Design Strategies
Parent
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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Verifying Project Outcomes: Which Metrics Work?
Feature Short
Project success is increasingly tied to performance metrics, especially EUI. But that doesn’t always capture what owners are really looking for.
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The Questionable Science Behind VOC Emissions Testing
Feature Short
We need the protection that product VOC testing provides, but it’s far from the last word on human health in buildings.
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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.
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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.
Quick Takes
Jump straight to the essentials with these short explanations of green building concepts.
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Islandable Solar-PV For Power Outages
Explainer
With the right technology, a grid-connected solar-electric system can still provide electricity during power outages.
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Building Acoustics: The Basics of Managing Sound and Noise
Explainer
Acoustic performance is crucial to occupant well-being. And smart design, not added cost, can make the difference.
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Building Products and Health: A Look at Risk vs. Hazard
Explainer
Use of "hazard avoidance" versus "risk assessment" for understanding toxicity of building materials is hotly debated. Why, and is there a common-sense answer?
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Ecosystem Services
Explainer
Functions performed by intact ecosystems provide essential support for human life, but how do we quantify their value?
Product Guidance
Unbiased information from our product experts helps you separate green from greenwash.
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LightLouver Offers Low-Profile Alternative to Light Shelves
Product Review
A self-contained unit designed for installation inside windows above the vision plane, the LightLouver Daylighting System effectively redirects sunlight deeper into building interiors.
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Measuring Solar Access with the Solmetric SunEye
Product Review
The SunEye is an easy-to-use, digital tool for measuring solar shading and calculating daily and monthly solar access on building sites.
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Sealed Blinds from Unicel Offer Flexibility, Low Maintenance
Product Review
Vision Control sealed interpane louvers, available with any type of glazing, offer numerous benefits, including energy savings and reduced maintenance compared with other blinds.
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The First Practical Heliostat
Product Review
Practical Solar has introduced a simple heliostat system to reflect sunlight into buildings for lighting and space heating; future applications will include water heating and electricity generation.
In The News
We break news down to the essentials and provide expert analysis.
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Report Links Public Health to the Built Environment
News Analysis
The Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) has released a report detailing the connections between a range of public health concerns and the built environment.
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FEMA Investigates Trailer Air Quality
News Analysis
FEMA has suspended the use of travel trailers as emergency housing pending investigation of dangerous levels of formaldehyde.
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U.S. Companies Expand Photovoltaic Manufacturing
News Analysis
Two planned photovoltaic manufacturing facilities will significantly increase U.S. production.
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Solar Services Bridge the Owner-Tenant Gap
News Analysis
Recurrent Energy has landed $200 million in financing to install solar electric panels on leased rooftops and sell the power to tenants.
Perspective
Thought-provoking opinions from the most trusted minds in sustainability.
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Integrate Food Production and Green Building
Op-Ed
Adding local food production to the goals of green building makes sense for the environment and human health.
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Opinion: EPDs Are One Small Step for Design Professionals, a Giant Leap for Industry
Op-Ed
Uptake of life-cycle assessment will produce huge amounts of data that designers can use to reduce whole-building impacts.
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Opinion: Orwellian EPDs Ignore the Worst Impacts of Wood, Vinyl
Op-Ed
Although life-cycle assessment has great promise, in the wrong hands it can be used for greenwashing.
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Opinion: Chemical Ingredients in Building Products—What Do You Really Need to Know?
Op-Ed
HPDs can’t be used in isolation to make decisions about the safety and environmental performance of a product.
Learning Resources
Syllabus supplements and CEU content, with automatic reporting for AIA and GBCI.
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Let’s Get Real about Wood’s Carbon Footprint
Webcast
You’ve probably heard that wood products are carbon neutral. You might also have heard that timber harvesting causes immense carbon emissions. Which is it? Could it be both?
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IRA Nuts & Bolts with an Energy Tax Expert
Webcast
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) offers us a once-in-a-generation chance to equitably decarbonize the built environment and prepare communities to weather future climate threats. Will we seize that chance in time? For that to happen, it’s vital that project teams understand the rules well enough to offer and implement the right solutions.
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On-demand Webinar- Rainwater Management and LEED: Strategies to Protect Ecosystems and Communities
Webcast
In this webinar, we will review the LEED v4 and v4.1 BD+C Rainwater Management credits and discuss how real project teams are approaching and implementing successful management strategies.
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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.
Just For Fun
Something weird happens every April at BuildingGreen...
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“The Helix” Is Just the Tip of Amazon’s Arlington Iceberg
April Fools
A subterranean portion of the new Amazon Helix structure will host thousands of workers.
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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.
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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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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.
