BuildingGreen Report
News Analysis
Millions in tax credits are available from the Inflation Reduction Act, but even some long-standing rules are now being questioned. Lean on your tax advisors, and expect updates as the first projects go through the process.
Wyatt Ross of CMTA and Chris Colasanti of JB&B Consulting Engineers contributed to this article.
This article has been prepared for informational purposes only; it is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, tax, legal, or accounting advice. You should consult your firm’s tax, legal, and accounting advisors before... Read more
News Brief
The Climate Explorer and the CMRA translate nerdy climate projections into eye-opening images that should be well worth more than a thousand words in the push for resilient design.
Just as people began suffering through last summer’s heat waves and bracing for hurricane season, the Biden administration published a press release touting its resilience efforts, including Heat.gov, the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard, and the National Climate Resilience Framework. The White House also pointed to a rapidly expanding... Read more
Webcast
Want to optimize your product selections for health and sustainability while also earning LEED certification? This webinar is designed for you.
Products meeting the requirements of LEED v4 BD+C and ID+C were barely available a decade ago. But since then, market forces and the introduction of LEED v4.1 in... Read more
Product Review
Portland cement has a massive carbon footprint, but it has seemed indispensable to concrete—until now. C-Crete aims to replace portland cement with other cementitious materials and its proprietary low-carbon chemistry.
Concrete is responsible for about 5% to 8% of the world’s anthropogenic carbon emissions, and that is largely due to the binder that holds it together, portland cement. So creating a low-carbon concrete that does not use portland cement is the green building industry’s holy grail. One manufacturer claims it has ended the quest.
Portland... Read moreNews Analysis
Climate change symptoms, including wildfire smoke and extreme heat, are endangering outdoor workers and changing assumptions about productivity and construction timelines.
Climate change is threatening outdoor construction workers. Extreme heat and dangerous air quality from wildfire smoke are becoming more frequent and prolonged, occurring in places that have not previously experienced them. And without federal regulations in place, employers must make judgment calls about safety breaks and work stoppages in an... Read more
Op-Ed
Bringing forth a habitable planet will require energy, ambition, and purpose. What will fuel this work? Not data and doomsaying—instead, imagination.
Last week, I saw the future. Here is what it looked like.
Because of unprecedented investments in clean energy, the world still had a chance of staying under the 1.5°C heating target that 194 nations and the E.U. agreed to in Paris in 2015. The building industry had finally prioritized decarbonizing existing buildings over predicting... Read moreNews Brief
The new standard, announced at Greenbuild 2023, aims to bring all buildings along—not just a few high performers. It comes on the heels of a similar proposal in a BuildingGreen series.
The Biden administration will soon release a national standard for zero-emission buildings. The standard will apply to new construction and major renovation, but details are not yet available on whether or how it will address existing building operations.
Citing climate action as a “north star” for the administration, national climate... Read more
Spotlight Report
PFAS “forever chemicals” are persistent in the environment and have a number of potential negative health and environmental impacts. Yet they pervade our lives—and are even infiltrating remote ecosystems once considered pristine.
PFAS are everywhere, from microwave popcorn packaging to industrial metal coatings, so... Read more
Op-Ed
To decarbonize the building sector, we need to align our efforts. Let’s get to it.
This is the final article in a five-part series introducing a comprehensive, universal carbon standard for buildings. Part One explains how “net zero” has failed us. Part Two introduces the six building blocks of a proposed low-carbon standard. And Part Three provides details on each of those six things.
Part Four explains why we need... Read more
Webcast
Conventional stormwater management treats rain as the enemy—a dangerous and destructive force that must be deflected away from building sites as quickly as possible.
But as we pave more and more of paradise, this conventional approach actually compounds rainwater’s danger and destructiveness. The resulting runoff can... Read more
Op-Ed
RECs and carbon offsets lack credibility, and grid interactivity adds unnecessary complexity. That's why this standard leaves them out.
This is the fourth article in a five-part series introducing a comprehensive, universal carbon standard for buildings. Part One explains how “net zero” has failed us. Part Two introduces the six building blocks of a proposed low-carbon standard. And Part Three provides details on each of those six things.
Part Four (this one) explains... Read more
News Analysis
Whether you call it CalGreen, Title 24, or simply “the law,” its embodied carbon requirement is unprecedented in the U.S. We analyze the code and what might come next for other states.
California has become the first U.S. state to mandate reductions in embodied carbon, the greenhouse gas emissions associated with building materials and construction.
Both the development process and the compliance structure set important precedents for potential code changes in other states and even in national model codes.
... Read moreNews Analysis
This program provides a tax credit for investment in renewable energy projects. It includes bonus credit for projects in energy communities and projects that use certain amounts of U.S.-manufactured products, including steel and iron.
This article has been prepared for informational purposes only; it is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, tax, legal, or accounting advice. You should consult your firm’s tax, legal, and accounting advisors before engaging in any transaction.
Responsible agencyThe U.S. Department of the Treasury
Summary of... Read moreNews Analysis
This program will administer grants and loans to owners or sponsors of HUD-assisted multifamily housing to improve its resilience and quality.
This article has been prepared for informational purposes only; it is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, tax, legal, or accounting advice. You should consult your firm’s tax, legal, and accounting advisors before engaging in any transaction.
Responsible agencyThe U.S. Department of Housing and Urban... Read more
News Analysis
This provision offers a tax credit to homebuilders for the construction of new energy-efficient homes, including multifamily projects.
This article has been prepared for informational purposes only; it is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, tax, legal, or accounting advice. You should consult your firm’s tax, legal, and accounting advisors before engaging in any transaction.
Responsible agencyThe U.S. Department of the Treasury
Summary of... Read moreNews Analysis
This provision offers a bonus credit to the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for small-scale solar and wind projects located in low-income and environmental justice communities.
This article has been prepared for informational purposes only; it is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, tax, legal, or accounting advice. You should consult your firm’s tax, legal, and accounting advisors before engaging in any transaction.
Responsible agencyU.S. Department of the Treasury in partnership with... Read more
News Analysis
This program funds clean-energy projects, including building-scale technologies, primarily through grants to nonprofit financial institutions.
This article has been prepared for informational purposes only; it is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, tax, legal, or accounting advice. You should consult your firm’s tax, legal, and accounting advisors before engaging in any transaction.
Responsible agencyU.S. Environmental Protection... Read more
News Brief
Behind every online order, there are people. A new study explores ways to ensure they have safe and supportive workplaces.
Have you ever thought about the chain of events you initiate every time you click “buy now” in the comfort of your home or office?
Several human beings leap into service to fulfill your order: pickers, packers, long-haul truckers, loaders, sorters, and delivery drivers. And the warehouses and distribution centers where most of them work... Read more
News Analysis
This program provides a tax credit to homeowners for energy efficiency improvements in residential homes.
This article has been prepared for informational purposes only; it is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, tax, legal, or accounting advice. You should consult your firm’s tax, legal, and accounting advisors before engaging in any transaction.
Responsible agencyU.S. Department of the Treasury... Read more
Feature Article
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been linked to negative health and environmental impacts. Getting them out of our building products is going to require work.
Design teams want their buildings to look their best and to continue looking that way for years to come. So they choose materials that are durable and resist dirt, stains, and weathering. And that synthetic, shiny surface that sheds dirt doesn’t have to be replaced as often, saving energy, time, and resources. Sounds like a great low-carbon... Read more