News

“You must learn from the mistakes of others. You can't possibly live long enough to make them all yourself.”

            –Sam Levenson

We need to talk about failure. Because the more we talk about it, the more successful we will be.

That’s the position of Henry Petroski, Ph.D., civil engineer, failure analyst,... Read more

As project delivery models have evolved and become more collaborative in support of high-performance design, the role of various project stakeholders has also evolved. But this process has generally left out code officials.

By engaging code officials early, project teams can ensure that their proposed design solutions will meet code... Read more

As climate change leads to higher temperatures, dense urban areas are particularly affected due to the urban heat-island (UHI) effect. And low-income neighborhoods like Gowanus, in South Brooklyn, New York, are especially vulnerable to the hazardous health impacts of UHI.

Now, as the city prepares to rezone the Gowanus neighborhood for... Read more

Design teams looking for low-emitting interior composite wood panels for LEED 2009 used to have it easy. If the wood panel met the California Air Resources Board (CARB) requirements for no added urea formaldehyde­ (NAUF) or no added formaldehyde (NAF), then it was good to go.

Not anymore. CARB no longer recognizes NAUF, opting instead... Read more

Why and how do buildings fail? In this quick video, Paula Melton and Peter Yost discuss what they learned in the process of writing their feature article “How Buildings Fail Their Users.” The article includes seven stories of building failure and lessons learned. Read the feature article.

Nearly twenty years ago, Suzanne Swift’s company, SpecSimple.com, faced a challenge.

The company sets up and maintains resource libraries for architectural and design firms. Ultimately the materials become outdated and need to be replaced.

Firms were accumulating boxes and boxes of design samples they wanted to get rid of,... Read more

The non-profit Green Building Initiative (GBI) has acquired the worldwide rights to Green Globes from JLL, a private real estate and investment management firm. JLL had originally acquired the rating system in 2008 as part of a larger acquisition of ECD Energy and Environment Canada. GBI had been the licensee for Green Globes in the United... Read more

When Jonathan Lash became president of Hampshire College, his environmental pedigree primed him to move the school closer to carbon neutrality.

He had served as a senior staff attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Secretary of Vermont’s Agency of Natural Resources, and president of the World Resources... Read more

Cape Town’s four million residents are expected to run out of water very soon.

By the end of January, the dams holding the city’s water supply were down to 26% of their capacity, and the government is warning that a “Day Zero”—when capacity drops below 13.5%—is increasingly likely in the coming months. At that point, the City would stop... Read more

Intended for design professionals, BuildingGreen provides an independent “living textbook” that integrates perfectly with green building courses while exposing students to the most cutting-... Read more

Intended for design professionals, BuildingGreen provides an independent “living textbook” that integrates perfectly with green building courses while exposing students to the most cutting-edge... Read more

Improving the thermal performance of an existing attic is often challenging: workers are faced with narrow cavities, low clearances, and cladding systems that make it hard to achieve desired R-values while still maintaining the necessary drying potential of the assembly. The house at 81 Chapin Street in Brattleboro, Vermont, is no exception.... Read more

New York City will soon require posting of energy use “grades” near building entrances.

The new law builds on an existing transparency regulation—a “benchmarking and disclosure” law passed in 2009 that applies to all privately owned buildings larger than 25,000 ft2 and to City-owned buildings larger than 10,000 ft2. The existing... Read more

BuildingGreen interviewed designers from several leading sustainable design firms to learn what sustainable design literacy means, what it looks like, and how the best firms are supporting increased knowledge—and action. The research resulted in our feature article Sustainable Design Literacy: A Foundation for Transformed Practice.... Read more

This year, California became the first state to adopt strict federal lighting efficiency standards that effectively ban the sale of incandescent bulbs. These standards are part of the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA), originally called the Clean Energy Act, that is due to go into effect nationwide in 2020. California adopted the... Read more

It’s 10 o’clock at night on September 20, 2017. Rain is seeping through the windows of architect Adriana Bultrón-Rodríguez’s third-floor apartment in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The building has just gotten its power back after Hurricane Irma.

But now, Hurricane Maria has come calling.

Bultrón-Rodríguez and her husband try to stay... Read more

As a trusted, independent information source for over 30 years, BuildingGreen carries no advertising in... Read more

“Think in terms of being evolutionary, not revolutionary,” says Mike Steffen, AIA, director of innovation at Walsh Construction. He’s learned that when it comes to building high-performance projects, the best strategy is to focus on fundamental principles rather than trying to reinvent the wheel.

This is one reason why the Passive House... Read more

The numbers don’t lie. To keep global warming at tolerable levels, the building industry has to change—radically and rapidly. That’s the message of a new report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The Global Status Report 2017 sounds a red alert: “near-zero-energy, zero-emissions buildings need to become the... Read more

Could moving to a new office help you sleep better? A quarter of the employees at the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) claim that better lighting during the day at their new workplace improved their sleep quality at night.

These findings and more are part of a new report from ASID about how office design affects indoor... Read more