Design Strategies
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Design Strategies
Deep Dives
Get up to speed on complex topics. You can also earn CEUs and download PDF Spotlight Reports.
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What’s an HPD? Health Product Declaration FAQs
Feature Short
We answer frequently asked questions on HPDs, which allow manufacturers to disclose product ingredients and hazards.
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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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IRA Tax Breaks May Reinforce Inequities, So We Need to Help
Feature Article
Four tax provisions could be used to include disadvantaged communities in the clean energy transition, but equity outcomes are unclear.
Quick Takes
Jump straight to the essentials with these short explanations of green building concepts.
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Building Decarbonization: Learn the Lingo
Explainer
Building decarbonization 101 for architects, engineers, and sustainability consultants cutting emissions from building materials and operations.
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Energy Performance: Learn the Lingo
Explainer
The AIA 2030 Commitment and many other programs require project teams to predict and report on energy use. Here are the key terms you’ll need to get the job done.
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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.
Product Guidance
Unbiased information from our product experts helps you separate green from greenwash.
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Acoustic Wall & Ceiling Panels
Product Guide
Acoustic panels with high NRC ratings and low toxicity
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BuildingGreen Announces Top 10 Products for 2024
Product Review
BuildingGreen’s Top 10 industry-transforming products this year include innovative heat-pump energy storage, electric construction equipment, PFAS-free textiles, healthier lighting, PV circularity, and more.
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Modular Carpet
Product Guide
These carpet tiles are made with natural wool or are certified NSF 140 Platinum or Cradle to Cradle v3.1 Silver or Gold. They are free of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
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Broadloom Carpet
Product Guide
These broadloom carpets are made with natural wool or are certified NSF 140 Platinum or Cradle to Cradle v3.1 Silver or Gold. Many are free of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
In The News
We break news down to the essentials and provide expert analysis.
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USGBC Certifies First LEED v5 O+M Projects
News Brief
USGBC announces the first three projects certified under the new LEED v5 Operations & Maintenance (O+M) rating system, still in beta testing.
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EHDD Launches Spinoff of its Free Whole-Life Carbon Tool
News Brief
Free, whole-life carbon tool C.Scale spins off from EHDD as an independent public benefit corporation.
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Industry Aligns on Federal Zero-Emissions-Building Definition
News Brief
The federal government finalized its definition of a “zero-emissions building” in June of this year, and now major industry groups have formally announced their intentions to align with it.
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Carbon Now or Later: The Arguments for Delaying Emissions
News Analysis
A new Arup report demystifies the time value of carbon, why it matters, and why we need to be careful with it.
Perspective
Thought-provoking opinions from the most trusted minds in sustainability.
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Bring the Noise! It Can Help You Listen.
Op-Ed
Noise-canceling headphones and tightly sealed buildings have more in common than you might think.
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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.
Learning Resources
Syllabus supplements and CEU content, with automatic reporting for AIA and GBCI.
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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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The BuildingGreen Guide to Thermal Insulation
Special Report
The BuildingGreen Guide to Thermal Insulation, Fourth Edition, provides detailed guidance on insulation products and practices, including environmental and health comparisons, and recommendations on what insulation to use and what to avoid.
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The Missing Embodied Carbon Link: Construction
Feature Article
Some researchers say construction emissions could account for as much as 30% of a project’s embodied carbon. What can be done about it?
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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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Hurricane Tests Resilient Design—and Family Dynamics
April Fools
A building project brings brothers back together, but a fast-moving storm challenges the project and the family.
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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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Nuclear Power and Hydrogen: Fueling the Energy Needs of the Future and Beyond!
April Fools
Pink hydrogen made using nuclear energy will provide the power of tomorrow, fueling everything from robot warehouses to flying cars.
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OK COVID, It’s HAMMER Time!
April Fools
COVID has upended our lives, homes, and offices. It’s time to fight back with HAMMER brand biocidal antifungal nonviral germicidal disinfectant antimicrobial therapeutic (BANGDAT) sprays, coatings, and composites.
