily housing to improve its resilience and quality.
Perspective
Thought-provoking opinions from the most trusted minds in sustainability.
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Building Materials and the Time Value of Carbon
Op-Ed
When you save matters. What you build matters. Here’s why we need to build well and rebuild better.
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On the Path to Net Zero
Op-Ed
At Leonard Farm, we’ve taken another big step in our quest for net-zero energy and net-zero carbon—but we’re not there yet!
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America’s Greenest Office Building
Blog Post
The Bullitt Center in Seattle is showing that a six-story, 52,000 square-foot building can meet the net-zero-energy, net-zero-water Living Building Challenge
Learning Resources
Syllabus supplements and CEU content, with automatic reporting for AIA and GBCI.
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We Must Decarbonize Existing Buildings by 2050—but How?
Feature Article
Curbing carbon emissions requires that we address our vast stock of existing buildings. Here’s how to make the case and get it done.
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Waste Not, Want Not: Case Studies of Building Material Reuse
Feature Article
Reclamation and reuse of building materials can be a tough sell and hard to design for, but many project teams have learned to make it work. Here’s how.
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On-demand Webinar- Rainwater Management and LEED: Strategies to Protect Ecosystems and Communities
Webcast
In this webinar, we will review the LEED v4 and v4.1 BD+C Rainwater Management credits and discuss how real project teams are approaching and implementing successful management strategies.
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Equity in Design and Construction: Seven Case Studies
Feature Article
From an affordable multifamily building to an iconic museum, these projects are designed and built to advance equity, diversity, and inclusion
Just For Fun
Something weird happens every April at BuildingGreen...
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ILFI Debuts Self-Help Affirmations for Existing Buildings
April Fools
Outdated, inefficient buildings find a new path forward—and inward.
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World’s Smartest Building Shuts Down
April Fools
The Beacon of Hope, which once held the promise of making buildings and humanity better, has had to shut down due to problems with its artificial intelligence platform.
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Inspired by 2021 Pritzker Winner, Bjarke Ingels Renounces New Construction
April Fools
News that BIG will no longer design new buildings shocks the architecture profession.
