News Analysis
The City of Austin’s Green Builder Program was one of 12 award recipients in the United National Local Government Honours Programme at the Earth Summit in Rio, and the only winner from the United States. “The purpose of the Honours Programme is to recognize innovative local approaches to... Read more
Product Review
The company's promotional material is the epitome of environmentally friendly packaging—like a Ben & Jerry's annual report. The article reprints sent were even bound in a jacket made from corrugated cardboard. So we were quite intrigued by the product. Syndecrete™ is a lightweight, pre-cast,... Read more
Feature
Ozone depletion and global warming are two of our most serious environmental problems—and foam insulation materials containing CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) contribute significantly to both of these problems. The environmentally concerned builder or designer should make it a highest priority to avoid them. Even many of the non-CFC alternatives... Read more
Feature
Susan Maxman is the first AIA president to make sustainable design a priority.
Q.Where would you say architects as a group stand on environmental issues?
A.Architects tend to be reactive rather than proactive. It is important that we take the lead on these environmental issues. The architecture schools in particular tend to be conservative. They just aren’t... Read more
Op-Ed
Introducing the first issue of our newsletter.
Buildings have a tremendous impact on the environment. In North America, buildings and the building industry account for about 30% of carbon dioxide emissions, 35-40% of ozone depletion, 20-30% of municipal solid waste, vast quantities of natural resource consumption, and dramatic loss of open space each... Read more
News Brief
The American Institute of Architects convention in Boston this past June was the setting for a changing of the guard in the American architectural establishment. The Institute’s first woman president took the reins, the Committee on the Environment became its largest and fastest growing committee, and the first installments of the Environmental... Read more
Feature
Carefully stake the building site and driveway, remove trees that are within the excavation area or too close, then erect a fence to keep heavy equipment off fragile soils and away from nearby trees.
Protecting trees and the local ecosystem when building on previously unbuilt land is a vitally important—yet often overlooked—part of environmentally responsible construction. Healthy trees and shrubs can reduce a home’s environmental impact and directly benefit homeowners in a number of ways:
•Enhancing comfort by shielding the house... Read more
Forum topic
I see Kjell Anderson, Mary Ann Lazarus and Daniel Overbey as the Green Gurus on this list - if i missed anybody apologies.
Congrats all around folks!
https://www.usgbc.org/articles/gbci-announces-2018-leed-fellows
Forum topic
Another Break-out by Firm Size.
Guiding Questions:
SDL Best Practices by Firm Size
What's working and what's not? How are others integrating successes?
What strategies are effective in each of these areas: ongoing education, research, knowledge sharing?
How can we structure our green team across... Read more
Product Guide
CEUs are available for reading all the building-envelope product guides and primer. Click here to learn more and take the quiz.
Wall assemblies are made up of a number of different materials and systems, and installing each of them requires considerable time and labor and can introduce errors that compromise the building’s weather... Read more
Forum topic
Hi all,
Thank you again to those of you who attended the Spring 2024 SCL Summit! We had an amazing day of learning from one another, including from our presenters.
The slides for the 5-minute presentations are below, as well as the BuildingGreen slides from the Summit. Please be aware that we have permission from all of the... Read more
Quiz
Welcome to the quiz portion of How to Make Integrated Project Delivery Work for Your Project.
Learning Objectives
Upon completing this course, participants will be able to:
1. State three problems that Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) promises to solve.
2. Dispel four misconceptions about IPD that have... Read more
Forum topic
I'm sure we'll learn more soon, but several people have asked on various platforms about how Betsy del Monte is doing (she lives in Asheville, NC, which was hard hit by Hurricane Helene).
I had a brief text exchange with her on Saturday 28 September, and I feel sure that she would be OK with my sharing it with you all:
We’re... Read more
Forum topic
I was talking to Nadav recently about job posting opportunities through Building Green and/or through the Peer network. He shared this topic has been discussed in the past, and thought I should send a question out to the network. I am guessing many of you are looking for talent right now too? Wouldn't it be cool to know people of have been... Read more
Forum topic
Five types of green buildings explained. Check out this great infographic by the Pembina Institute: What do net-zero and zero-carbon buildings mean for energy use and climate pollution?
Forum topic
We are putting together a free guide for firms who have not yet started to figure out what their internal standards are for healthy, low carbon materials/products.
As part of this effort, we are looking to gather from all of you who already have standards - examples and precedent.
Also we are collecting standards from clients/... Read more
Author
Amanda is BuildingGreen's Peer Networks Manager, working behind the scenes to support the Peer Networks team and members. They are passionate about sustainable design and love helping people find tangible ways to help the planet.
Prior to joining BuildingGreen in 2023, Amanda was a campaigns coordinator at a food justice... Read more
Forum topic
Hello! i had in my notes that the group interested in jobsite wellness was going to schedule a call mid-January. I don't remember who was leading the effort. does anyone have a list of who is on what committee?
thanks!

