Design Process

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Design Process

Deep Dives

Get up to speed on complex topics. You can also earn CEUs and download PDF Spotlight Reports.

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  • Financing Affordable Housing; Not for the Faint of Heart

    Feature Short

    Because most of the funds are government funds, they are also subject to political pressures.

  • How Six Affordable Housing Projects Got to Green

    Feature Short

    Stories of designers and developers who overcame the challenges of building affordable housing that is also green, sustainable, and healthy.

  • Mitigating Disasters: Invest Now, Spend Less Later

    Feature Short

    Mitigation saves money, buildings, and lives, according to a FEMA-funded National Institute of Building Sciences study.

  • Wal-Mart: Every Day Low... Impact?

    Feature

    The world's largest company claims to have embraced environmental responsibility in everything from its supply chains to its waste stream, with goals of creating a prototype store with 30% lower greenhouse gas emissions within four years and doubling trucking efficiency within ten years. But how big a difference can the shift make, and is it enough?

Quick Takes

Jump straight to the essentials with these short explanations of green building concepts.

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  • Weighting Environmental Impact Categories

    Explainer

    Life-cycle assessments (LCAs) score products or design options across a series of environmental impact categories. To compare two products with different impact profiles, it becomes necessary to weight those categories, a difficult process.

  • Using Fly Ash in Concrete

    Explainer

    Fly ash lowers the environmental footprint of concrete and improves durability. Pouring and curing concrete with high levels of fly ash requires special treatment.

  • Synthetic Gypsum

    Explainer

    Synthetic gypsum, used in drywall, is chemically the same as virgin gypsum but is created from a byproduct of coal-fired power plants. Are designer and contractor concerns about heavy metal contamination justified?

  • The Precautionary Principle

    Explainer

    The precautionary principle employs "guilty until proven innocent" methodology, and suggests that we should avoid using questionable chemicals and materials until we know they're safe.

Product Guidance

Unbiased information from our product experts helps you separate green from greenwash.

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  • Bella-Dura Contract Fabric Touts Its Green Credentials

    Product Review

    Bella-Dura indoor/outdoor fabric offers contract-quality performance in a competitively priced product. The company claims that Bella-Dura solution-dyed polypropylene fibers are colorfast and require less energy and water to produce than nylon or polyester.

  • iCrete Mixes Stronger Concrete With Less Cement

    Product Review

    iCrete is an approach to concrete mix design that uses a proprietary algorithm, informed by detailed analysis of available aggregates, to optimize particle packing and use only as much cement as necessary.

  • Building a Better Building Block-Pozzotive Plus

    Product Review

    Kingston Block & Masonry Supply has introduced a line of CMUs and concrete facing brick made with a post-consumer-recycled-glass pozzolan substituting for 30% of the portland cement as well as about 50% post-consumer recycled aggregate.

  • LED Systems Provide Huge Energy Savings for Jobsite Lighting

    Product Review

    New LED technology is revolutionizing lighting on construction sites, but investing in the high-performing fixtures is a challenge for contractors who are used to disposable strings of light bulbs.

In The News

We break news down to the essentials and provide expert analysis.

Perspective

Thought-provoking opinions from the most trusted minds in sustainability.

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  • Staffing Changes at EBN

    Op-Ed

    EBN announces changes to its editorial team.

  • What USGBC's PVC Report Means for GreenSpec

    Op-Ed

    EBN executive editor Alex Wilson discusses how the U.S. Green Building Council's recent evaluation of PVC affects EBN's and GreenSpec's stance toward products using PVC.

  • An Environmental Service Corps for America

    Op-Ed

    Executive editor Alex Wilson proposes a national environmental service corps to help the U.S. achieve its greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals and cope with the effects of climate change.

  • When It's Greener To Build

    Op-Ed

    Building green is not just about reducing environmental impacts, but also about valuing the human need for harmony with the natural and built environments.

Learning Resources

Syllabus supplements and CEU content, with automatic reporting for AIA and GBCI.

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