By Sarah Amelar

Sited on a steep hillside overlooking the Mediterranean, the American University of Beirut (AUB)’s 73-acre main campus is so lush it’s called “The Garden of Beirut.” AUB’s original historic section, dating back to the 19th century, meanders across the hilltop, while its later, lower section extends down to the... Read more

EBN May 2008). Now, the U.S. Green Building Council has declared that the FSC-certified bamboo can be counted toward the 50% certified wood requirement of Materials and Resources Credit 7 (... Read more

Enterprise Community Investment, a leader in financing green affordable housing, has received $95 million in tax credit authority through the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 made $1.5 billion in NMTC awards available; these were allocated to Enterprise and 31 other development entities... Read more

After a few bumps in the road, the committee behind Standard 189, a code-enforceable standard for green buildings, has released a third draft for public comment and hopes to have the standard finalized by January 2010. The newest draft makes it clear that what began as a minimum green building standard has turned into a high-performance one. It... Read more

In May 2009, the U.S. House... Read more

Mandated by Congress in 1996, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program is finally up and running. EPA announced in April 2009 a final list of 67 pesticides that will be screened for their ability to disrupt hormones. Used commonly in outdoor applications, many of these chemicals are also used indoors... Read more

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) have partnered to form the Climate Positive Development Program, which will support large-scale urban projects and real estate development with net-zero onsite carbon emissions. The program will include 16 projects in communities with a combined total of nearly one... Read more

The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) has released a new standard to address the challenges of using computer modeling programs to optimize a building design’s energy efficiency while minimizing the risk of moisture and mold problems.

LEEDuser, which you can find at www.LEEDuser.com, was developed by BuildingGreen with the support of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) to assist... Read more

Vegetated roofs remain small oases amid a desert of more conventional roofs, but according to a survey by Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, a nonprofit industry organization, 3.1 million ft2 (290,000 m2) of green roof were installed in 2008, reflecting a growth rate of 35% over 2007.

The European Chemicals Agency, which coordinates the REACH program in the European Union (EU), recommended in June 2009 that seven chemicals, most of which are widely used in construction products, should be restricted. If adopted by the EU, these recommendations could significantly affect polystyrene insulation and flexible polyvinyl chloride... Read more

The module consists of glass reflectors mounted on a two-axis tracking system that focus sunlight... Read more

The purpose of insulation is to slow down the movement of heat, and most of that effect occurs by slowing conductive heat transfer. The higher the conductivity of a material, the more quickly heat can move through it. Insulation materials are rated by their resistance to heat transfer, a term we call R-value. The higher the R-value, the lower... Read more