Ground- and water-source heat pumps move refrigerant or water through the ground or a body of water for use as a heat source (for indoor heating) or heat sink (for indoor cooling).

BuildingGreen-Approved Heat Pumps

BuildingGreen approves:

Hi All

I'm wondering if any of you know how to track the GWP for materials that do not have an EPD?  I'm trying to do a carbon comparison on batteries but neither one has an EPD that I can find.  Thanks for any guidance you may have. 

Has anyone heard of floating solar technology? I can't think of an application other than covering power plant retention or agricultural waste lagoons. Covering up the sun on a natural body of water and adding electrical wiring seems like a bad idea. I am curious though if others have heard of this technology and have other (unbiased) ideas... Read more

Hi Folks ,

Two fun and useful events to help us all do more in less time!!

1. DeCon Hackathon 4/12

These are sessions where the community comes together to 'crowdsource' standard construction details that are disassembly-friendly for a public detail library so that everyone can use it and start adapting those details in... Read more

ASHRAE 209 in all its glory has been uploaded. This will impact our architectural process, for better or worse, so we should embrace it and learn from it. The revised AIA Energy Modeling Design Guide (due out next year) has been timed to correspond roughly to 209 coming out and will include references to it. The first few energy modeling '... Read more

Hi. Happy Monday! Will BG create the BIT-user intro video found on the landing page? Do we partner on it, or should Southface plan to provide it? Thanks.

We're looking to add a green wall to our existing offices in NYC. Can anyone please share any good product/vendor recommendations?

We were hoping to use Naava walls, but they seem to have retracted into Europe, as far as I can tell.

I have been watching LEED Zero for a while, and have appreciated certain things, but one thing I think is an absolute disaster is their allowance of mainline RECs for claiming Zero Energy and Zero Carbon performance.  I just asked this question on the LEED Zero webinar, and the panelist basically said, "it's part of LEED Zero, therefore it is... Read more

I am getting started on a research project to evaluate the feasibility, costs, and benefits of using phase change material (PCM) to passively regulate temperature in Minnesota buildings. If anyone has experience designing with PCM, installing PCM, or occupying buildings with PCM, can you share any lessons learned that would be relevant as... Read more

Hello - I have met several of you virtually over the last couple years. My name is Megan Zack and I am excited to share that I have changed positions and will be the Cheif Sustainabilty Officer at Wight & Company. After spending the last 20 years working as an architect with a small percentage of my time dedicated to sustainabilty, I'll be... Read more

Hello all,

My name is Stephen Messinger.  Thanks for including me in the group.  I am excited to get involved.  Glad to see some familiar and amazing names on this list.  

A little about me: I am born and raised in Massachusetts.  I live in Jamaica Plain (Boston) with my wife Lauren and two amazing daughters (Penelope, 4.... Read more

You’ve probably heard that wood products are carbon neutral. You might also have heard that timber harvesting causes immense carbon emissions.

Which is it?

Could it be both?

Hello everyone,

For those I have yet to meet, I'm Jen, the latest member of BuildingGreen's Peer Networks team.

Although it's been a few weeks now, we wanted to share the slide decks from some of the presentations that took place in Las Vegas back in June. Thank you to those of you who presented and who have given us permission... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Innovative Products and Technology from the Greenbuild Expo

Learning Objectives
Upon completing this course, participants will be able to:


1. Direct attention to green building products and technologies that show exceptional potential, from a whole-systems perspective, to bring the... Read more

Hi Everyone,

Who has worked on a SITES certification and can share the approximate hours involved for administering and completing documentation? A relative sense of the effort compared to LEED would also be helpful, similar to the thread about WELL on this same subject. 

Appreciate any insight. Thanks! -Hilary

Greetings Gurus!

For those who missed it - last year we had a blast enjoying all of the brave souls who shared their awesome talents with us all - what could be better than to start the new year with friends and fun!?!

(See links below for last year's program)

If you are willing to perform again - that's great! (just cause... Read more

Board insulation has good thermal performance ranging from about R-4 to R-8 and is used as an integral part of a building envelope’s continuous insulation system.

Because board insulation is used on the building exterior, it is not always subject to the same material health and emissions requirements as batt insulation used inside the... Read more