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.


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  • Save the Birds

    Feature

    At least a billion birds die each year in the U.S. after crashing into windows. Here’s how to protect them with bird-safe planning, engineering and construction.

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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Just For Fun

Something weird happens every April at BuildingGreen...


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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.