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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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?
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Embracing the Economy as a Design Challenge
Feature Article
How architects, community developers, and others are experimenting with new models to support progressive design.
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20 Ways to Advance Sustainability in the Next Four Years
Feature Article
In this age of political revolution and environmental urgency, it’s time to step back and take a look at priorities, challenges, and opportunities
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Climate Change: Building Industry, You’ve Got This!
Feature Article
Global warming has legs. Do our commitments to stopping it have teeth?
Quick Takes
Jump straight to the essentials with these short explanations of green building concepts.
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Synthetic Gypsum
Explainer
Synthetic gypsum, used in drywall, is chemically the same as virgin gypsum but is created from a byproduct of coal-fired power plants. Are designer and contractor concerns about heavy metal contamination justified?
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Permaculture for Urban Design
Explainer
Permaculture promotes food production and nurtures ecological systems in both rural and urban environments.
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Using Fly Ash in Concrete
Explainer
Fly ash lowers the environmental footprint of concrete and improves durability. Pouring and curing concrete with high levels of fly ash requires special treatment.
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Weighting Environmental Impact Categories
Explainer
Life-cycle assessments (LCAs) score products or design options across a series of environmental impact categories. To compare two products with different impact profiles, it becomes necessary to weight those categories, a difficult process.
Product Guidance
Unbiased information from our product experts helps you separate green from greenwash.
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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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.
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Earth Day’s 50th Anniversary
Op-Ed
Fifty years out, the increased awareness of the environment is heartwarming and the accomplishments significant, but our challenges are greater than ever.
Learning Resources
Syllabus supplements and CEU content, with automatic reporting for AIA and GBCI.
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Constructing Change: The Contractor’s Commitment
Spotlight Report
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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.
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Re-forming the Building Industry: Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
Spotlight Report
People from marginalized communities are shockingly underrepresented in the U.S. building industry. It’s past time to change that.
Just For Fun
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