Material Selection

Photo: Nassimi LLC

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.


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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In The News

We break news down to the essentials and provide expert analysis.


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  • UL Environment Teams Up with EcoLogo

    News Analysis

    In a major consolidation among the crowded field of green product labels, Underwriters Laboratories (UL) has acquired Terrachoice, the manager of the EcoLogo Program.

  • Not Enough Votes for LEED Certified Wood Benchmark

    News Analysis

    The certified wood battleground now moves to the next version of LEED, with a planned release date of late 2012.

  • USDA Biobased Label Identifies Farm-Grown Content

    News Analysis

    USDA rolls out a Biobased Product label to identify products with agricultural content. Will the label help consumers, or confuse them?

  • UL Environment Buys Greenguard

    News Analysis

    For the second time in five months, UL Environment, a division of Underwriters Laboratories (UL), has acquired a major brand in the green building products certification field.

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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  • You can require or exclude terms using + and -: big +blue drop will require a match on blue while big blue -drop will exclude results that contain drop.

Just For Fun

Something weird happens every April at BuildingGreen...


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  • Remove quotes around phrases to match each word individually: "blue drop" will match less than blue drop.
  • You can require or exclude terms using + and -: big +blue drop will require a match on blue while big blue -drop will exclude results that contain drop.