News Analysis
A study published in the June 5, 1992, issue of
Science by researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the University of Arizona suggests that smoke emitted into the atmosphere from human activities may be having a significant effect in counteracting... 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
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
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
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
My firm is mobilizing for a year of carbon awareness and reduction that goes beyond the energy consumption of our designs. We are looking to hire a full time person to take on LCA tracking for our current projects. Ideally it is a climate crisis super-hero of sorts who could also look at our design process and help develop multi-faceted... Read more
Forum topic
Can you comment on successful ways you have used eQUEST and pitfalls you have seen? We are considering training our architects to use it for early building analysis on all projects.
Product Guide
Stone was one of humanity’s first building materials and continues to play an important role in today’s green building industry. There are many stones used in the building industry, but the most common ones used for exterior cladding are limestone, granite, marble, slate, and sandstone.
BuildingGreen-Approved Stone and Masonry Cladding... Read more
Forum topic
Hi folks - update here for our FUN saturday night "show"!! What a great way to start the year and celebrate new beginnings!
The Lighter Side of Green will air THIS coming Sat night at 7pm with Anne Hicks Harney MC'ing - check out the link to see the roster of amazing talent and log on for great tunes, humor, camraderie and community! ... Read more
Forum topic
Hello All!
We are using TallyCat to extract quantities from our REVIT Model, and bring them over to EC3 to get a model GWP (focusing on material categories required to evaluate ILFI Zero Carbon certification). There are a number of questions that are popping up!!
I am sure there are others trying the same thing, yes... maybe?! ... Read more
Forum topic
In the run-up to Earth Day 2023, we're trying something new at VMDO: Full, public transparency on everything we know about how our portfolio is performing (or how we anticipate it performing). Here's a link to all of the details on our sixth year of reporting to the 2030 Commitment and more: https://www.vmdo.com/radical-transparency-commitment-... Read more
Forum topic
Seeking Pros/Cons, Feedback/Commentary about signing the US Architects Declare Commitment.
https://us.architectsdeclare.com/
Reviewing against the "shoulds" and "shalls" of the 2020 AIA Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct ... and other commitments that are out there ... any feedback welcome.
Tips for how your workflow... Read more
Reports, Courses, Study Guides, Live Webinars
THIS WEBINAR PURCHASE AND REGISTRATION IS CLOSED.
This webinar took place Thursday, January 12th at 2:00pm Eastern (11:00am Pacific)
Free to premium subscribers ($30.00 for non-premium)
Green building product selection is a mess.
With an overwhelming number of green product... Read more

