Applegate Insulation has just introduced a new cotton batt insulation: Mr. Insulate. Photo: Applegate Insulation. Click on image to enlarge.
A pedestrian-friendly streetscape in Annapolis, Maryland. Photo: Dan Burden. Click on image to enlarge.
Froling pellet boilers from Austria represent state-of-the-art in biomass combustion. Photo: Froling. Click on image to enlarge.

HBCD is used in all polystyrene building insulation--both extruded polystyrene (XPS) and expanded polystyrene (EPS).

by Alex Wilson
Direct-gain passive-solar design was used extensively at the Cob Hill CoHousing project in Hartland, Vermont. A majority of the windows face south, with overhangs and window blinds that help block unwanted sun in the summer. Photo: Alex Wilson. Click on image to enlarge.
A Trombe wall retrofit workshop that I was leading in the late-1970s in New Mexico. To this simple frame, a layer of glazing was added, and sunlight would heat up the dark-painted wall. Photo: Alex Wilson. Click on image to enlarge.
The 2030 Challenge for Products aims to reduce the embodied carbon of building materials 50% by 2030. Graphic: Architecture 2030. Click on image to enlarge.
A solar greenhouse workshop from the late-1970s. Photo: Alex Wilson. Click on image to enlarge.
This screen capture from the webinar shows how each piece of the matrix is filled in in the Assessment Tool. Here, you can see the three associators (relative efficacy, benefit duration, and benefit control) and their respective options.

Each year, Builder Magazine teams up with a homebuilder to roll out a cutting-edge "concept home" at the International Builders' Show. While last year's strictly virtual concept home was advertised as "the most innovative home never built," some critics think the 2011 "GreenHouse" might as well not have been built either.

Owens Corning's new EcoTouch Fiberglas insulation is made with a non-formaldehyde, plant-based binder. Photo: Owens Corning. Click on image to enlarge.
Along with heating with wood at home, we rely on heating oil, burning it in this Buderus boiler. Photo: Alex Wilson. Click on image to enlarge.
Heating with wood pellets, such as with this freestanding Quadrafire Mt. Vernon pellet stove at our own house, can be the greenest option, since wood pellets are a renewable heating fuel. Photo: Alex Wilson. Click on image to enlarge.

Our new report, Green Building Product Certifications: Getting What You Need, covers every relevant certification in the field. But of course, as we all know, things keep changing. To ensure you have correct and current information, this errata covers all updates, corrections, and clarifications that we know of to date.

When my husband and I attended the first Solar Decathlon in 2002 with our one-year-old and his newborn brother, we (and our massive double stroller) traveled downtown on the subway.