Championing the
Changemakers

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) have agreed to create a common platform for benchmarking the energy performance of commercial buildings.

The new platform will expand the EPA Energy Star Portfolio Manager tool already widely used throughout the U.S. to include Canadian weather... Read more

California’s Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) is again coming under fire for its use of wireless-equipped smart meters, this time in the form of a class action lawsuit.

The lawsuit, filed by Northern California electromagnetic radiation consulting firm Wilner & Associates, lists ten grievances ranging from alleged... Read more

The WaterSense label will soon apply to its first set of outdoor products, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which administers the WaterSense program. Labeling of landscaping products will begin with the most efficient automatic irrigation control devices.

Rather than working on a timer, eligible devices will... Read more

The second Energy Star National Building Competition, titled “Battle of the Buildings,” has released 2011 results, with the top finalist chalking up a 63.2% reduction in energy use.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), sponsor of the contest, the 245 participating teams saved a total of $5.2 million on utility... Read more

The greenest building is the one you don’t build, and the cleanest, cheapest energy is the energy you don’t burn. These refrains are commonly heard in the green building community, and now, in a new report, “A Profitable and Resource Efficient Future,” the World Economic Forum (WEF) has put them on a broader stage and added a third... Read more

In response to growing demand for greenhouse gas (GHG) information across a company’s or product’s value chain, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHGP)—an international accounting framework for GHG standards worldwide—has launched two new standards.

Both provide requirements and guidance for companies and other organizations to prepare and... Read more

The eastern two-thirds of the U.S. has greater geothermal potential than some areas in the western portion of the country, claims a new study by Google.org and Southern Methodist University (SMU).

The project estimates that the technical potential for the continental U.S. exceeds 2.9 million megawatts—ten times the capacity of all of... Read more

Though some LED lighting still suffers from many of the problems that plagued early fluorescents, including poor color rendering, inconsistent dimming, questionable quality, and high first costs, the technology has been advancing rapidly. In some applications, LED lighting now provides better energy performance, has a longer lifespan,... Read more

As global industries begin to measure and report their water use, they should keep in mind all the water they consume, says the Netherlands nonprofit Water Footprint Network, which has developed a new metric for calculating water footprint.

Typical reporting only measures

blue water, the amount of fresh surface and groundwater... Read more

BuildingGreen presents a FREE 1-Hour Webcast on Wednesday, December 7, 2011 2 p.m. EST

To help professionals make the best design and material choices for their specific projects (and budgets), BuildingGreen recently developed and released the Guide to Insulation Products and Practices.

The report emphasizes that there are no universal... Read more

Letting short-term payback analyses drive economic decisions about high-performance buildings is crazy.

If we let simple or even net-value payback analysis alone drive the economics of high-performance buildings, we might as well throw in the towel. It is truly crazy to apply just this approach to long-lived durable goods, such as... Read more

Dow's Powershingle BIPV is designed to blend in with asphalt shingles and provide power via CIGS PV cells. Can a building-integrated solar shingle compete with cheap crystalline? Focusing on aesthetics and installation is a great start.

Dow's Powerhouse photovoltaic (PV) roofing shingles are designed to integrate into a conventional asphalt... Read more

Eco-friendly bamboo options have gotten better, but the choice is still not simple.

If you want the "greenest" bamboo flooring out there what do you look for? We have talked a lot about bamboo over the years, starting in 1997. The options have gotten better, but the choice is still not simple. See BuildingGreen's product guide, Hardwood... Read more

DesignIntelligence has released its annual report on the top architecture schools, and 80% are campus-wide BuildingGreen subscribers. The top architecture schools for 2012, according to DesignIntelligence. Hey, don't we know you?

We're always curious to see the DesignIntelligence lists of top architecture and design programs in the U.S.... Read more

UPDATE: This article originally stated that greenfield development is restricted under IgCC. This is the case only when jurisdictions choose greenfield restrictions as a requirement, and the article has been corrected to reflect this.The International Green Construction Code (IgCC) was finalized November 6, 2011, in Phoenix after a two... Read more

New ways to make and save energy, from university research

An environmentalist dies and reports to the pearly gates, but there is a mix-up and she is sent to the gates of hell. Once in hell, she is horrified by the air and water pollution, global warming, and habitat destruction. But she gets to work and soon the hellscape is covered... Read more

When it comes to green building, you can't always get what you what. So how do you get what you need? Whole-window R-value of 6.7. Not too shabby!

Note: some of the links below will only work for registered subscribers. See low-cost membership options.

BuildingGreen's recent field trip to a local Passive House under construction led to... Read more

The second Energy Star National Building Competition, titled “Battle of the Buildings,” has released 2011 results, with the top finalist chalking up a 63.2% reduction in energy use.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), sponsor of the contest, the 245 participating teams saved a total of $5.2 million on... Read more

By Alanna Malone

For more than 20 years, Chandler, Arizona, had been setting aside funds to pay for a new municipal complex. The city wished to go beyond the expected program for such a building by creating a mixed-use facility to cater to the community's needs and serve as an icon of good design and sustainability. The resulting 137,... Read more

Spray foam is only one of a number of building products and methods which increase the risk of catastrophic fire loss (and potential loss of life).

[Editor's note: After asking him to pen his series of 10 Riversong's Random Reflections on our blog earlier this year, we asked Vermont builder Robert Riversong back to discuss fire safety... Read more