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
News Analysis
It isn’t just environmental zealots who are up in arms about the U.S. Forest Service’s policies on managing the nation’s timber resources. The Association of Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics has jumped into the fray—from the inside. Jeff DeBonis, the Association’s founder and executive director,... 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
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
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
Forum topic
Hi all, curious if anyone is involved with development / advocacy for the new MA stretch code? https://www.mass.gov/info-details/stretch-energy-code-development-2022
My firm recently added a Boston location & I'm slowly getting to know the green building world there - would love to know if anyone is organizing public comments on the... Read more
Forum topic
I'm looking to compare using an electric tower crane vs a diesel generated tower crane. I've got the average gallons/hour for the size of crane I'm looking at, but when I reached out to the crane manufacturers, they can only tell me what size electric supply I need to provide, not the kWh usage for the cranes. I know that it varies depending... Read more
Basic page
BuildingGreen is the most trusted voice in sustainable design and architecture.
This ad-free, member-supported resource is here to guide designers in using high-performance strategies, and in selecting sustainable and healthy products.
If you haven't already, start by creating your unique user profile to get your log-in, and be... Read more
Product Guide
Solvents and other hazardous ingredients contained in flooring adhesives can pose a significant health risk and compromise indoor air quality.
BuildingGreen-Approved Flooring Adhesives
BuildingGreen approves flooring adhesives that
exceed South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) 1168 VOC content limits and also... Read moreForum topic
Hello Everyone,
We wanted to share the highlights and take-aways from the large firm Sustainable Design Leaders (SDL) 2020 Winter Summit at The Lodge at Gulf State Park, AL. Additionally, this was the first year we had a pre-summit workshop for the winter summit. Our amazing workshop facilitator, Julie Huffaker from Deeper Funner Change... Read more
Forum topic
Phase one of the website will not include e-commerce (i.e. paid membership) but the BIT team wants to restrict access to some parts of the site, including the full Best Practices documents and the forum. This means we'll need a rudimentary paywall, directing users to register for full access. Current registered users of BuildingGreen and... Read more
Forum topic
ASHRAE 209 in all its glory has been uploaded. This will impact our architectural process, for better or worse, so we should embrace it and learn from it. The revised AIA Energy Modeling Design Guide (due out next year) has been timed to correspond roughly to 209 coming out and will include references to it. The first few energy modeling '... Read more
Forum topic
My apologies if I posted this question twice ont he forum - I am a newbie on this forum.
Anyone knows how to import an structural emobdied carbon project file into architectural project file of the same proejct to generate a combined Sankey graph? My Building Transparency/CLF contacts haven't got back to me for a week now...
... Read more
Forum topic
Hi. Happy Monday! Will BG create the BIT-user intro video found on the landing page? Do we partner on it, or should Southface plan to provide it? Thanks.
Quiz
Welcome to the quiz portion of Chemical Transparency: The HPD Issue.
Learning Objectives
Upon completing this course, participants will be able to:
1. Discuss why chemical transparency matters and answer common technical and practical questions regarding HPDs.
2. Offer solutions for the legitimate concerns... Read more

