Championing the
Changemakers

Fear of Agenda 21 fuels a bill to ban sustainability planning in the state of Kansas The Konza Prairie in northeastern Kansas.Photo Credit: Bill Johnson

I love many things about Kansas—from the tall-grass prairies in the Flint Hills where I’ve hiked through rolling hills overlooking grazing bison to the dramatic... Read more

Climbing the learning curve in working with a new insulation material Sliding a slab of precisely cut cork insulation against a door jamb. Click to enlarge.Photo Credit: Alex Wilson

What do you do if you’re a builder and your client (that would be me) hands you a material that no one’s ever heard of, let alone... Read more

Among the innovative—some might say weird—products we’re trying out at our Dummerston, Vermont farmhouse, none is more unusual than the expanded cork insulation we’re currently installing as a layer of exterior rigid insulation. As I mentioned in a blog last summer, cork insulation has a great story behind it.

Cork? You’ve... Read more

Building complex window surrounds for a deep-energy retrofit Insulated, splayed window surrounds that will frame the exterior wall insulation. The Pro Clima housewrap on the window surrounds will be taped to the wall housewrap after insulating. Click to enlarge.Photo Credit: Alex Wilson

A few weeks ago I reported on... Read more

A definitive guide to how the federal government builds green—and why its leadership matters.

This post is the second in a series on the federal government’s use of green building certifications. Coming soon: The Hidden Beltway Lobbyists Who Shape Green Building Policy.

 The U.S. Treasury Building, completed in 1869, is the oldest building... Read more

Bruce Brownell's impressive track record with foam-insulated low-energy homes Bruce Brownell has been building low-energy passive solar homes for four decades.Photo Credit: Adirondack Alternate Energy

Bruce Brownell, of Adirondack Alternate Energy, has been creating low-energy, largely passive-solar-heated, resilient... Read more

As DoD rethinks its green building needs, a recommendation to keep using LEED is just the tip of the iceberg.

This post is the first in a series on the federal government’s use of green building certifications. Part 2: Sustainable Federal Buildings: What's the Law?

This shows the first few megabytes of the Unified Facilities Criteria... Read more

A gradual shift in the supply-and-demand balance for natural gas and increasing shipments of LNG will bring the prices back up, while the risks of fracking continue to be debated Gas well in the shale country of Pennsylvania. Click to enlarge.Photo Credit: Philly Workers Voice

In many parts of the country and for many... Read more

Large fines levied on companies making deceptive claims about R-values Exaggerated claims, like this one for SUPER THERM, claiming R-19 for a coating of paint, are getting the attention of the Federal Trade Commission. Click to enlarge.Photo Credit: Superior Products International.

Most of us want to do the right... Read more

In a long-awaited cost report, the National Research Council recommends LEED Silver or its equivalent as the preferred green building standard for the military.
This BBL-designed Air Force Reserve center at camp Withycombe was certified LEED Gold in September 2011, just weeks before the congressional ban on LEED spending took effect.Photo... Read more

Why larger wind development projects make sense Two 2.5 MW wind turbines in the Sheffield, Vermont wind project. Click to enlarge.Photo Credit: Martin Holladay

Last week I wrote about the challenges of small wind turbines and the difficulty of successfully integrating wind power into buildings. This week, I’ll look at... Read more

I'm a huge fan of wind power, but we should recognize that some applications of wind don't make sense Aerovironment wind turbines on the Boston Museum of Science. Performance has been poor and Aerovironment has discontinued the product. Click to enlarge. 

Photo Credit: David Rabkin, Boston Museum of Science

... Read more

Rather than releasing its final report on LEED and other rating systems, the agency posts recommendations and asks for more feedback. A victory for lobbyists? It should be easier to pitch the industry status quo to individual federal agencies that don't specialize in buildings.

Want to have a say in whether federal agencies keep using LEED?... Read more

Living Machines and other types of constructed wetlands are beautiful, but they’re not ideal for every client. Onsite wastewater treatment might make sense for your next project, though, depending on factors like the site, the local infrastructure, and the owner’s mission.

Here’s a quick guide to figuring out when and where... Read more

Top-performing quad-glazed windows from Alpen installed with three low-e coatings and krypton gas fill R-12 windows from Alpen with three low-e coatings and krypton gas-fill. Click to enlarge.Photo Credit: Alex Wilson

Having written about windows and emerging window technologies for longer than I care to admit (since... Read more

My struggle to find reasonably energy-efficient exterior doors for our new house The wood-like fiberglass door we found for our farmhouse. Click to enlarge.Photo Credit: Alex Wilson

Despite the chilly (seasonable) weather, work is progressing on the renovation/rebuild of our house in Dummerston. Last week, the three... Read more

With an unusual keynote and tracks on resilience, systemic thinking, and cutting-edge pro tips, you’ll be lucky to catch BE13.

Photo Credit: NESEA.org screen capture

It’s always fun and educational to connect with friends and colleagues from afar at Greenbuild, AIA Convention, and the Living Futures “Unconference,” but the... Read more

Stop procrastinating! Submissions for the 2013 COTE Top Ten Awards close on January 25. The Woods Hole Research Center and many others have set a high bar for AIA COTE Top Ten awards. Does your project have what it takes?Photo Credit: McDonough+Partners

Woods Hole Research Center. Sidwell Friends School. Vancouver Convention Center.... Read more

Ease off on the gas — and other behavioral changes to reduce energy for transportation A no-idling sign in my home town to remind residents not to idle their cars.Photo Credit: Stan Howe

Before the holidays I wrote a blog on how to save energy in the home by changing our behavior. This week we’ll take a look at some... Read more

A proposed change to the residential building code (International Residential Code) would eliminate the need for halogenated flame retardants in many applications For this Passive House in New York's Hudson River Valley, 12 inches of XPS were installed beneath the concrete slab. With proposed changes to the IRC, subslab insulation wouldn't need... Read more