Site Assessment & Design
Whether or not a design team has a say in siting a project, carefully assessing the site should be on every project’s to-do list. A site assessment early in design can reduce costs, allay potential risks, support the health and well-being of occupants and native habitat, and promote other unique site features.
And site design goes hand in hand with building design, as the building interacts with the site when it comes to daylight, rainwater management, views and biophilia, and other building features.
Site Assessment & Design
Deep Dives
Get up to speed on complex topics. You can also earn CEUs and download PDF Spotlight Reports.
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Alternative Water Sources: Supply-Side Solutions for Green Buildings
Feature Article
Water efficiency should be a top priority for our buildings. At the same time, finding alternative sources of water is also important for sustainability and passive survivability. Several sources of water can be harvested at the building level as well as through municipal-scale wastewater treatment and desalination.
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Growing Food Locally: Integrating Agriculture Into the Built Environment
Feature Article
With a little ingenuity, the flat roofs and vacant lots of urban centers can be used effectively for food production. Numerous models can bring building-integrated food production to your project, while making our food supply chain more sustainable.
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Are Cool Roofs Green? The Answer’s Not Black and White
Feature Article
Roofing choices are complicated by heating tradeoffs, climate effects, and condensation, but proponents say reflective roofs still make sense in most climates.
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Pest Prevention: Steps Designers Can Take
Feature Article
Integrated pest management (IPM) design strategies can reduce structural damage and unsanitary conditions, and improve our community’s health.
Quick Takes
Jump straight to the essentials with these short explanations of green building concepts.
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Porous Paving
Explainer
Pavement that allows infiltration of stormwater comes in a variety of types, and offers many environmental and even cost benefits.
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Combined Sewer Overflow
Explainer
Combined sewer overflows (CSOs) occur in municipalities with older wastewater systems that carry both sanitary wastewater and stormwater; eliminating CSOs involves investment in wastewater infrastructure and reducing stormwater flows.
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Sharing the Skyline with Birds
Explainer
Buildings are major killers of birds, but thoughtful design can help.
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Putting a “LID” on Harmful Stormwater Runoff
Explainer
Low-impact development (LID) minimizes pavement and maximizes rainwater infiltration, filtering out pollution and preventing erosion.
Product Guidance
Unbiased information from our product experts helps you separate green from greenwash.
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Capturing Concrete Washout Pollutants
Product Review
Atlantic Concrete Washout uses portable, sealed containers and specially designed trucks to collect and dispose of waste products left over after washing down concrete equipment at construction sites.
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Silva Cell Facilitates Urban Tree Growth
Product Review
The Silva Cell provides a framework that supports streetscapes and paved surfaces and encloses uncompacted subsurface soil so it can be used for tree-root growth or stormwater mitigation.
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Geopier's Low-Impact Foundation Support for Poor Soils
Product Review
The rammed aggregate pier (RAP) system uses compressed aggregate in a series of shafts to support foundations in poor soil, saving materials and trucking.
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Porous Plus: Eco-Tek Pavers Include Regional Slag
Product Review
Eco-Tek porous pavers offer recycled and regional content in addition to stormwater management.
In The News
We break news down to the essentials and provide expert analysis.
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California Builders Pay for Degrading Air Quality
News Analysis
California's Central Valley, contender for the nation's worst air quality, will require builders to reduce the smog and particulate matter their projects cause, or pay into offsite air-quality improvement programs.
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Governments See New Accounting Rules for Brownfields
News Analysis
A new rule announced by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) will codify the responsibility of local and state governments to disclose their financial liabilities associated with polluted properties.
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British Columbia Insurers Question Green Roofs
News Analysis
Some British Columbia insurers are balking at projects with green roofs, but dialogue about their benefits is helping some projects.
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New Standard Puts Air Barriers to the Test
News Analysis
To test the performance of air barriers in real-world conditions, a new ASTM standard uses an eight-foot-square mockup of an exterior wall.
Perspective
Thought-provoking opinions from the most trusted minds in sustainability.
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Integrate Food Production and Green Building
Op-Ed
Adding local food production to the goals of green building makes sense for the environment and human health.
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Water Tables and Basements
Blog Post
How to use geological, soil, and historical maps to keep your basement dry
Learning Resources
Syllabus supplements and CEU content, with automatic reporting for AIA and GBCI.
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Native Landscaping for Biodiversity
Feature Article
Removal of invasive plants and support of native plantings are critically important for maintaining healthy ecosystems.
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Native Landscaping for Biodiversity
Spotlight Report
It may take hundreds or thousands of years to return to pre-industrial-age levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, but the loss of animal and plant species that is occurring today is, practically speaking, irreversible.
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On-demand Webinar- Rainwater Management and LEED: Strategies to Protect Ecosystems and Communities
Webcast
In this webinar, we will review the LEED v4 and v4.1 BD+C Rainwater Management credits and discuss how real project teams are approaching and implementing successful management strategies.
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Build Green on a Budget: Lessons from Affordable Housing
Spotlight Report
Just For Fun
Something weird happens every April at BuildingGreen...
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Trump Presidential Library to Feature Golf, Gambling
April Fools
The Trump Presidential Library will break with staid traditions and offer some unusual amenities.
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Houston Becomes “Bike City USA”
April Fools
Building on Texas’s reputation for environmentalism, which stems from its clean grid, Houston is aiming to rival Amsterdam and become a worldwide leader in urban bicycle commuting.
