Product Review
News Brief
EBN Dec. 2008.)
The Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency placed... Read more
Feature
Another Greenbuild conference has come and gone, with its frenetic activity, informative educational sessions, many meetings, and all-important networking.
This year I focused much of my time and attention on the Product Expo—and it took a lot of both! At the U.S. Green Building Council’s first Greenbuild conference in Austin, Texas, eight... Read moreNews Analysis
EBN Nov. 2006). After considering manufacturer claims about safety, energy efficiency, and total cost, NEMA concluded, as did
EBN in... Read more
News Brief
The most recent Green-e Verification Report, released annually by the Center for Resource Solutions (CRS), shows a 45% increase in the U.S. certified renewable energy certificate (REC) market from 2007 to 2008.
The report found that more than 13 terawatt-hours (TWh) of Green-e energy were purchased last year—nearly double 2007 sales.... Read moreNews Brief
The Boston Architectural College (BAC) Department of Sustainable Design, a national leader in sustainability education for building professionals, will offer a variety of new certification options beginning in January 2010.
In addition to the existing certificate in sustainable design (now with two required courses), students and... Read moreNews Brief
Changes to the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) proposed by the New Buildings Institute (NBI), The American Institute of Architects, and the U.S. Department of Energy have cleared the first hurdle on their way to adoption.
The proposals, modeled on NBI’s Core Performance prescriptive building guidelines, would result in 20%–... Read more
Explainer
News Analysis
News Brief
As green building takes hold, so too do concerns about litigation and the need for better contracting mechanisms (see
EBN Dec. 2009). Both The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and ConsensusDOCS have released new model contract addenda to address these concerns.
The AIA document, AIA–B124 (2007), updates a 2004 amendment to the... Read moreNews Brief
In December 2009 Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled the final version of the California Climate Adaptation Strategy, a project of the California Natural Resources Agency examining the likely impacts of climate change on the state and proposing a suite of adaptation measures.
The strategy, a 200-page document available for download at... Read moreNews Brief
Standard 189, the code-enforceable high-performance green building standard that has been in development since 2006, will soon be available to the public.
According to committee chair Kent Peterson, P.E., the final document will look much like the draft that was used for the fourth public comment period, which ended in November 2009. That... Read moreNews Analysis
Since its founding in 1993, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has depended on volunteer committees for a wide range of activities, from creation and management of the LEED rating systems to guiding green building research and education. After a six-month study by the Committee Assessment Task Force—a group of volunteers and staff—USGBC is... Read more
Blog Post
Blog Post
10 Ways to save energy in 2010
Some energy-saving strategies involve spending money: replacing appliances and lights with more energy-efficient products, tuning up a heating system, and insulating an attic, for... Read more
Blog Post
You're down to the last few days before Christmas. You're looking for that meaningful, special gift for a family member, special friend, or co-worker. Buy a gift that keeps on giving--by saving energy! Below, is my... Read more
Blog Post
Interesting how it's at once forward-looking and backward.
link to videoBlog Post
Last week we took at look at one way to achieve very-high-performance windows: adding additional layers of glazing and multiple low-emissivity (low-e) coatings. This week, we'll look at another option that's even higher-tech: vacuum-... Read more
News Brief
In November 2009, the Washington State Building Code Council (SBCC) voted to move forward with code changes designed to make homes in the state more energy efficient.
The package of changes includes requirements for lighting and HVAC control systems, better metering, greater use of commissioning and inspection, and increased energy... Read more
News Brief
The carpet manufacturer InterfaceFLOR announced at the 2009 Greenbuild conference that it will be oil-free by 2020. (InterfaceFLOR is the commercial modular carpet division of Interface, the international carpet company.)
InterfaceFLOR has led the way in the past with moves like replacing petrochemicals with cornstarch-based polylactic... Read more





