BuildingGreen Report

Schools across the country are aging and suffering from underinvestment—and so are their HVAC systems. Outdated and inadequate HVAC systems negatively affect indoor environmental quality (IEQ), contribute to community pollution, and leave schools even more vulnerable to the effects (and costs) of climate change and disease, according to the... Read more

Four federal agencies recently committed to work together to decarbonize the U.S. transportation sector, the country’s largest source of emissions, by 2050. The departments of Transportation, Energy, and Housing and Urban Development, along with the Environmental Protection Agency, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in September 2022,... Read more

As part of the Federal Buy Clean Initiative, the U.S. government has committed to reducing the greenhouse gas emissions from the manufacture and use of most construction materials. That mandate now has funding through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), so the General Services Administration (GSA) has to figure out how to... Read more

PVC’s already tainted health, environmental, and social justice record took two major hits this past month. First, PVC products were added to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) list that is intended to prevent U.S. imports of products from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) in China that are “mined, produced, or... Read more

Hot spots: they might sound like fun places to hang out and have a drink—but in green building, they’re actually a bad thing. Something you track down so you can get rid of it. Kind of like being an environmentalist bounty hunter.

Life-cycle assessment (LCA) is a way of understanding the environmental impacts of... Read more

When it comes to sustainability, modular carpet is a surprisingly complicated product. It’s made with a range of different backings and face fibers and various other compounds that might be added as filler, surface treatments, antimicrobials, and more. Setting a bar that optimizes for climate, health, and circularity is... Read more

The integrative process seems to be everywhere. But although it may seem ubiquitous, most experts agree that any perceived change in how buildings are designed and built is largely superficial—that teams are practicing coordination, not collaboration. 

Yet, done right, the integrative process holds great promise. Practitioners say it... Read more

Wood building products from sustainably managed forests have lower carbon footprints and fewer environmental impacts than concrete, steel, and other structural materials. And at the end of their service life, they naturally degrade, returning carbon and nutrients to the soil. Nature would like to start that decay process early, however, so if... Read more

Frustrated by deceptive environmental marketing claims? Have insight that could help companies improve the clarity of sustainability declarations in their advertising, packaging, or labels? The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) wants to hear from you. On December 14, 2022, the FTC opened a 60-day public comment period for its “Green Guides... Read more

Green roofs. School electrification. Community resilience planning. These are the types of projects the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will be funding in 2023 as part of the Justice40 Initiative.

Conceived soon after President Joe Biden took office in 2021, Justice40 is a commitment by the... Read more

Describing the U.S. government as “the country’s single largest energy consumer and building manager,” the White House has announced two programs aimed at decarbonizing the federal building portfolio. One covers existing building operations, and the other effectively requires electrification of new construction and major renovations.

... Read more

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.​

Money from the 2022 climate law is now available for high-performance... Read more

What lies ahead for LEED v5 and for green building more generally? This 30-minute chat explores the trends on the horizon. We take a look at the biggest issues facing the industry, including how social equity fits into green building, how big a driver ESG will be, and how we can fight climate change and adapt to it at the same time.

 ... Read more

As this month’s spotlight report, Integrative Process: Pathways to Performance and Regeneration, shows, there are multiple flavors of integrative process—often cooked up over decades by the individual designers and consultants who have become preeminent voices in this field. BuildingGreen counts itself among these cooks: as third-party... Read more

“It should be intuitive, but it’s not,” said Pauline Souza, FAIA, partner and director of sustainability at WRNS Studio. The “it” in question is the integrative process—ongoing interdisciplinary collaboration that begins during early design and ideally continues well into occupancy. Although project team integration may seem ubiquitous these... Read more

With an overwhelming number of green product certifications and labels available, even veteran designers and construction professionals can easily get lost in the maelstrom.

... Read more

Finding ways to reduce embodied carbon during building design can take many forms, like building reuse, dematerialization, or alternative structural systems. But once design has advanced to a certain point, the main opportunities lie in finding preferred products within a given category, like lower-carbon concrete or gypsum... Read more

You know the drill: someone makes a big net-zero-energy or net-zero-carbon claim, grabbing headlines and igniting a warm glow among potential investors, customers, and other stakeholders. Fewer headlines show up when the claim turns out to be based on shoddy math, questionable scoping, or junky carbon offsets. So usually the... Read more

Bidding on a federal project? Get ready to meet new requirements for climate disclosures and emission targets. A single building project could easily trigger the need to comply.

A proposed rule from the Biden administration would apply to suppliers with at least $7.5 million... Read more

The green building movement has often been criticized for benefiting the most privileged people in society while leaving others behind. The WELL Equity Rating is trying to turn that around by leveraging building decisions and business practices to address systemic inequities.

Pitched as a roadmap to... Read more