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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ESG: 6 Things Building Professionals Need to Know
Feature Article
Clients need AEC professionals to help them achieve environmental, social, and governance goals. Here’s how people are turning aspirations into strategies.
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Net-Zero Energy Isn’t the Real Goal: 8 Reasons Why
Feature Article
Net-zero-energy buildings don’t always reduce carbon emissions. These are the tweaks we need to ensure they do.
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An Advocate’s Guide to Resilience Regulations
Feature Article
Resilience is finding its place in city zoning and building codes. Here are some ideas to bring to your local government.
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Finding Products for LEED v4 and v4.1
Feature Article
Finding and managing product information for LEED has changed—and v4.1 has added even more to think about.
Quick Takes
Jump straight to the essentials with these short explanations of green building concepts.
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Demystifying Climate Change Lingo: From Scope 3 to SSP
Primer
Climate change is complicated, and the terminology can also be hard to decipher. Here’s a short glossary of a few relevant terms.
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30 Years of Green Building in the U.S.
Infographic
As The BuildingGreen Report (formerly Environmental Building News, or “EBN”) celebrates its 30th year of publication, we decided to track the growth—and explosion—of the green building movement. We start in 1990 with the founding of AIA’s Committee on the Environment.
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Certified Communities: When Greening Neighborhoods One Building at a Time Isn’t Enough
Primer
A comparison of community-scale certification programs.
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From Ozone Depletion to Global Warming: The Kigali Amendment
Primer
The amendment builds on the Montreal Protocol’s legacy, aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.
Product Guidance
Unbiased information from our product experts helps you separate green from greenwash.
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BuildingGreen’s Guide to Products for WELL Projects
Product Guide
This list summarizes the primary ways that building products show up in WELL. The links embedded in the list go to product collections organized by product category.
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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.
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How Low-Flow Can You Go with Plumbing Fixtures?
Product Review
BuildingGreen-Approved toilets, urinals, showerheads, and faucets automatically meet CALGreen and LEED v4 water-efficiency standards.
In The News
We break news down to the essentials and provide expert analysis.
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4 Big Questions as Building Codes Consider Embodied Carbon
News Analysis
Beyond “buy clean” procurement policies, a newer race is on to limit embodied carbon through codes. But the fate of the effort is uncertain.
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Feds Increase Scrutiny of Racism and Sexism in Construction Workplaces
News Analysis
In a new strategy, the EEOC plans to tackle workplace discrimination in industries lacking in diversity, including construction.
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EPA May Limit PFAS in Water to Barely Detectable Levels
News Brief
A proposed EPA rule would regulate six PFAS “forever chemicals” in drinking water. The agency faces a backlash over the cost of compliance.
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IRA Tax Breaks May Reinforce Inequities, So We Need to Help
News Analysis
Four tax provisions could be used to include disadvantaged communities in the clean energy transition, but equity outcomes are unclear.
Perspective
Thought-provoking opinions from the most trusted minds in sustainability.
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A Tribute to Robin Guenther, Green Healthcare Pioneer
Op-Ed
Robin Guenther advanced new standards for hospitals that were adopted by the larger green building community and integrated into leading rating systems.
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ESG: Earth’s Salvation or Greenwash du Jour?
Op-Ed
The meaning of environmental, social, and governance reporting and ratings is in flux. Here are six ways to move forward amid the chaos.
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USGBC Response: Help Create the Next LEED version
Op-Ed
The U.S. Green Building Council responds to an earlier op-ed, “LEED Must Lead on Climate.”
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LEED Must Lead on Climate
Op-Ed
The world urgently needs the building industry to tackle climate change, and LEED has to be part of that.
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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Net-Zero Energy Isn’t the Real Goal: 8 Reasons Why
Feature Article
Net-zero-energy buildings don’t always reduce carbon emissions. These are the tweaks we need to ensure they do.
Just For Fun
Something weird happens every April at BuildingGreen...
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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.
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Passive Survivability Standard Modified for Post-Pandemic Office Buildings
April Fools
The LEED Passive Survivability pilot credit just got a lot easier for office buildings in the post-pandemic era.
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With GOOP, Green Building Explores New Depths
April Fools
Gwyneth Paltrow’s offering to the sustainability world rewards projects for venerating the “cradle of civilization.”
