Championing the
Changemakers

I've been following the evolution of Southwall Technologies for years--well, decades. The company invented the low-emissivity coating in the 1970s,... Read more

Southwall Technologies, the producer of Heat Mirror low-emissivity (low-e) suspended film for windows, and Dow Corning, the leading producer of silicone sealants, announced on November 9, 2010 the availability of a new glazing system that will enable Heat Mirror to be used with structural sealant glazing systems used in large... Read more

Number 2 on my list of the top-10 green building priorities is to reduce water use.

Reducing water consumption should be a high priority not only in the parched Southwest but throughout the country. Some... Read more

Changes made to the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) will increase the predicted energy efficiency of homes and commercial buildings by 30% over ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2004. Members of the International Code Council (ICC) approved the changes nearly unanimously in October 2010; they will be available for jurisdictions to adopt in... Read more

A statement published online by Environmental Health Perspectives

and signed by 145 scientists worldwide argues that we should stop using brominated and chlorinated flame retardants (BFRs and CFRs, respectively), which the scientists consider to be persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic. The San Antonio Statement, as the piece is called... Read more

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has launched a new Center for Green Schools, headquartered at its offices in Washington, D.C., to further its efforts to give access to green schools to all students within a generation. At the heart of the plans for the new center is the Center for Green Schools Fellow Program, which will fund and staff... Read more

Dutch economist Nils Kok has published the most comprehensive statistical analysis to date on the relative value of green and conventional buildings. The results show that U.S. buildings labeled under the LEED or Energy Star programs charge 3% higher rent, have greater occupancy rates, and sell for 13% more than comparable properties... Read more

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has released a draft of the next version of the LEED rating systems, and has opened the first public comment period for that draft. The comment period will run from Nov. 8,... Read more

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has released a draft of the next version of the LEED rating systems, and has opened the first public comment period for that draft. The comment period will run from Nov. 8, 2010, to Jan. 14, 2011 (lengthened from the original period which was set to end Dec. 31). According to USGBC's website, a... Read more

Number 3 on my list of the top-10 green building priorities is to ensure that the houses we build or renovate are healthy.

A green home should be a healthy home... Read more

If there is one thing the office tower and trading center at One Bryant Park teaches us it is that energy metrics are complicated, and no one number can tell the full story. This sleek tower, with the Bank of America as its primary tenant, is not a low-energy building by any definition. To some extent, that’s a function of its program: it... Read more

By Beth Broome

Though their congregation was founded in 1890 and is steeped in tradition, at heart, the Sisters of St. Joseph are a group of thoroughly modern women. That sensibility is reflected in their new motherhouse in Peterborough, Ontario, designed by Toronto-based Teeple Architects.

In the early years, the Sisters of St... Read more

The German company Arnold Glas produces glazing with UV-reflective striping that is highly visible to birds yet nearly invisible to humans.

We've written in... Read more

A new kind of solar cell, inspired by the process of photosynthesis in plants, has been developed by scientists at North Carolina State University. Hyung-Jun Koo, Orlin Velev, and others have impregnated a water-based gel with photosensitive molecules that produce electricity when exposed to sunlight. The gel is enclosed within two electrodes... Read more

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has proposed a more stringent energy standard for residential refrigerators. The standard would result in a 20%–25% energy use reduction in most refrigerator-freezers by 2014. The common refrigerator model with the freezer on top would see a reduction in use of about 500 kilowatt hours per year from that of a... Read more

According to a new Northeastern University study, titanium dioxide nanoparticles (nTiO2) can disrupt photosynthetic organisms vital to aquatic ecosystems. Long used in paints, coatings, cement, and tile to create bright white coloring, titanium dioxide is now used in nanoparticle form in cosmetics, sunscreens, food coloring, and even building... Read more