BuildingGreen Report

The U.S. government is vowing to buy lower-carbon construction materials—and to require projects using federal funds to do the same.

Details of the federal government’s so-called Buy Clean Initiative—a program that will require procurement of construction materials that have lower carbon footprints than standard products—are still under... Read more

The World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) has organized a week of events, September 12 through 16, 2022, broadcasting the ways in which green building supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The campaign is branded under the hashtag #buildingforeveryone.

Local Green Building Councils are hosting events throughout... Read more

Circular economy—a system that relies on regenerative activities instead of on extraction and disposal of finite resources—can help the built environment reduce its carbon footprint, according to the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC). But there’s more: a new report from the group also ties circularity to other positive impacts, including... Read more

The Sustainable Development Code (SDC), which offers model ordinances for municipalities wishing to update development codes to be more sustainable, has added a subchapter on social justice. The subchapter, which is still being built out, was added to existing subchapters addressing social issues like affordability, food... Read more

Editor’s Note: Alex and Candace also presented a webinar on this topic, now available on demand, with additional CEUs.

The headlines are everywhere—from heat waves in Europe to wildfires in the Western U.S. to tidal flooding in Florida. In this age of climate change, just as there’s an urgent need to reduce carbon emissions and other... Read more

Air pollution near schools negatively affects students’ health and learning. That problem is being addressed in New York State with the SIGH Act (Schools Impacted by Gross Highways), which has passed the State Senate and Assembly, and is waiting to be signed by the governor.

The legislation prohibits... Read more

Disclaimer: BuildingGreen is a technical advisory partner to mindful Materials.

Pledging to select building products that support human health is one thing. Figuring out how to do it is another.

Signatories to the A&D Materials Pledge, adopted by The American Institute of Architects (AIA) in November 2020, have yet to commit... Read more

The headlines are everywhere—from heat waves in Europe to wildfires in the Western U.S. to tidal flooding in Florida.

In this age of climate change, just as there’s an urgent need to reduce carbon emissions and other greenhouse gasses, we also need to adapt and invest in resilience. Increasingly, owners are asking for risk... Read more

How do you demonstrate both environmental and health performance in a meaningful way? 

USGBC and IWBI are increasing the alignment between their programs. Knowing how to leverage each in a mutually beneficial way is the key to driving successful integration of a dual certification approach. 

LEEDuser’s expert guests, ... Read more

The historic Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) recently signed into law is by far the U.S. government’s largest investment in climate change mitigation to date. Not surprisingly, given the outsized influence the building industry has on greenhouse gas emissions, many of the provisions address homes and commercial buildings. Here’s a partial rundown... Read more

Renewable energy sources are providing an increasing share of electricity in the U.S., with solar sources making up 13.5% of that share in 2021, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. But the infrastructure needed to supply solar energy comes primarily from overseas. President Biden is trying to change that... Read more

The Holy Grail of energy is for our buildings to go all electric and get that energy from renewable sources. The problem, of course, is what to do when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing. Batteries are the clear answer, and we already have lithium-ion-based systems that work well in electric cars and for building... Read more

 The Supreme Court recently ruled against EPA, limiting its ability to regulate coal-fired power plants. But the news may not be as dire as it looks.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took a blow from the Supreme Court in late June when the court ruled against the Obama-era Clean Power Plan, which would... Read more

Forced labor, or modern slavery, is widely spread across the globe. People—including children—in forced-labor conditions work without pay or for recruitment fees, leaving them in debt bondage. Workers are threatened with relocation, deportation, and worse.

Nearly 25 million people are trapped in forced labor, according to the... Read more

It’s been decades since redlining—the federal government practice of refusing to guarantee loans in predominantly black neighborhoods—was outlawed in the U.S. But the impacts continue to ripple through formerly redlined neighborhoods, according to data released by LightBox, a geospatial data and software firm focused on the... Read more

Proposed changes to the ASHRAE 90.1 standard for 2022 could have a huge impact on building energy performance, according to Leonard Sciarra, AIA, of Farr Associates. “There’s a lot in version one that I feel is going to change the way that people design buildings,” said Sciarra, who chairs the building envelope subcommittee of... Read more

We hear a lot about the sustainability commitments and plans of large architecture firms, but the reality is that the vast majority of firms—about 75% in 2019, according to research done by the American Institute of Architects (AIA)—are small (by their definition, “small” means ten or fewer employees). Although these small firms represent a... Read more

This program explains why increased forest protection and improved stewardship are key to addressing the climate crisis and reducing the embodied carbon of wood products — and how the green building movement can help.

For 25 years, Jason Grant has been a leader in the sustainable forestry and green building movements. He is the... Read more

Hardwood used for flooring can come from unsustainable sources, such as tropical forests and genetically engineered monoculture tree farms.

The availability of domestic hardwood from third-party FSC-certified forests makes this type of flooring a great option. Uncoated hardwood flooring does not require emissions testing, but... Read more

“It’s a huge opportunity, and we’d be crazy to miss it.”

Jonathan Klein, cofounder of the nonprofit UndauntedK12, wants building professionals to know they have a major role to play in transforming public education in the next three years. That’s because unprecedented federal funds are pouring into school districts, thanks to the... Read more