Codes & Certifications
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Codes & Certifications
Deep Dives
Get up to speed on complex topics. You can also earn CEUs and download PDF Spotlight Reports.
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The Promise of Biobased Materials—and How to Use Them Now
Feature Article
There is a lot of hype about carbon storage and other benefits of natural materials, but their potential is real. Read about those that are ready for prime time—and the ones we hope will take off next.
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Build Green on a Budget: Lessons from Affordable Housing
Feature Article
Sustainability doesn’t have to cost more—and no one knows that better than affordable housing experts. But every project type can benefit from these 12 cost-reducing ideas that support people and the planet.
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Build More or Build Green? Affordable Housing’s False Choice
Feature Article
The housing crisis is also a climate crisis and a social equity crisis. If we change our ways, we can address them all at once.
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Wood: Is It Still Good? Part Two: Moving from Carbon to Climate
Feature Article
Mass timber at scale could make climate change worse. Instead of embodied carbon alone, “climate-smart” practices focus on our increasingly fragile forests.
Quick Takes
Jump straight to the essentials with these short explanations of green building concepts.
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Circular Economy: Better Design from Start to … Start
Explainer
“Circularity” is about more than just recycling. It means building and buying things only when necessary—and without wasting anything.
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Building Decarbonization: How LCA and EPDs Fit in
Explainer
Life-cycle assessment and environmental product declarations reveal embodied carbon and other impacts, but it’s important to know their limits.
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Understanding Emission Scopes in the GHG Protocol
Explainer
The GHG Protocol’s three emission scopes acknowledge the complexities of supply and demand while also encouraging sector-wide alignment, consistent transparency, and support for science-based decarbonization targets.
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Demystifying Climate Change Lingo: From Scope 3 to SSP
Explainer
Climate change is complicated, and the terminology can also be hard to decipher. Here’s a short glossary of a few relevant terms.
Product Guidance
Unbiased information from our product experts helps you separate green from greenwash.
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New Recyclable LVT Replacement Is PVC Free—and Affordable
Product Review
EcoWorx Resilient flooring outperforms LVT on durability and sustainability, at a comparable price, claims Shaw Industries.
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A Standard for Managing Outdoor Lighting’s Negative Impacts
Product Review
Design Lights Consortium’s LUNA Standard balances verified energy efficiency and performance data with environmental concerns to help design teams select application-specific lighting.
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BuildingGreen’s Guide to Products for LEED Projects
Product Guide
The products in the collections listed here contribute to the requirements of key LEED credits.
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Fiberglass, XPS, Cork? Insulation Options for LEED v4 and Living Buildings
Product Review
Choosing insulation with an eye to points in LEED v4 or Living Building Challenge compliance? Here’s how insulation materials compare.
In The News
We break news down to the essentials and provide expert analysis.
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How to Use the Right Tools to Design for Climate Change
News Analysis
Weather files that help designers plan for climate change will soon be readily available. But legal liability remains until ASHRAE catches up.
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3 First Steps to Break the Chains of Slavery in the Supply Chain
News Analysis
Forced labor is embedded in many common building materials. The building industry can’t solve this alone, but we can ask the right questions.
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Amid a Silicosis Surge, We Need to Rethink Countertops
News Analysis
Engineered stone countertops may be causing a spike in silicosis, with cases seemingly tied to the material’s unique properties. Find out what design and construction teams should do.
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Be Prepared: The IRA Eliminates the Tech-Based ITC in Just Over a Year
News Analysis
Beginning in 2025, electricity-producing facilities will need to achieve zero emissions to claim the Investment Tax Credit, making the eligibility of several currently funded technologies uncertain.
Perspective
Thought-provoking opinions from the most trusted minds in sustainability.
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The Universal Low-Carbon Building Standard Avoids RECs and Unnecessary Complications
Op-Ed
RECs and carbon offsets lack credibility, and grid interactivity adds unnecessary complexity. That's why this standard leaves them out.
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The Universal Low-Carbon Building Standard Does Six Things
Op-Ed
Here’s how we’re going to deconstruct “net zero” and rebuild it as a comprehensive standard that applies to every building.
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This is the Universal Low-Carbon Building Standard We Need
Op-Ed
The building industry’s current net-zero-energy and net-zero-carbon standards got complicated for a reason, but they don’t have to stay that way.
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Net Zero Has Failed. We Need a Universal Carbon Standard for Buildings.
Op-Ed
The building sector’s current “net-zero” standards are not credible, not scalable, and don’t eliminate emissions. There’s a better way.
Learning Resources
Syllabus supplements and CEU content, with automatic reporting for AIA and GBCI.
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The BuildingGreen Guide to Building Product Certifications and Ecolabels- Discounted
Special Report
This BuildingGreen publication provides a no-nonsense guide to the world of green building product certifications to help designers, purchasers, manufacturers, and others in the industry to focus on what is significant and relevant so that market forces can work and the industry can focus on bigger issues.
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The BuildingGreen Guide to ESG
PDF Guide
How to keep up with the environmental, social, and governance programs that are changing the building industry.
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The BuildingGreen Guide to Building Product Certifications and Ecolabels
Special Report
This BuildingGreen publication provides a no-nonsense guide to the world of green building product certifications to help designers, purchasers, manufacturers, and others in the industry to focus on what is significant and relevant so that market forces can work and the industry can focus on bigger issues.
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Build Green on a Budget: Lessons from Affordable Housing
Spotlight Report
Just For Fun
Something weird happens every April at BuildingGreen...
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New Occupational Hazard Threatens Unshod Office Workers
April Fools
Whistleblowers alert state health agencies to possible foot fungus scourge in laid-back Vermont and Silicon Valley workplaces.
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Are Ground-Source Heat Pumps So Last Year?
April Fools
GSHPs have gone mainstream, thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, and the hippest AEC professionals are so over them.
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BuildingGreen Rebrands LEEDuser to Increase Transparency
April Fools
After complaints about rejected credits and failed certifications, BuildingGreen took action.
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A Mind-Expanding Addition to LEED v4.20
April Fools
USGBC adds psychedelic Integrative Process prerequisites designed to be a paradigm-shifting expansion of LEED.
