OVERVIEW
Reduced operational costs, improved occupant health and productivity, and buildings with small ecological footprints: these are the ways we make the case for green buildings.
What about first cost?
Perhaps to the detriment of green building adoption, we’ve been letting flashy products and innovative case studies paint a picture of higher first costs for green buildings. It doesn’t have to be that way.
Constraints fuel creativity, and plenty of projects are leveraging budgets limitations to meet sustainability goals by designing simpler, more effective spaces.
IN-DEPTH
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DC Power Supply Integrates AC and Renewables
Product Review
Nextek PhD provides AC-to-DC power at the building scale, integrates renewable energy, and can even save on first costs.
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EDGE: A Green Building Playbook for Developing Countries
News Analysis
With this quick-start design tool, architects choose materials and strategies based on ROI as well as sustainability.
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Employee Performance Doubled in Well-Ventilated Buildings
News Analysis
Reducing VOCs and adding more fresh air resulted in cognitive function test scores that were 101% higher in a double-blind study.
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Green Building to Create 3 Million Jobs by 2018, Says USGBC
News Analysis
A new report estimates the economic impact of LEED and green construction to date and predicts a trajectory of growth.
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Green Real Estate Trusts Yield Higher Returns
News Brief
A high GRESB score could mark a good real estate stock or equity investment, according to researchers.
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AIA Top Ten Projects Demonstrate High Ideals on a Real-World Budget
News Analysis
2015 Project awards from the AIA’s Committee on the Environment (COTE) celebrate how mainstream good design can be.
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Reduce Your Audit Risk with the R&D Tax Credit: Five Tips
News Analysis
The federal R&D credit looks like low-hanging fruit, but there might be a worm in the apple. Experts share lower-risk ways for AEC firms to file.
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Fannie Mae Offers Lower Interest Rates to Green Multifamily
News Brief
Multifamily building developers and owners now have a greater financial incentive to pursue green certifications: they’ll be rewarded by Fannie Mae
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Solar Farms Offer Renewable Power for the Rest of Us
Product Review
Community solar allows customers with site limitations to purchase commercial-quality photovoltaic systems—and the Clean Energy Collective is making it easier.
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Cross-Laminated Timber Could Save 4% on Building Costs
News Brief
Though cross-laminated timbers are still relatively rare, they are already cost-competitive and likely to get cheaper, an analysis suggests.