Championing the
Changemakers

Manufacturers are improving photovoltaic (PV) module efficiency and bringing down costs, but the most efficient PV systems today use silicon crystal technology that is decades old. At the same time, thin-film technologies offer a cost-competitive solution with some advantages but with lower efficiency. With the hundreds of... Read more

The global recession caused a dip in energy-related carbon emissions in 2009, but IEA reports that infrastructure... Read more

Water moves in, on, and through buildings in four ways, which we’ll discuss in order of the quantities involved; this order helps us set water management priorities.

1. Bulk water—rain, runoff, and other flows—is driven primarily by gravity but also by wind and pressure differences. Bulk water on the exterior of a building is managed by... Read more

Multifamily buildings are inherently green, thanks to the way they support denser, transit-friendly communities. No one makes that point more strongly than developer Jonathan Rose, who refuses to build anything on a site that wasn’t previously developed. But, Rose argues, that’s not enough. “Climate issues, biodiversity issues, energy... Read more

I am going to go out on a limb here, but I would bet that sometime in the last 24 hours you have received a marketing message centered around how "green," how "environmentally friendly," or (if it's really serious), how "sustainable... Read more

[Editor's note: Robert Riversong, a Vermont builder, continues his 10-part series of articles taking design... Read more

Environmental features can add considerable value to a building. But in real estate, a higher perceived value often fails to translate into a higher appraised value, complicating financial transactions and limiting incentives for owners to invest in green. The Appraisal Institute (AI), the most prominent U.S. membership organization of... Read more

I hate shopping. I'll do the grocery shopping, but when it comes to new appliances, home improvement, clothes--really anything else--I tell the shopper in the household what it is we need and he then spends the hours wading through specs, Consumer Reports,... Read more

In its newly released Pilot Credit 43, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has created a new incentive for product manufacturers to obtain third-party certification of their... Read more

The impending release of the ISO 50001 energy management standard from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has kept financial experts, global energy and carbon trackers, and executives at major... Read more

In its long-delayed 12th Report on Carcinogens, the National Toxicology Program (NTP) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has finally classified formaldehyde as a known human carcinogen. The... Read more

Competing standards for building product emissions represent one of the most confusing areas in green product certifications, and relief may not be on the way. A highly anticipated effort faces questions following a joint June 3, 2011 announcement from NSF International and Greenguard Environmental Institute (GEI) that the two would... Read more

What do you do when a green product doesn't live up to expectations? Here at BuildingGreen, we really want to see green building products succeed in the marketplace, and make it easy for professionals to find the best of the best.

But when we see something substandard, we feel it's important to point it out. To win the... Read more

Showers use up a lot of water, accounting for about 17% of all indoor residential water use, and old, inefficient... Read more

[Editor's note: Robert... Read more

As I've said before, windows are a silent but very high-tech part of our buildings. The advances in glazing in the last 30 years have been phenomenal. Will windows keep getting better and better with no end in sight?

In recent years, an increasing number of window manufacturers have been combining and refining the features... Read more

In a recent webcast on green building product certifications, I gave a counterintuitive example of greenwashing: a "recycled steel cabinet." Based on the number of questions I got about this, I... Read more

Current Intelligence Bulletin from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), titled “Occupational Exposure to Titanium Dioxide,” highlights the new health concerns for titanium dioxide (TiO2). NIOSH now recommends reducing exposure to as little as possible, below the... Read more

The U.S. General Services Administration’s (GSA) Green Proving Ground program plans to test 16 “emerging sustainable building technologies and practices” in some federal buildings. The program aims to transform sustainable technology markets by replicating successful technologies on other GSA buildings. In a press release,... Read more