BuildingGreen Report

Blog Post

September 8, 2008

Today the Department of Energy's Building Technologies Program launched the Zero Energy Buildings Database with an offering of three Zero Energy Buildings (ZEBs) and one near-ZEB. A lot of work has been put into defining ZEBs and you can learn about the different types at the Net ZEB page. Also make sure to look at the overview page for each... Read more

Blog Post

September 5, 2008

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Blog Post

September 2, 2008

Maverick NYC mechanical systems designer Henry Gifford has long been a critic of LEED, arguing that it encourages the wrong things, and doesn't go far enough to ensure that certified buildings really save energy or provide good air quality. I have great respect for Gifford and the work he does to design and commission low-energy buildings with... Read more

Blog Post

September 2, 2008
I was down in Orlando last week — land of asphalt, ChemLawns, and Mickey Mouse. As is typical in that part of the world, it was too hot outside and too cold inside. In one of the mammoth Disney hotels, I was participating for two days in the Tenth Anniversary Annual Meeting of an organization called FLASH. FLASH is the Federal Alliance for Safe... Read more

Blog Post

September 1, 2008
Rigid boardstock insulation.

In this final installment about insulation we'll take a look at the family of rigid boardstock materials. Unlike fiberous or spray-foam insulation that is installed in wall or ceiling cavities between the studs, rafters, or joists, boardstock insulation is applied either on the interior or exterior surface,... Read more

Blog Post

August 28, 2008
"Water shortages are expected to become more and more common in the coming decades. A 2003 report by the U.S. General Accounting Office reported that 36 states are likely to experience water shortages by 2013." "Water use in and around buildings, from both public water supplies and well water, accounts for about 47 billion gallons (180 billion l... Read more

Blog Post

August 28, 2008
Greg Kats of the venture capital firm Good Energies has argued for a while now that a company's carbon emissions can have a material impact on its financial performance, and by failing to disclose that risk the company may be liable to shareholder action. That argument was used to explain part of the appeal to corporations of green (low-carbon-... Read more

News Analysis

August 28, 2008
The Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) installed 20 one-kW architectural wind turbines atop the Logan International Airport Office Center in March 2008. AeroVironment of Monrovia, California, manufactures the 6.5-foot (2-m) diameter, five-bladed turbines, which can work at wind speeds as low as 5 mph (8 kph) and are engineered to withstand... Read more

News Brief

August 28, 2008
Several buildings in Dockside Green, an environmentally sensitive development in Victoria, British Columbia, have earned LEED Platinum certification from the Canada Green Building Council, achieving 63 points out of a possible 70.

The certification applies to the first phase of the development, which includes a total of 93 residential units and... Read more

Feature

August 28, 2008
In a state facing widespread water woes, Cambria, California, is unique. The coastal town of 6,200 people, located halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles, gets all of its water from the groundwater basins of two relatively small creeks that are recharged annually by rainfall. Even with water conservation measures, there simply isn’t enough... Read more

News Brief

August 28, 2008
Joining the growing ranks of cities requiring green building in some form, San Francisco is requiring all new buildings to meet either LEED standards or those of the regional program GreenPoint Rated, depending on building type and size (see chart below).

San Francisco is the first city to require larger commercial buildings (those over 25,000... Read more

News Analysis

August 28, 2008
California has become the first state to adopt green building standards into its building codes. The standards, adopted by the California Building Standards Commission, will become part of Title 24, the state’s building and energy-efficiency regulations, in July 2009. Different building types—governed by separate agencies in California—are covered... Read more

News Brief

August 28, 2008

In 2006, a Rhode Island jury held paint companies Sherwin-Williams, Millennium Holdings, and NL Industries liable for the adverse consequences of lead paint sold more than 30 years ago, before the 1978 ban on lead paint (see

EBN

Vol. 15, No. 4).

Now, a State Supreme Court ruling has overturned that earlier decision, which... Read more

News Brief

August 28, 2008

The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 directed the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to consider drafting new standards for several appliances (see

EBN

Vol. 17, No. 2).

Responding to one of these directives, DOE has announced that it will consider enacting regional efficiency standards for air-conditioners and heat... Read more

News Analysis

August 28, 2008
Update 9/5/08:

The response from EPA's Alex Baker, which was not available when this article was first published, has been added.

As the government’s lead agency promoting commercialization of solid-state lighting, including light-emitting diodes (LEDs), the U.S. Department of Energy in 2007 published its Energy Star standards for LED... Read more

Product Review

August 28, 2008
The Emerald line of Safe ‘N Sound solid-core interior passage doors from Masonite offers a greener alternative—at a price premium of 20%–25%—to the company’s other offerings. Although all Safe ‘N Sound doors have wheat-straw cores, the Emerald doors contain no added urea-formaldehyde and use wood certified to Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)... Read more

News Brief

August 28, 2008

Anticipating opportunities for its members in the growing green building sector, the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) recently convened an Energy Solutions Summit with 30 of its members experienced in green building.

The summit’s recommendations for meeting growing demand for alternative energy systems and greater energy... Read more

Op-Ed

August 28, 2008
In late July, sustainable design directors and coordinators from 46 architecture and design firms gathered in Colorado Springs to compare notes and share best practices. Meredith Elbaum, AIA, of Sasaki Associates in Boston and Nellie Reid from Gensler’s Los Angeles office spearheaded the event after they realized that: (1) they have both been... Read more

News Brief

August 28, 2008
Practice Greenhealth, a new nonprofit organization, hopes to shake up America’s healthcare industry. “We’re here to help the healthcare community develop sustainable systems,” according to communications director Eileen Secrest. “Its environmental footprint is huge, and we can make a difference.”

The organization is largely an expanded version... Read more

News Analysis

August 28, 2008
Skip Backus, executive director of the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies, discovered something in the process of researching materials for the new building on campus. “We don’t make anything in this country anymore,” he said. Many building materials are still made in the U.S., but simple things like nails and screws are difficult to find. For... Read more