The Big Picture
It’s easy to get caught up in the details—earning one more LEED point or getting that documentation you need for recycled content.
But it’s a lot easier to achieve all the project goals if the owner and the whole project team are in agreement about why you’re putting in all this work in the first place. Stuff like:
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slowing down climate change
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dealing with global water shortages
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avoiding depletion of nonrenewable resources
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preventing public health problems associated with manufacturing
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righting social wrongs
Here we set the scene, providing context that can help get—and keep—everyone on the same page about project goals.
The Big Picture
Deep Dives
Get up to speed on complex topics. You can also earn CEUs and download PDF Spotlight Reports.
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Re-forming the Building Industry: Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
Feature Article
People from marginalized communities are shockingly underrepresented in the U.S. building industry. It’s past time to change that.
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Passive House on Campus: Eight Exemplary Projects
Feature Article
Passive House has energy, carbon, and comfort benefits for higher ed. But getting the details right isn’t easy.
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The Urgency of Embodied Carbon and What You Can Do about It
Feature Article
Building materials emit massive amounts of carbon long before the lights go on. Here’s how thoughtful design can reduce global warming impact.
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Sustainable Design Literacy: A Foundation for Transformed Practice
Feature Article
How well does the average designer know sustainable design? And how are the best firms supporting increased knowledge—and action?
Quick Takes
Jump straight to the essentials with these short explanations of green building concepts.
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Sustainability: Too Much or Not Enough?
Primer
The drive toward sustainable design is a long one. Are we there yet?
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Ecosystem Services
Primer
Functions performed by intact ecosystems provide essential support for human life, but how do we quantify their value?
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The Water-Energy Connection
Primer
The production of electricity is highly water intense, just as the transport, heating, and cooling of water is energy intense. So saving energy saves water and saving water saves energy.
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The Precautionary Principle
Primer
The precautionary principle employs "guilty until proven innocent" methodology, and suggests that we should avoid using questionable chemicals and materials until we know they're safe.
Product Guidance
Unbiased information from our product experts helps you separate green from greenwash.
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Building a Better Building Block-Pozzotive Plus
Product Review
Kingston Block & Masonry Supply has introduced a line of CMUs and concrete facing brick made with a post-consumer-recycled-glass pozzolan substituting for 30% of the portland cement as well as about 50% post-consumer recycled aggregate.
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iCrete Mixes Stronger Concrete With Less Cement
Product Review
iCrete is an approach to concrete mix design that uses a proprietary algorithm, informed by detailed analysis of available aggregates, to optimize particle packing and use only as much cement as necessary.
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Bella-Dura Contract Fabric Touts Its Green Credentials
Product Review
Bella-Dura indoor/outdoor fabric offers contract-quality performance in a competitively priced product. The company claims that Bella-Dura solution-dyed polypropylene fibers are colorfast and require less energy and water to produce than nylon or polyester.
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Lime Stucco from American Clay Enterprises
Product Review
American Clay Enterprises, known for its popular natural earth plaster, has introduced a setting lime stucco to the national market.
In The News
We break news down to the essentials and provide expert analysis.
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AIA Upjohn Awards Support Climate Action
News Brief
The American Institute of Architects has chosen five sustainability research projects to fund through its Upjohn Research Initiative.
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The Future of Designing with Future Weather Data
News Analysis
Energy models that use future weather files instead of historical ones could become the norm as industry standards fall into place.
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Biden Orders Carbon-Neutral Federal Government by 2050
News Analysis
New policies from Biden's executive order will require carbon-free electricity and embodied carbon disclosure for building materials, and could limit procurement of products with PFAS.
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COP26 Helps Keep 1.5 Alive
News Analysis
COP26 protesters accused politicians of spouting empty words, but some see real reason for hope out of the UN Climate Change Conference.
Perspective
Thought-provoking opinions from the most trusted minds in sustainability.
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“Code Red” IPCC Report: What It Means for the Building Sector
Op-Ed
The IPCC has an emergency message: buildings need to change. Now.
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Architecture Awards Reflect Changing Priorities
Op-Ed
This year’s Pritzker, Gold Medal, and AIA Firm Award all reveal a new day dawning in architecture.
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Celebrating 30 Years of Publication
Blog Post
BuildingGreen’s editors look back on three decades of a movement
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After the Pandemic, What’s Next for the Building Industry?
Op-Ed
How will the AEC industry—what we build and how we work—change post-pandemic? We asked leading lights in the green building world.
Learning Resources
Syllabus supplements and CEU content, with automatic reporting for AIA and GBCI.
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What Makes a Product Green Today?
Feature Article
Lots of manufacturers call their products "green," but are they? Here's our guide to the high-performance attributes that matter.
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The Problem with Net-Zero Buildings (and the Case for Net-Zero Neighborhoods)
Feature Article
It can be tough to make an individual building into a zero energy building, while working at the community scale can offer up opportunities for energy efficiency and cost-effective renewable energy generation.
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No More Red Lines: Undoing Our Legacy of Urban Segregation
Spotlight Report
Redlining in the U.S. has left us with unsustainable, under-resourced neighborhoods. Inclusive green design can help them heal.
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Net-Zero Energy Isn’t the Real Goal: 8 Reasons Why
Spotlight Report
In this report, we list eight ways that NZE projects miss the mark on climate goals, including how they affect the electricity grid, transportation, embodied carbon, and resilience, and how we can course-correct to achieve our goals.
Just For Fun
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