A bill signed by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger would provide rebates to residents and businesses to support the installation of 200,000 solar water heating systems in the state by 2017. The bill, which takes effect on January 1, 2008, requires the State’s energy commission to evaluate data from a pilot project run by the California... Read more

With its dominant position defining green building in the North American market, the LEED Rating System is a popular target for critics with a wide range of axes to grind, some justified, others less so. One of the more valid concerns is that LEED’s promises of energy savings (and therefore carbon reductions) are just that—promises. With the... Read more

Wireless technology has been in development for decades but has blossomed in recent years with the proliferation of cell phones and wireless computer networking, enabling greater communication and connectivity among electronic devices. The technology has affected telecommunication, transportation, and consumer electronics and now offers new... Read more

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon takes place on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., with collegiate teams constructing solar-powered houses, demonstrating the homes’ functionality to judges, and giving tours to the public. In 2007, for the first time, first prize has gone to a team from outside the U.S.; the team from... Read more

EBN

Vol. 16, No. 6). In November 2007, the... Read more

Following the tremendous response to its Living Buildings Challenge (see

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Vol. 15, No. 12), the Cascadia Region Green Building Council unveiled its new “Living Site and Infrastructure Challenge” at Greenbuild 2007 in Chicago. This new system is modeled closely on its predecessor, with the same “all prerequisites, no credits”... Read more

Douglas Farr, AIA; John Wiley & Sons, 2007; 304 pages, $75

Sustainable Urbanism. Beyond just developing a concept, however, the book acts as a... Read more

In July 2007, the New Buildings Institute (NBI) released its Advanced Buildings

Core Performance Guide, which outlines cost-effective ways to achieve 20%–30% energy savings in new buildings (see

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Vol. 16, No. 8).

Core Performance replaced the Advanced Buildings

Benchmark, which was cited in LEED for... Read more