Championing the
Changemakers

Author name:  Tristan Roberts Blog Category:  GreenSpec Insights

Windows are a big investment, and while they may look great on paper, how well do they hold up once installed? Do they meet your performance... Read more

Silent Spring, published 50 years ago, helped to launch the modern environment movement and inspired my career direction. Click on image to enlarge. From early interest in conservation in the late-60s and being an Earth Day organizer in 1970, to my work with solar energy in New Mexico and then Vermont, I've followed a green career path.

With... Read more

“These projects really demonstrate that you don’t need a client with bottomless pockets or a purely pedagogical mission related to sustainability,” wrote one juror. Another juror emphasized the enduring importance of buildings that inspire people and connect neighborhoods: “It is the true measure of sustainability—the fact that a... Read more

High-VOC content is still the norm in clear wood finishes, but depending on the application you can minimize exposure and maximize durability. Clear finishes help bring out the natural beauty of the wood, while protecting it from aging and the elements. Photo: Vermont Natural Coatings

Clear finishes can help protect woodwork against aging,... Read more

One might think that an unfinished wood floor is devoid of synthetic chemicals. It sure looks that way--but toxic preservatives may lie in plain sight.

Moist lumber is susceptible to fungal staining. This staining does not cause physical decay, but it looks bad. Commonly called "blue stain," the offending fungi may be yellow, orange,... Read more

Here's the same space with the SageGlass roof in the tinted state. Photo: Sage Electrochromics. Click on image to enlarge. This atrium space at Ball State University has SageGlass in the glazed roof--shown here in its clear state. Photo: Sage Electrochromics. Click on image to enlarge. The latest dynamic glazing from Sage Electrochromics allows... Read more

National Architecture Week is gone but not forgotten. Our readers have immortalized the occasion in green building poetry. I wonder if all that detail work has paid for itself yet.... Photo from Friar's Balsam on Flickr.

Last week we collected poetic responses to the convergence of National Poetry Month and National Architecture Week,... Read more

Free LEEDuser Webcast Thurs. April 26, 2012 | 3 p.m. EDT

As we've seen from the LEED 2012 drafts and public comment periods, major changes are underway for the LEED rating systems. So many changes resulted from the 3rd public comment period, in fact, that USGBC announced a 4th public comment period, to run May 1–15.

At the... Read more

We need to create buildings and communities that are more resilient to natural disasters and other shocks. These building products can help. Damaged by Hurricane Ike in 2008, this 19th-century house in Galveston, Texas, was moved, elevated, and renovated to LEED Platinum standards. In addition to insulation, solar panels, and rainwater cisterns... Read more

[Editor's note: Today's guest post is authored by Bill Walsh, Executive Director of the Healthy Building Network.]

When building products carry different green certifications, how do you know which product is best? Maybe there is a way to compare apples and oranges.

As green certifications and labels have proliferated, so has greenwash... Read more

Warm-edge glazing spacers play a significant role in creating the highest-energy-performance windows. Edgetech makes the Super Spacer silicone foam glazing spacer, which is the most effective spacer for slowing heat loss. Graphic: Edgetech. Click on image to enlarge.

Over the last three weeks I've focused on the major strategies for improving... Read more

What do you get when you cross National Poetry Month with National Architecture Week? We'll find out when you enter the first-ever BuildingGreen Haiku Contest! Submit by Tuesday, April 10. You don't have to make one of these cute "haiku huts" to enter, but if you want to build one, click the photo to find the instructions on the Storyboard Toys... Read more

A state-of-the-art, multiple-low-e-coating Serious Window with xenon gas fill being installed at the Rocky Mountain Institute. Photo: Rocky Mountain Institute. Click on image to enlarge. An in-depth look at the fascinating world of low-conductivity gas-fill for high-performance windows. Over the last two weeks I've covered the major strategies... Read more

The incandescent ban is here, but LEDs have improved rapidly in the last couple of years and there are now several bulbs that meet Energy Star criteria. Toshiba's A19 450-lumen LED bulb is the equivalent of a 40-watt incandescent bulb yet only consumes 8.4 watts.

We've been hearing for years that "they're going to ban the incandescent bulb... Read more

Thanks to LEED and other standards, everyone's doing daylighting now--but not everyone is getting it right. Here's how it goes wrong--and how to do it right. The Seattle Central Library has been lauded for its daylighting features, but many library patrons and staff have trouble with overheating and glare at workstations like these. Photo: Nadav... Read more

After a long and arduous democratic process, the 2012 version of the IgCC is finished. Learn what it's all about and what it means for LEED and other voluntary rating systems.

How do you build a green building? Let me count the ways.

We've got ASHRAE 189.1, a large and growing handful of LEED rating systems, the Living Building... Read more

Yes, the Department of Defense is using ASHRAE 189.1 and other guidelines--but a code is not the same as a rating system, says an Army spokesperson.

Blogger Chris Cheatham of the Green Building Law Update raised alarms about LEED's future earlier this week with this eye-popping headline: "Army Abandons LEED Certification." Citing... Read more

The program focuses on issues of water quality (sediment and pollutants) and water quantity (increase in peak flows from removal of plants and soil). Salmon-Safe assesses company policy affecting water quality, such as stormwater pollution prevention plans, and conducts jobsite inspections. Onsite, for example, contractors are expected to... Read more

From guerilla gardening to commando crosswalk painting, a new breed of urbanists is using illicit means to create livable communities. Tactical urbanism in action: guerrilla crosswalk painting. Photo: credit Street Plans

It's 3 a.m., and the city street is finally quiet. In the shadows under a defunct streetlight, three twenty-somethings in... Read more

What do you do about a substance that is a biologically necessary trace nutrient, long considered nontoxic, and in a multitude of products--but that is also now listed on a major European Union chemical hazard list due to evidence that it is toxic for reproduction?

It's one of those riddles that I can imagine toxicologists love to play... Read more