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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Net-Zero Water and More: Moving Beyond “Low Flow”
Feature Article
These emerging water strategies are finding momentum and filling the need to address efficiency and resilience on multiple scales.
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The PVC Debate: A Fresh Look
Feature Article
PVC is banned by some green building programs and simply reviled by some groups. How did we get here, and has anything changed since vinyl became the enemy?
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Innovative Products and Technology from the Greenbuild Expo
Feature Article
Our product editors pick some winners from the expo floor at Greenbuild 2013 while raising questions about some materials.
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Green Design: What’s Love Got to Do with It?
Feature Article
Beauty, place-making, and even love are motivating many green designers, who see these values complementing core sustainability tenets.
Quick Takes
Jump straight to the essentials with these short explanations of green building concepts.
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What Is Building Science, Anyway?
Explainer
Building science is an integrated discipline that stands many conventional design and construction ideas on their heads.
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From Sunlight to Electricity: How Solar Cells Work
Explainer
Photovoltaic (PV) cells convert sunlight directly into electricity with no moving parts.
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Permaculture for Urban Design
Explainer
Permaculture promotes food production and nurtures ecological systems in both rural and urban environments.
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Brominated Flame Retardants
Explainer
Keeping furnishings, appliances, and building materials from catching fire and burning up is important, but many flame retardants aren't good for us or the environment.
Product Guidance
Unbiased information from our product experts helps you separate green from greenwash.
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Soltecture Offers Option for Photovoltaic Facades
Product Review
Soltecture's Corium CIGS BIPV system allows thin-film panels to be integrated into building façades and can be used with Focus Material's BIPV mounting systems.
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BioPCM: Finally, a Low-Cost, Practical Phase-Change Material
Product Review
A sea change for phase-change materials? BioPCM brings phase change into the 21st century with biobased mats.
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Powerhouse: Building-Integrated PV for Asphalt-Shingle Roofs
Product Review
Dow's Powerhouse solar shingles integrate seamlessly into asphalt-shingle residential roofs.
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The World's Most Efficient Solar Thermal Collector?
Product Review
The Ritter XL solar thermal system combines the most efficient technology to generate hot water for commercial, multifamily, and district heating.
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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COTE Top Ten for 2023 Provide Open Space Teeming with Life
News Analysis
The COTE Top Ten for 2023 promote biodiversity, equitable access to nature, and other positive outcomes for occupants, owners, and broader energy and water systems.
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Climate Scientists Called on to Produce Projections for Architects
News Brief
Architects want to design for future weather, but climate scientists aren’t formatting the data with them in mind.
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How to Identify—and Get Your Hands on—Climate-Smart Wood
News Analysis
The Climate Smart Wood Group is offering procurement guidance while simultaneously pushing toward better data.
Perspective
Thought-provoking opinions from the most trusted minds in sustainability.
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Save the Icing for Last
Op-Ed
Before considering high-profile features such as wind turbines and photovoltaic arrays, we should focus on the basics of green building.
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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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Get Ready for Fuel Switching
Op-Ed
As the cost of heating fuel rises, utilities must prepare for increased demand as homeowners switch to cheaper electric-resistance heat.
Learning Resources
Syllabus supplements and CEU content, with automatic reporting for AIA and GBCI.
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Just For Fun
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