LEED Canada is being revised in concert with the U.S. 2009 revision to streamline LEED compliance for those who work on both sides of the border. The Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) has chosen Enermodal Engineering to shepherd the revision process. According to Enermodal president Stephen Carpenter, a new version of LEED will be ready to... Read more

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), passed in 1970, is becoming an important tool in the state’s efforts to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by controlling land-use decisions.

A recent study conducted by state agencies and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found that stormwater... Read more

The renovation of a historic building in downtown Lansing was designed entirely by SmithGroup and... Read more

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced more stringent rules for non-road gasoline engines under 25 horsepower (19 kW). By 2011, manufacturers must reduce hydrocarbon and nitrogen oxide emissions from the engines by 35%. The engines, used in machines such as lawnmowers and string trimmers, must also show a 45% reduction in... Read more

“It’s not how efficient the building is but how much energy it really uses that matters.” That’s the gist of many comments in a thread on BuildingGreen’s blog (and, simultaneously, on several email discussion groups) about how to measure the actual energy performance of LEED buildings (see www.BuildingGreen.com/go/energy_data). Energy... Read more

Adding to a growing list of such policies, insurance broker Aon Corporation announced in August 2008 that it will add green rebuilding coverage to its global property policy, which covers large properties, with damage limits of up to $1 billion. Covered buildings, whether certified or not prior to damage, will be repaired or replaced to meet... Read more

Composite board decking and railing made by Louisiana-Pacific at the company’s Meridian, Idaho, plant between January 2005 and November 2007 may show premature deterioration and breakage, according to the company. Owners of the materials, sold under the Veranda,

WeatherBest, and ABTCo brands, should inspect their decks’ condition, stay... Read more

Leaders in the Australian green building sector are promoting a cap-and-trade scheme for building energy efficiency to supplement greenhouse gas trading.

A law requiring annual energy-use reporting for all California’s nonresidential buildings takes effect in January 2009, and the state Department of General Services has been working closely with utilities to streamline the reporting process. Beginning in 2010 owners of commercial buildings must disclose their energy usage and Energy Star rating... Read more

Placement of blinds can be a dilemma—should they go on the inside or the outside of a window? The best place to put them, some argue, is within the glazing, where they are potentially maintenance-free, protected from dirt and possible damage. A handful of manufacturers offer this option, but the most versatile offerings come from Unicel... Read more

They maintain humidity, increase productivity, and reduce stress. They even scrub the air of dangerous chemicals. Whatever problems we create for ourselves in our buildings, plants are there to help cure them. Or are they? Although some promising studies have led to glowing accounts in the popular press, scientific study of the role of plants... Read more

Among the many insulation materials we can choose from are foam-in-place products for filling cavities or creating a continuous layer on a wall or roof system. The most common of these is spray polyurethane foam, referred to in the industry as SPF.

There are two types of polyurethane foam: closed-cell and open-cell, both of which must... Read more

Integrated Environmental Solutions (IES) has launched a plug-in for Google SketchUp that delivers energy and carbon footprint simulations to inform early-stage design decisions. The free plug-in provides results without any additional software, although owners of IES’s Virtual Environment package or its VE-Toolkits can perform additional... Read more

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Food Service Warehouse (FSW), an online retailer of commercial kitchen equipment, has announced a green commercial kitchen certification program. The... Read more

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has announced the recipients of grants from its Green Building Research Fund. USGBC committed $2 million to the program, and the fund is generating over $1 million in matching funds and partnerships. Grants ranged from $90,000 to $250,000 and were awarded to 13 research teams.

The recipients of... Read more

Last week, I addressed some of the benefits of capturing waste heat from power plants and distributing it to buildings--a technology referred to as combined heat and power or CHP. This week we'll look at how this idea could be implemented in... Read more