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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What Makes Plumbing Green? BuildingGreen’s Guide to Plumbing Products
Feature Article
People like a clean flush and a long shower, but water is getting scarcer. Selecting the right building products can meet both needs.
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EPDs Are the Future of the Building Industry, Whether You Like It or Not
Feature Article
Environmental product declarations are taking off, but can they actually fly? Experts share the ups and downs of this promising but imperfect transparency tool.
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Finding Furniture Without Toxic Flame Retardants
Feature Article
Flame retardants in upholstered furniture are easier to avoid under new rules, but they’re not gone. Here’s how to navigate the changing landscape.
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Certified Wood: How SFI Compares to FSC
Feature Article
FSC-certified wood is ingrained in rating systems like LEED, but rival SFI has a revised standard. Can it show it’s just as good on the issues that matter most?
Quick Takes
Jump straight to the essentials with these short explanations of green building concepts.
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Forest Products Certification: How It Works
Primer
Many wood and paper products now come with an eco-label. But what happens behind the scenes before a product gets the seal of approval?
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Life-Cycle Assessment: Tracing a Product's Impacts
Primer
Life-cycle assessment-accounting for all of the environmental impacts of a product from its manufacture to its disposal-is a simple concept, but using it to compare products in practice can be difficult.
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Drywall Options: Paper-Faced, Monolithic, or Fiberglass-Faced?
Primer
Drywall types differ in cost, recyclability, and response to moisture and mold.
Product Guidance
Unbiased information from our product experts helps you separate green from greenwash.
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Mineral-Based Interior Paints Go Mainstream
Product Review
Mineral-based paint from Romabio contains no synthetic resins, and can be used in place of standard interior acrylic latex paint on drywall.
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Interior Paints: LEED v4 and Beyond
Product Review
LEED v4 overhauled its low-emitting materials credit, with a new emphasis on VOC content and emissions. But be sure to look for durability as well.
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New Options Emerging among Mass Timber Panels
Product Review
Lots of glue, or all wood? Two new products highlight very different approaches to structural panels.
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Fiberglass, XPS, Cork? Insulation Options for LEED v4 and Living Buildings
Product Review
Choosing insulation with an eye to points in LEED v4 or Living Building Challenge compliance? Here’s how insulation materials compare.
In The News
We break news down to the essentials and provide expert analysis.
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Transportation a Key Factor in CLT Sustainability
News Brief
A life-cycle assessment of Katerra cross-laminated timber reveals opportunities for lower carbon impact. -
A New Initiative for “Climate-Smart” Wood
News Brief
Environmental groups including the Forest Stewardship Council have gotten together to support better forestry practices.
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Stemming Illegal Logging with a New LEED Credit
News Brief
Timber Traceability is one group’s answer to the controversial Legal Wood pilot path.
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“Tall Wood” Now Code Approved
News Brief
The International Code Council will allow heavy timber buildings taller than 85 feet.
Perspective
Thought-provoking opinions from the most trusted minds in sustainability.
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Building Products Matter Even More Than We Thought
Op-Ed
Operational energy use is critical, but materials might be an even bigger part of the solution to climate change and other pressing environmental issues.
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Finding the Building Products You Need to Do WELL
Blog Post
The WELL Building Standard has stringent transparency and health criteria for products and materials. Here’s how to find what you’ll need for certification.
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FSC, LEED, and the Price of Perfectionism
Op-Ed
A hard line against industry-sponsored alternatives to FSC certification in the past may have unfortunate outcomes for the world’s forests.
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The Big Materials Dream Needs to Include Climate Change and More
Op-Ed
We’re finally getting vital toxicity information about building products. But let’s remember that sustainability is about more than avoiding health hazards.
Learning Resources
Syllabus supplements and CEU content, with automatic reporting for AIA and GBCI.
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Wood: What’s Good?
Spotlight Report
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Sustainable Design 101: A Syllabus Supplement
Syllabus Supplement
College professors: here’s a curriculum module you can use to introduce students to sustainable design using BuildingGreen articles. Feel free to cherry pick content that fits your syllabus.
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Green Building Materials 101: A Syllabus Supplement
Syllabus Supplement
College professors: here’s a curriculum module for introducing students to healthier and lower-impact products and materials using BuildingGreen articles.
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Deep Material Vetting (That Won’t Chew Through Your Design Budget)
Webcast
In just one hour, learn how to vet products and materials (without having to earn chemistry and toxicology degrees!). Includes special access to a forum offering post-webcast product vetting support.
Just For Fun
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