Author name:  Tristan Roberts Blog Category:  GreenSpec Insights

Silent Spring, published 50 years ago, helped to launch the modern environment movement and inspired my career direction. Click on image to enlarge. From early interest in conservation in the late-60s and being an Earth Day organizer in 1970, to my work with solar energy in New Mexico and then Vermont, I've followed a green career path.

One might think that an unfinished wood floor is devoid of synthetic chemicals. It sure looks that way--but toxic preservatives may lie in plain sight.

Moist lumber is susceptible to fungal staining. This staining does not cause physical decay, but it looks bad. Commonly called "blue stain," the offending fungi may be yellow, orange, purple, gray, or red in addition to shades of blue. The stain penetrates into the sapwood and cannot be removed by resurfacing.

High-VOC content is still the norm in clear wood finishes, but depending on the application you can minimize exposure and maximize durability. Clear finishes help bring out the natural beauty of the wood, while protecting it from aging and the elements. Photo: Vermont Natural Coatings

Here's the same space with the SageGlass roof in the tinted state. Photo: Sage Electrochromics. Click on image to enlarge.

Free LEEDuser Webcast Thurs. April 26, 2012 | 3 p.m. EDT

As we've seen from the LEED 2012 drafts and public comment periods, major changes are underway for the LEED rating systems. So many changes resulted from the 3rd public comment period, in fact, that USGBC announced a 4th public comment period, to run May 1–15.

National Architecture Week is gone but not forgotten. Our readers have immortalized the occasion in green building poetry. I wonder if all that detail work has paid for itself yet.... Photo from Friar's Balsam on Flickr.

We need to create buildings and communities that are more resilient to natural disasters and other shocks. These building products can help.

[Editor's note: Today's guest post is authored by Bill Walsh, Executive Director of the Healthy Building Network.]

When building products carry different green certifications, how do you know which product is best? Maybe there is a way to compare apples and oranges.

As green certifications and labels have proliferated, so has greenwash. Even among legitimate certifications, conflicts and inconsistency have made them hard to understand.

Warm-edge glazing spacers play a significant role in creating the highest-energy-performance windows. Edgetech makes the Super Spacer silicone foam glazing spacer, which is the most effective spacer for slowing heat loss. Graphic: Edgetech. Click on image to enlarge.

What do you get when you cross National Poetry Month with National Architecture Week? We'll find out when you enter the first-ever BuildingGreen Haiku Contest! Submit by Tuesday, April 10. You don't have to make one of these cute "haiku huts" to enter, but if you want to build one, click the photo to find the instructions on the Storyboard Toys website.

The incandescent ban is here, but LEDs have improved rapidly in the last couple of years and there are now several bulbs that meet Energy Star criteria. Toshiba's A19 450-lumen LED bulb is the equivalent of a 40-watt incandescent bulb yet only consumes 8.4 watts.

We've been hearing for years that "they're going to ban the incandescent bulb"--is that for real?

A state-of-the-art, multiple-low-e-coating Serious Window with xenon gas fill being installed at the Rocky Mountain Institute. Photo: Rocky Mountain Institute. Click on image to enlarge. An in-depth look at the fascinating world of low-conductivity gas-fill for high-performance windows.

Thanks to LEED and other standards, everyone's doing daylighting now--but not everyone is getting it right. Here's how it goes wrong--and how to do it right. The Seattle Central Library has been lauded for its daylighting features, but many library patrons and staff have trouble with overheating and glare at workstations like these. Photo: Nadav Malin