This deep-energy retrofit on Betsy Pettit's 100-year-old house makes sense whether or not climate change is happening. Photo: Betsy Pettit, FAIA.
How to build a stronger country and a cleaner planet
If the jobsite for a green building isn't any safer than the jobsite for a conventional building, is something missing from our definition of "green"? That is the question raised by a new study, "Impact of Green Building Design and Construction on Worker Safety and Health," published in October in the Journal of Construction Engineering and Management.
It could be worse.
Happy New Year from BuildingGreen.com, and from our credit-by-credit guide to getting LEED done, LEEDuser. (Which, I want to add, is available for only $9.95/month!)
Global warming deniers have garnered a lot of attention in recent years. From opinion columns and letters in our local newspaper to heated reporting on Fox News (whose trademarked slogan "Fair & Balanced" is often anything but), those who doubt the underlying science of global warming are receiving unprecedented access to the American public and to policymakers.
Editor's Note: Erica Godun, AIA, LEED AP, an associate with FXFOWLE Architects shared the following account with us. I've included links throughout to specific credit guidance (including the official credit language) on our LEEDuser website (available by subscription). By the way, LEED projects can upgrade to 2009 anytime.
Residents of Lund, Sweden, have dramatically reduced their driving over the past decade. They now walk or bike for most needs.
10 Ways to save energy in 2010
Folding Frame Sno Wovel, designed to reduce the physical strain of shoveling and the related risks of back and heart injuries.
You're down to the last few days before Christmas. You're looking for that meaningful, special gift for a family member, special friend, or co-worker. Buy a gift that keeps on giving--by saving energy! Below, is my top-10 list of energy-saving holiday gifts.
Interesting how it's at once forward-looking and backward.
link to video
If you look closely at a low viewing angle, you can see the tiny pillars in this prototype Guardian VIG panel.
Last week we took at look at one way to achieve very-high-performance windows: adding additional layers of glazing and multiple low-emissivity (low-e) coatings. This week, we'll look at another option that's even higher-tech: vacuum-insulated glass.
Reglazing the Rocky Mountain Institute in 2007 with R-20 center-of-glass Alpen Windows (now Serious Windows).
It won't surprise many of my readers to learn that I'm a fanatic about energy conservation and efficiency. That goes back more than 30 years to the mid-70s. During those years I've paid a lot of attention to windows--and seen dramatic improvement in window performance.
Here's a tool that tries to connect the best available science directly to the international climate change negotiations and commitments, and the politicians are using it! Perhaps that, in itself, is progress.
In this month's feature article, I talk about the risks of green building. I note that one of the problems with model contracts, such as those from AIA, is that they don't adequately address issues of green building technology, performance, or certification. Of course, a few days after that article goes live, AIA releases a model scope of services defining an architect's role in LEED certification.
A before and after comparison of the results from dynamic window glazing.
Last week I wrote about one of the innovative building materials that I saw at this year's Greenbuild Conference in Phoenix (phase-change drywall). This week, I'll cover a very different innovation from the conference: dynamic window glazing.
Rob Watson recently published "Green Building Market & Impact Report," his second annual report on the impact LEED is having in addressing environmental problems.
