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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Greening Your Electricity
Feature Article
Many businesses and homeowners are choosing to buy green power, including renewable energy credits (RECs). This article examines the environmental benefits of green power, including on-site renewables, what REC buyers should know about their purchases, and investing in energy conservation.
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Get a Whiff of This: The Lowdown on Product Emissions Testing
Feature Article
Analytical chemistry tools, used together with product testing chambers, are making it possible to "see" product emissions in new ways. Editor Nadav Malin discusses the science behind product emissions testing, the different product certification standards, and what's ahead for this growing field.
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Bamboo in Construction: Is the Grass Always Greener?
Feature Article
An increasingly popular building material, bamboo is celebrated for its quick growth and ability to regenerate after being harvested. But bamboo also has its downsides. In this feature article, EBN examines the pros and cons of building with bamboo.
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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.
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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Triton Logging Recovers Underwater Forests
Product Review
Triton Logging, Inc., of British Columbia has brought to market environmentally-friendly lumber from forests flooded by reservoirs; standing trees are recovered using the company's unique Sawfish submarine harvester.
In The News
We break news down to the essentials and provide expert analysis.
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New Owner of TimberSIL Hopes to Put Failures in the Past
News Analysis
Everyone loved the treated-wood alternative until its high-profile failures. For the next maker of TimberSIL, quality control is job one.
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Study Vets Materials for Entire Wall Assemblies
News Brief
When you look at the whole assembly, it can change how you see the materials. Here XPS and fiberglass come out ahead, and SPF behind.
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Polyiso Impacts Are High, but Performance May Make Up for Them
News Analysis
An EPD for polyisocyanurate insulation shows large embodied impacts while suggesting R-value cancels some of them out.
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Can Products Do More Good Than Harm? The Living Product Challenge
News Analysis
ILFI is challenging companies to make a product with a positive “handprint” rather than a “footprint.” And it has to be affordable.
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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