BuildingGreen Report

Blog Post

October 11, 2011
It's easy to get bogged down in the details of one credit or another, but Greenbuild offered a refreshing look at the bigger picture. Scot Horst opened the LEED master session series with a dramatic production of the first scene of The Tempest. Here, Prospero and Miranda watch the storm and subsequent shipwreck. The play provided the narrative... Read more

Blog Post

October 6, 2011
Our Top-10 Products for 2012 look ahead, offering forward-thinking solutions you can put in place now.

Greenbuild is one of the highlights of the year as we scout out new, innovative products for GreenSpec and Environmental Building News, and every year we present the Top-10 Building Products as selected by our editorial team. This year we... Read more

Blog Post

October 6, 2011
Microsoft releases initial results from an energy management pilot project that uses the MS campus as a test bed. The Microsoft campus is serving as a test-bed facility for a "smarter buildings" pilot project that analyzes and interprets energy data for building managers and occupants.

I had the privilege Tuesday night to attend a dinner... Read more

Blog Post

October 4, 2011
A new Johnson Controls tool, called Panoptix, has tremendous promise. But will people see past the name?

Johnson Controls made a big announcement today about what many are viewing as a game-changer in the emerging "smart buildings" market. If I am understanding it correctly, their new tool, called Panoptix, is an cross-platform network... Read more

Blog Post

October 4, 2011
We were worried about finding the convention center, given a distinct lack of street signs, but it turns out you really can't miss it.

Well, it was a long drive--with a special stop at a test bed facility in Syracuse that I'm going to share with you in a few minutes--but the BuildingGreen team all made it to Toronto last night. We're awfully... Read more

Blog Post

October 4, 2011
Car trip! The BuildingGreen team drove to Toronto for Greenbuild, making a quick stop along the way to tour a new test bed facility in Syracuse. The Syracuse Center of Excellence is a unique test bed for indoor environmental quality. Photo: Alex Wilson

Greenbuild is still a little quiet, but BuildingGreen staff are already super busy.

... Read more

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Yes, they are suggesting that we should purposefully eat insects as food, and that there are good ethical, environmental, nutritional, and culinary reasons for doing so.

October 3, 2011

The Large Blue Butterfly, found in Europe, lays its eggs on a marsh gentian leaf. Its larva (a caterpillar) hatches and falls to the ground and emits a scent that smells to certain species of ant just like its own larvae. The ants carry the caterpillar back to their nest, where they not only care for it as one of their own, but as one... Read more

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The "grid" part of the equation is the network that conveys electricity from plants to consumers and the "smart" part means computerizing the electric utility grid.

September 27, 2011

I had the honor of being within a few feet of a barn owl this weekend at the wildlife festival at the Southern Vermont Natural History Museum. Kept alive after being injured years ago and now a frequent visitor to classrooms and museums, this bird of prey was perched on the arm of a handler, who wore thick falconry gloves.

... Read more

Blog Post

September 26, 2011
Green building is about more than saving money, but policymakers are embracing the business case for LEED and other rating systems--with sometimes confusing results. A school bike rack is standard, but it doesn't help anyone if the bike rack stays empty. Schools, like all buildings, need to find ways to bridge the gap between design features and... Read more

Blog Post

September 23, 2011
GE's 9-watt Energy Smart LED bulb is the first Energy Star-rated replacement for 40-watt incandescent bulbs and provides an omnidirectional light that is similar to incandescents. Photo: GE Lighting I recently visited GE's Nela Park site and its Lighting & Electrical Institute, where I got a tour and a sneak preview of cutting-edge... Read more

Blog Post

September 23, 2011
Watching our sweet little brook turn into a raging river during Hurricane Irene was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. An NRDC report tries to re-create this experience for others--before it's too late. Not in your back yard? With global warming, you don't have a choice in the matter. There's nothing like seeing your kids' tire... Read more

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September 22, 2011
I've got my passport, my schedule, and a map of the expo floor. Just need to grab my coffee mug and my running shoes. Peter Yost, residential program manager (read: building science genius) at BuildingGreen, will be moderating the Affordable Housing Summit at Greenbuild. If you're not going to that, you might just catch a rare sighting in our... Read more

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Research concludes that although the burning of natural gas emits far less carbon dioxide than coal, a greater reliance on natural gas would fail to significantly slow down climate change.

September 20, 2011
Shifting from coal to natural gas would have limited impacts on climate, new research indicates. If methane leaks from natural gas operations could be kept to 2.5% or less, the increase in global temperatures would be reduced by about 0.1 degree Celsius by 2100. The reduction in global temperatures would be more minor with higher methane leakage... Read more

Blog Post

September 14, 2011
This Cypress Envirosystems' Wireless Pneumatic Thermostat replaced the old thermostat (lower left) allowing remote control and monitoring of building temperatures at a fraction of the cost of direct digital controls. Photo: Cypress Envirosystems Replacing manual thermostats in commercial buildings with digital controls is usually expensive and... Read more

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Taking a look at the environmental effects of wind turbines

September 13, 2011

Correction: The author has posted a comment (see below) clarifying the likely width of the ridgeline road associated with this project.

One of my favorite pieces of Vermont trivia has been that the tallest manmade structure in the state is the Bennington Battle Monument, at 306 feet tall--and construction of it was completed in... Read more

Blog Post

September 12, 2011
We waste almost as much food in the U.S. every day as we should be eating--about 1,400 calories per person. Wasting less is best, but if we really can't eat it, where should we put it? Lunches like these are typical in American schools. Nothing good is likely come of the disposable tray, but large amounts of food waste from cafeterias,... Read more

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September 8, 2011
Projects are having trouble with performance of low-VOC finishes on gym floors, but there are ways to avoid problems. Bona SuperSport water-based sealer is applied to a gym floor. Credit: Jason Thomas Flooring

Wood athletic floors, while unparalleled for all types of play, are typically finished with solvent-based polyurethane coatings that... Read more

Blog Post

September 7, 2011

BuildingGreen is pleased to announce the launch of the 2030 Challenge for Products Information Hub. Launched by Architecture 2030 in February 2011, the 2030 Challenge for Products is a call to action to reduce not only the operational energy of buildings but also the embodied energy of the products that go into them. While operational... Read more

Blog Post

September 6, 2011

We grumbled when GBCI overhauled the LEED AP program, introducing specialities, fees, and difficult-to-navigate credential maintenance. Is this the silver lining?

Today and at Greenbuild Toronto we stand and applaud the first class of LEED AP Fellows--the top tier of the LEED Accredited Professionals. Today, GBCI announced the... Read more

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Adapting to climate change will require making our buildings more resilient to storms and flooding.

September 6, 2011

A lot can change in two hours. At 8 a.m. Sunday, I walked the length of our half-mile driveway here in southern Vermont, checking the culverts and water bars, all fortified and cleared the day before. All good. The brook next to our driveway was raging, but staying within its banks. The Green River was doing the same across the town... Read more