Material Selection
Selecting building materials can be complex. You have to take into account toxicity, performance, the environmental life cycle, cost, and other factors.
Understanding what makes a building product green is a long-term prospect. Green characteristics differ from product category to product category, and multi-attribute vetting is critical.
Material Selection
Deep Dives
Get up to speed on complex topics. You can also earn CEUs and download PDF Spotlight Reports.
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LEDs: The Future Is Here
Feature Article
LEDs have finally become an economically viable lighting option, but choosing the best LED products still takes knowledge and skill.
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Better Choices in Low-Slope Roofing
Feature Article
There are big differences in environmental impacts of commercial roofing materials, but the biggest variable may be service life.
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Choosing Windows: Looking Through the Options
Feature Article
We ask a lot from windows: energy efficiency, aesthetics, durability, affordability, and more. Which window frame materials and low-e glazing options balance these choices best? This article explores all the options and decodes the performance labels we see when buying windows.
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What's New in Multi-Attribute Environmental Certifications
Feature Article
The industry is increasingly recognizing the need for a more comprehensive review of green products. We don't have perfect programs yet, but we scrutinize the most prominent programs out there and highlight how they're useful.
Quick Takes
Jump straight to the essentials with these short explanations of green building concepts.
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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.
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Decorative Ceiling Panel Uses Recycled Content
Product Review
Chicago Metallic has introduced Monarch GE, a decorative ceiling panel system using gypsum and 70% recycled content from glass.
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BuildingGreen Announces 2007 Top-10 Products
Product Review
BuildingGreen, Inc., publisher of the GreenSpec Directory and Environmental Building News (EBN), announced its annual Top-10 Green Building Products, representing the most exciting products covered in those publications in the last year.
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180 Walls Sets New Standard for Green Wallcovering
Product Review
A woven polyester wallcovering from Milliken, 180 Walls is cost-competitive with vinyl wallcoverings and offers a number of environmental benefits that are backed up by third-party certifications.
In The News
We break news down to the essentials and provide expert analysis.
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Behind Humanscale’s Living Product Challenge Certification
News Analysis
Going big, committing early, and removing unneeded chemistry were key ingredients in certifying the Diffrient chair and Float table under LPC.
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Legal Wood in LEED Barks Up Wrong Tree, Say NGOs
News Analysis
A pilot credit to address illegal logging has been criticized by advocacy groups like the Sierra Club. They’ve offered USGBC their own ideas.
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Stone Certification Recognized in LEED v4, Living Buildings
News Brief
Natural stone is one of the oldest green building materials, but it’s the newest to have a rigorous multi-attribute certification recognized by USGBC
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Living Product Challenge Logs First Certifications
News Analysis
Though only a year old, LPC has its first two entry-level certifications: Owens Corning insulation and Sirewall rammed earth.
Perspective
Thought-provoking opinions from the most trusted minds in sustainability.
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Learning Resources
Syllabus supplements and CEU content, with automatic reporting for AIA and GBCI.
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Just For Fun
Something weird happens every April at BuildingGreen...
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