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
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
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
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
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
Reports, Courses, Study Guides, Live Webinars
THIS WEBINAR PURCHASE AND REGISTRATION IS CLOSED.
This one-hour crash course will review the concepts and key facts within the WELL Building... Read more
Forum topic
Hi amazing people!
Most of our projects are now going with some form of gender neutral/all-gender/inclusive toilet rooms or those that can easily be converted to such. With no urinals, we lose 3 LEED points because urinals are very water-efficient. With urinals, it's not as pure a solution. Do you all just take a hit on the LEED points,... Read more
Forum topic
This may seem a bit in the weeds, but I have typically paid extra at Greenbuild for the access to the materials after the conference - we use that to develop presentations back to the teams who are not able to attend. For many years it was helpful - getting some materials to help folks see what they missed. Last year they went to a new service... Read more
Forum topic
Hello everyone!
I'll be using this thread to post call reminders and notes.
To start us off, the next call is this coming Tuesday, March 24th at 1pm Eastern.
The topics we will be discussing include:
Around the “room” quick check-in. How’s everyone doing? What’s top of mind for you? Able to keep projects and... Read more
Forum topic
Hi Folks ,
Two fun and useful events to help us all do more in less time!!
1. DeCon Hackathon 4/12
These are sessions where the community comes together to 'crowdsource' standard construction details that are disassembly-friendly for a public detail library so that everyone can use it and start adapting those details in... Read more
Forum topic
Hello everyone,
For those I have yet to meet, I'm Jen, the latest member of BuildingGreen's Peer Networks team.
Although it's been a few weeks now, we wanted to share the slide decks from some of the presentations that took place in Las Vegas back in June. Thank you to those of you who presented and who have given us permission... Read more
Forum topic
Attached are the raw notes from the Design Process Conversations.
And here are the Guiding Questions from the Agenda Survey:
Design Process: how to intervene to get better outcomes?
How do I crack the nut of making a difference within my firm in the Design Process?
What strategies alter our fast-paced design... Read more
Forum topic
I wanted to make sure that you didn’t miss this fun event. We can all use some fun right now.
Built Environment Plus is celebrating the arrival of spring with a fun competition to get people out and about safely. A digital Scavenger Hunt will allow teams of 4 (or larger families) to complete a series of photo, video, and text missions... Read more
Forum topic
Hi all - passing on this request on behalf of Alan Scott. He is looking specifically for someone from the Gulf Coast region to round out the panel:
I am putting together a panel for a virtual session during Design Museum Week in April (Thursday, April 28). The description below outlines the conversation I am hoping to curate. I am... Read more
Forum topic
My name is Boyd and I’m the newest member of the BuildingGreen Peer Networks team. I’m joining BG after a long line of jobs in the service industry. I’ve worked everywhere from breweries to adventure sports companies and I’ve loved every job along the way. I was drawn to BG because of my history of meeting people and fostering connections and... Read more
Quiz
Welcome to the quiz portion of "The Potential of Prefab: How Modular Construction Can Be Green"!
Learning Objectives
Upon completing this course, participants will be able to:

