BuildingGreen Report

A comprehensive new climate law in Massachusetts requires net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. “An Act Creating a Next-Generation Roadmap for Massachusetts Climate Policy” delineates six sectors, including the residential building sector, and the commercial and industrial building sector, and sets emissions mandates and incentives for... Read more

On April 5, 2021, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its information on COVID-19 transmission risks, confirming that the pathogen is primarily passed on through airborne respiratory droplets and not through surface contamination. As a result, antimicrobial treatments are not recommended to manage... Read more

When you sign up for the American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) 2030 Commitment, which asks firms to achieve net-zero modeled energy use by 2030, one of the first things you have to do is create a “sustainability action plan,” or SAP. But how?

A new guide from the institute, “Creating a... Read more

The themes of Living Future ’21 were unmistakable: a strong call from leaders in the building professions for allyship around justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI).

A few important ways to do this stood out:

Commercial furniture can be ruined by stains, and this is particularly problematic in busy healthcare settings where spill, fluids, and disinfectants can wreak havoc on upholstery. Design teams manage the issue by either using a coated fabric—PVC, polyurethane, or silicone—or a woven fabric that is coated with per- and... Read more

As more and more architects, designers, contractors and owners demand transparency surrounding human health impacts in the built environment, manufacturers need short cuts and tools to meet the call of this demand.

This webinar is intended to educate manufacturers about the market demands for creating healthier, more sustainable... Read more

The Committee on the Environment (COTE) of the American Institute of Architects has unveiled its annual Top Ten awards for high-performance projects. Many of this year’s winners were designed with local ecosystems in mind, and all take advantage of passive strategies to improve energy performance. Two are historic building... Read more

[Disclaimer: BuildingGreen’s founder, Alex Wilson, was a primary author of this report, with project support from Candace Pearson.]

What do holeless elevators and termite shields have in common? They’re both recommended resilient design features for public buildings, according to a recent guide released by Washington, D.C.’s Department... Read more

Office work is changing. During the heat of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the average commercial office vacancy rate across the U.S. leapt from about 12% to 15%, according to CBRE. Meanwhile, nearly every major city in the U.S. is struggling with a years-long affordable housing crisis that is forcing people to share close quarters or move... Read more

Instead of new construction, many firms are retrofitting older buildings in an attempt to reduce a project’s embodied carbon. The problem is that the operational energy required to run these often poorly insulated buildings can offset many of those gains. And windows are one of the biggest challenges, since they account for “... Read more

Just when local officials began to take an interest in shaping the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), the International Code Council (ICC) decided to strip them of their vote. Bowing to trade group pressure, the ICC has proposed recategorizing the creation of buildings codes as an ANSI standard process in reaction... Read more

All over North America, office space is vacant or sparsely populated. Vaccinations for COVID-19 are gradually rolling out, but a return to onsite office work continues to be slow. While buildings are in a holding pattern, now is a perfect time for property owners and managers to make changes that are difficult when occupants... Read more

Office work is changing. During the heat of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the average commercial office vacancy rate across the U.S. leapt from about 12% to 15%, according to CBRE. Some big companies, including Facebook, Salesforce, and Microsoft, have announced that they will be allowing remote work indefinitely. Experts disagree about how... Read more

As people struggle to return to the office due to concerns over COVID-19, design teams and building owners are looking for solutions to keep occupants safe and healthy. You can never be too careful, so while cleaning protocols, vaccines, and herd immunity may help provide partial protection against our current pandemic, how do you sanitize... Read more

Passive survivability—the idea that buildings should be designed to ensure safe thermal conditions during extended power outages—is about to get a whole lot easier, according to Mary Ann Lazarus, FAIA. And all the credit goes to the ongoing pandemic, which proved that the best way to survive might be to avoid the building entirely.... Read more

In a legal twist following the January 6 insurrection, attorneys claim their clients were assessing the thermal performance of the U.S. Capitol Building, and not illegally invading it as prosecutors allege. Furthermore, they say the boisterous energy audit was fully lawful, having been endorsed by President Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas... Read more

In a rush to lower the carbon footprint of new construction and ward off the worst impacts of climate change, design teams are increasingly turning to reclaimed materials. Furniture, cladding, wood flooring, stone, and even structural beams can be repurposed at a fraction of the environmental and fiscal costs of new materials, and architecture... Read more

The Donald J. Trump Library Foundation has unveiled preliminary plans for the former head of state’s presidential library, which it says will be located near the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. The building is designed to have maximum environmental impact, and activities for guests will range from interactive museum exhibits to... Read more

Responding to the extraordinary news that the 2021 Pritzker Prize winners Anne Lacaton and Jean-Phillippe Vassal have pledged to never demolish a building, the Copenhagen-based firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) announced on April 1 that the company will go one better by avoiding new construction altogether.

“From now on,” said company... Read more

Renderings of Amazon’s forthcoming Arlington, Virginia headquarters wowed the world with a swirling centerpiece dubbed “the Helix.” Sustainability features include access to copious daylight, indoor gardens that double as flexible workspaces, and an awe-inspiring tree-lined ramp—open to the public, like the rest of the grounds—that promotes... Read more