News Analysis
UPDATE: The article has been updated with information obtained through an interview with ASHRAE president Tom Phoenix.
Building codes could harmonize seamlessly with LEED certification as USGBC, ASHRAE, and ICC join forces.
By Paula Melton
In many parts of the U.S., LEED has... Read more
Blog Post
Quality installation of the two types of site-manufactured foam insulation is no easier than fiberglass batt and no less important. Here is how to avoid the most common problems.
One of my first research projects when I started at the NAHB Research Center in 1993 was looking into a new insulation: Icynene. We were evaluating its performance as a spray-applied, open-cavity insulation as well as an injection foam in closed cavities. I was enamored: this seemed to be a miracle insulation that installed itself,... Read more
News Brief
Punch in a zip code and get instant data on the local electrical grid, potential for renewables, utility costs, and more.
A new tool from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) provides local energy profiles to aid in planning, development, and renewable-energy projects in the U.S. The tool collects state and municipal data in a central location to help streamline research on a variety of energy metrics.
Users type in a zip... Read more
News Brief
This leading textbook emphasizes preliminary design strategies to reduce energy loads with a new intent of preparing architects for net-zero design.
The third edition of the seminal text Sun, Wind & Light by Mark Dekay and G.Z. Brown still speaks to the target audience of “architectural designers who are not energy experts” that it did in the first 1985 edition, but it now takes the leap to net-zero. Driven by the call of the Architecture 2030 challenge, this primer on... Read more
News Brief
A new report argues that the White House’s little-known Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs is a lobbyist’s dream.
Industry lobbyists have outsized and clandestine influence on federal regulations through an obscure White House office with little public accountability, according to a special report to ProPublica written by Heather Rogers.
The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) was initially intended... Read more
News Analysis
GBCI will partner with Bureau Veritas to provide global support for LEED certification, with a focus on customer service and rigor.
A new partnership between Bureau Veritas S.A. and the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI) is key to the fulfilling the increasingly global ambitions of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).
GBCI, which certifies building projects under USGBC’s LEED Rating System, will rely on Bureau Veritas... Read more
News Analysis
With projects meeting New York’s steep goal of 30% less carbon ahead of schedule, the city calls on even more buildings to take on the challenge.
New York City’s Carbon Challenge is proving that one of the most effective ways to get the biggest energy hogs to cut their carbon emissions is simply to ask.
What began as a request from Mayor Michael Bloomberg for universities and hospitals to match the city government’s goal of reducing building-based... Read more
Product Review
WaterFurnace’s CLW Chiller “geothermal” heat pump also uses excess heat and cooling within a building to provide energy-efficient HVAC.
Ground-source heat pumps (GSHP) use the consistent temperatures within the Earth as a heat sink to help provide energy-efficient heating in the winter and cooling in the summer. Though GSHPs have fallen out of favor with some in the residential green building industry who prefer less complicated air-source heat pumps, GSHPs are... Read more
News Analysis
Now publicly available, the updated rating system features new credits and benchmarks based on expert input.
The Sustainable Sites Initiative has rolled out its rating system for creating and evaluating sustainable landscapes. Building upon lessons learned from numerous pilot projects that field-tested the 2009 SITES Rating System, the new version features recommendations from experts in soil science, botany and horticulture,... Read more
News Brief
DOE is highlighting technologies that simultaneously save water and energy, including supercritical carbon dioxide recompression for power plants.
Exploring the challenges and opportunities of the water-energy nexus, a recent report from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) identifies several emerging technologies that will help conserve both resources.
Some of the most promising technologies target thermoelectric power plants, which not only are... Read more
Product Review
A whole-building air barrier system with a 15-year warranty is offered as a package from Dow Corning.
As the continuity and durability of air barriers get more attention from high-performance building projects (see The Hidden Science of High-Performance Building Assemblies), product manufacturers are taking note. Dow Corning recently announced its entry into a small but growing club: companies offering whole-building air- and... Read more
News Brief
It takes almost 20 years for triple-glazed windows to save enough energy to overcome their additional embodied carbon, according to a new study.
Triple-glazed windows may save more energy than double-paned windows, but a recent study conducted by U.K.-based consulting firm Inspired Efficiency and footprinting expert Circular Ecology finds that in terms of their life-cycle carbon footprint, they don’t necessarily come out ahead.
Researchers... Read more
News Analysis
A new modeling tool, WeatherShift, helps designers see how designs today can account for comfort, resilience, and energy needs decades down the line.
“We need to get better at preparing for the future,” says Cole Roberts, P.E., associate principal at Arup.
“Future-oriented design” that accounts for a changed climate isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, he concedes. For example, “It’s a harder thing for speculative developers to get behind; they need to be... Read more
News Brief
Helping corporations bolster their defenses against the economic effects of natural disasters is the focus of the new initiative.
After a record-breaking decade of economic losses due to natural disasters, the United Nations has launched an initiative to improve corporations’ disaster-risk-management strategies and investment planning.
The R!SE initiative aims to help corporations improve approaches to risk management and to... Read more
Feature
Designers are reinventing the art and science of passive comfort control even where climate and culture favor mechanical systems.
The Eastgate building in Harare, Zimbabwe, is world-famous for its biomimetic passive cooling system, inspired by termite mounds. The fan-assisted network of thermal labyrinths and chimneys cools the space economically and “uses about 10% of the energy” consumed by a mechanically conditioned building next door, architect Mick... Read more
Explainer
Low-impact development (LID) minimizes pavement and maximizes rainwater infiltration, filtering out pollution and preventing erosion.
You may not think of parking lots and suburban lawns as sources of pollution, but when it rains, they might as well be Superfund sites: petrochemicals, heavy metals, and toxic levels of nitrogen and phosphorous from fertilizer can enter nearby waterways at high concentrations, harming local ecosystems. During heavy storms,... Read more
News Brief
A promised database funded by Google.org and USGBC aims to end marketplace confusion and lower the cost of ingredient disclosure.
Tracking potentially hazardous chemicals in building products has never been easier—or more confusing, whether you’re a designer or a manufacturer. As interest in this information grows and the market sorts out a confusing set of disclosure options (see Finding Products for LEED v4: A Guide), clarity may be on the way. A new... Read more
News Brief
Waste heat from air conditioners contributes to higher nighttime temperatures, in turn increasing cooling demands, according to a new study.
It turns out when you left the door open during the summer, you weren’t “cooling the whole neighborhood” as your mother reprimanded; you were probably heating it. New research from Arizona State University suggests waste heat ejected from air conditioners is raising nighttime temperatures—at least in very hot and dry cities—... Read more
News Brief
Capitalized with $70 million and a quick application process, Eutectics is ready to finance small solar and efficiency retrofits for commercial properties.
A new financing platform for small- and medium-sized energy-efficiency and renewable-energy projects is now available from the Minneapolis-based company Eutectics.
Geared toward commercial projects ranging from $25,000 to $5,000,000, the company plans to finance $70 million in projects across the nation... Read more
News Brief
Aimed at curbing global warming, a proposed rule would ban HFC-134a, used in XPS production and for refrigeration.
As part of President Obama’s unfolding Climate Action Plan, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced its intention to ban certain blowing agents and refrigerants. Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) were introduced in the 1990s to replace ozone-depleting substances, but many have extremely high global warming... Read more
