International architecture firm Perkins+Will has released design guidance regarding flame retardants in building products. Healthy Environments: Strategies for Avoiding Flame Retardants in the Built Environment—written by Michel Dedeo, Ph.D., science fellow at Perkins+Will, and Suzanne Drake, senior interior designer at the... Read more

Camera opens on a brightly lit cancer ward at a veterans’ hospital in Pittsburgh. An assistant turns on the water so a doctor can wash her hands. Camera follows the tap water upstream, into the faucet and the hospital’s plumbing system, where a sinister slime creature clings to the walls of the pipes. As the creature laughs... Read more

New research reinforces the importance of forced mechanical drying after long-term flooding. Mimicking conditions during and after Hurricane Katrina, researchers from Tuskegee University built, flooded for three weeks, and then dried a home to determine the effects of long-term saturation, natural and mechanical drying, and... Read more

Two recent studies suggest phthalates, common plasticizers used primarily in flexible vinyl, may be affecting human reproduction by burning the candle at both ends: first decreasing women’s libido, then interfering with the genital development of their male offspring.

After measuring the levels of... Read more

In another step toward solidifying our understanding of biophilia—our innate love of nature—Terrapin Bright Green contextualizes its much-heralded 14 Patterns of Biophilic Design in a free report available to the public. Prompted by an effort to help Google promote wellness in its workspaces, the 14 patterns pin down a language... Read more

ON-DEMAND WEBCAST

Whole-building life-cycle assessment (WBLCA) promises improved performance with reduced environmental impacts. Yet in practice it can bog projects down with confusing or even conflicting priorities, complicated by mountains of data.

BuildingGreen has arranged for four widely respected practitioners to share their... Read more

The 2014 Greenbuild expo in New Orleans had everything. Certified lumber? Check. Recycled you-name-it? Check. But in addition to what you’d expect, there were innovative, complex HVAC controls, and even some manufacturers riding the transparency wave, mostly bringing new data on their products.

Not... Read more

Public water is regulated to ensure its safety as it leaves the treatment plant, but in the U.S., all bets are off the moment that water enters our homes and buildings. Once it arrives in the building, drinking water often runs through plastic pipes that contain trace amounts of unidentified manufacturing chemicals. More and... Read more

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that EPA is failing in its oversight of industrial chemical releases from sewage treatment plants—one of the agency’s major duties under the Clean Water Act.

EPA has not updated its list of priority... Read more

Until very recently, only newly constructed multifamily properties could earn an Energy Star label. Unlike commercial and institutional buildings, which could benchmark buildings through Energy Star Portfolio Manager, multifamily projects were required to meet prescriptive design requirements because there was no large bank of... Read more

It’s painful enough to huff and puff through a Spin class without worrying about pollutants you might be sucking deep into your lungs, but a recent study suggests the air in fitness centers might not be as good for you as your workout routine.  

Elevated volatile organic compounds (VOCs), formaldehyde,... Read more

The standard designed to “provide total building sustainability guidance” recently underwent a substantial update and will start impacting other building codes and standards like the International Green Construction Code (IgCC) in 2015. ASHRAE 189.1, the Standard for the Design of High-Performance, Green Buildings Except Low-... Read more

Part 2 of Kjell Anderson's "Early-Design Modeling: New Tools and New Approaches"

"The sun is a challenging light source."

Understatement of the year? Or the decade?

As Kjell Anderson explains in his new book, effective daylighting can save your clients real money by reducing peak electric loads, improving retail sales, and... Read more

LEDs are a digital technology: they rely on semiconductors to emit light, the same tiny computer chips that are used to light many smart phones. But our use of this lighting platform to realize health benefits in interior design hasn’t been very smart.

By adding tunability of color temperature to the... Read more

Even before expectant mothers find themselves being told to “take deep breaths” to get through labor pains, plasticizers present in their blood could cause their baby to grow up gasping for air. Childhood asthma rates, according to a new study, are strongly correlated with prenatal exposure to two types of phthalates—BBzP, used... Read more

Using cross-laminated timber (CLT) as an alternative to concrete or steel would likely provide modest savings on construction costs while reducing the environmental impact of new construction, according to a feasibility study issued by Mahlum, Walsh Construction, and Coughlin Porter Lundeen. (For more on the environmental... Read more

When renovating an existing building or when building on a previously developed site, environmental site assessments (ESAs) are the first step toward identifying and remediating hazardous materials. Although assessments are typically required only when properties change hands, they are advisable for all existing sites. ESAs are... Read more

The World Green Building Council recently released a new toolkit to help businesses identify which aspects of their buildings may be detracting from the productivity of their employees—and consequently affecting their bottom lines.

“Health, Wellbeing & Productivity in Offices” identifies seven top... Read more