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
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
Greetings!
Back again re: the work we're doing with City of Cambridge, in their great leadership efforts to develop EC policy/regs/incentives and reporting requirements.
Thanks to those who responded earlier about the effort it takes you to conduct WBLCA - now we're diving into it in more depth and wanting to get together a focus... Read more
Forum topic
It's time for our next Peer Networks webinar! Ariane wowed us with her five minutes on future climate data at the Show-and-Tell at HKS in Chicago last November. Now we'll get the deep dive.
Wednesday, May 29, 2:00 pm EDT
Register here: https://www.buildinggreen.com/peer-networks/webinars
Remember--this live webinar is for... Read more
Reports, Courses, Study Guides, Live Webinars
If you are interested in sharing this WELL AP Exam Study Guide within your organization and... Read more
Forum topic
Morning SDL,
Working on a midwest lab and trying to make the case for electrification in a slower greening grid with a reluctant MEP team. Here are a few sources I have checked for case studies:
NBI Getting to Zero Database, doesn't have a Lab Category but does have cold weather examples Labs 21, has low EUI and good data but no... Read moreForum topic
Welcome to 2030 reporting season!
I brought up on the Fika today that there is a webinar December 5th to show updates to the DDx including the calculation of operational carbon from your energy data. Below is a link to register.
https://aia.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUocOutrTItHtWiySNMIqfGYv4ZbAhtjSg...
Forum topic
At our SAL call today, folks were talking about how there was just too much to read about DEI. This is the best short summary I have read about the problems of incorporating it into the organizations where we work. It's much easier to talk the talk than to walk the walk because it takes time and accountability.
Quiz
Welcome to this practice session for the LEED AP v4 exam, and good luck!
All the exam questions and explanations that follow were authored by Alex Spilger, LEED AP BD+C of GreenStep Education, and are provided in this BuildingGreen "exam simulator" through a special partnership with GreenStep and with our friends at the Poplar Network.... Read more
Basic page
This page contains our full User Agreement.
This Agreement sets forth the terms and conditions for your use of all webpages under both the BuildingGreen and LEEDuser names and domains, published by BuildingGreen, Inc. (collectively, the “Site”), including The BuildingGreen Report (formerly Environmental Building News) and BuildingGreen... Read more
Forum topic
So our last webinar effort flamed out with the overloaded internet, but we've regrouped and have the session scheduled for this Thursday 4/2 at 1:10. We pre-recorded the webinar to make sure everything goes smoothly and I have to say that Mike is delivering some pretty fantastic content. It doesn't engage LCA tools, rather focusing on core... Read more

