Radon causes an estimated 20,000 deaths in the U.S. per year, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), making it the second most deadly cause of lung cancer... Read more

Perennial Wood met its demise due to... Read more

The promise of a “nutrition label for building products” has seemed within reach for some time now (see “The Product Transparency Movement: Peeking Behind the Corporate Veil”). But it’s not... Read more

Reduced operational costs, improved occupant health and productivity, and buildings with small ecological footprints: these are the ways we make the case for green buildings.

What about first cost?

Perhaps to the detriment of green building adoption, we’ve been letting cool premium products and innovative demonstration... Read more

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently launched the WaterSense H2Otel challenge, a national program specifically targeted at reducing water use in hotels.

Companies participating in the program will pledge to assess their water use and savings opportunities, upgrade to more efficient equipment, and track their... Read more

The estimated dollar value of a deep energy retrofit often determines just how “deep” owners are willing to go, but many architects and real estate executives fail to present benefits beyond energy cost... Read more

Staring into a fireplace or watching waves crash against the shore can provide some of life’s most deeply comforting moments, but it is hard to explain exactly why. The theory of biophilia, popularized by the scientist E.O. Wilson, attempts to explain these experiences by contending that humans have an innate desire—even an evolutionary need—to... Read more

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has confirmed in its latest climate report that fourth-generation hydrofluoroolefin (HFO) blowing agents and refrigerants have extremely low global warming potential (GWP).

Honeywell, which markets HFO-123zd as Solstice Liquid Blowing Agent, previously estimated its GWP... Read more

Another smart glazing product is about to emerge from the lab and into commercial production, giving projects more options in specifying windows that can block the sun’s heat—or let it in, depending on conditions.

RavenBrick, based in Denver, is wrapping up work on its facility and plans to begin production of RavenWindow by late spring... Read more

As we build more energy-efficient houses, particularly when we go to extremes with insulation and air tightness, as with Passive House projects, water heating becomes a larger and larger share of overall energy consumption (see Solar Thermal Hot Water, Heating, and Cooling). In fact, with some of these ultra-efficient homes,... Read more

This blog post first appeared on GreenBuildingAdvisor.com.

We are always trying to avoid unintended consequences of our best efforts to improve home performance. A good example of this is radon gas and air tightness levels in homes during energy retrofits. How are the two levels related, and what can we do about it?

After choosing and installing our state-of-the-art heat-recovery ventilator (HRV), we completed a critical step in the installation of any... Read more

There is a lot of interest in just how much (and at how low a price point) window coverings can improve building thermal performance.

Both the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)... Read more

Balanced ventilation requires two fans: one bringing fresh air into the house and one exhausting indoor air (see 6 Ways to Ventilate Your Home). By balancing these two fans and the airflow through their respective ducts, the house is maintained at a neutral pressure—which is important for avoiding moisture problems or pulling in radon and... Read more

One of the features in our new house that I’m most excited about barely raises an eyebrow with some of our visitors: the ventilation system. I believe we have the highest-efficiency heat-recovery ventilator (HRV) on the market—or at least it’s right up there near the top.

Why ventilate?