Sustainable Materials
Parent
Sustainable Materials
Deep Dives
Get up to speed on complex topics. You can also earn CEUs and download PDF Spotlight Reports.
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What’s an HPD? Health Product Declaration FAQs
Feature Short
We answer frequently asked questions on HPDs, which allow manufacturers to disclose product ingredients and hazards.
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Wood: Is It Still Good? Part Two: Moving from Carbon to Climate
Feature Article
Mass timber at scale could make climate change worse. Instead of embodied carbon alone, “climate-smart” practices focus on our increasingly fragile forests.
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AEC Was Left Out of a Key Decarbonization Pilot. What’s Next?
Feature Article
Science-based targets for the building sector no longer apply to design firms and most construction companies, but experts say AEC must continue leading the industry toward net zero.
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Wood: Is It Still Good? Part One: Embodied Carbon
Feature Article
The idea that wood is inherently carbon neutral has masked negative impacts. The climate stakes are too high for us to keep buying those claims.
Quick Takes
Jump straight to the essentials with these short explanations of green building concepts.
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Building Decarbonization: How LCA and EPDs Fit in
Explainer
Life-cycle assessment and environmental product declarations reveal embodied carbon and other impacts, but it’s important to know their limits.
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Understanding Emission Scopes in the GHG Protocol
Explainer
The GHG Protocol’s three emission scopes acknowledge the complexities of supply and demand while also encouraging sector-wide alignment, consistent transparency, and support for science-based decarbonization targets.
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Neutralizing the Downsides of Concrete
Explainer
Concrete is a durable and necessary building material, but its carbon footprint is huge. Here’s a rundown of concrete’s tradeoffs and some solutions.
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EPD Quick-Start Guide: 5 Easy Steps
Infographic
Use these tips to get what you need from an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), fast.
Product Guidance
Unbiased information from our product experts helps you separate green from greenwash.
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On-demand Water Heat Goes All Electric with Heat Pumps, CO₂
Product Review
Intellihot electrifies commercial water heating using heat pumps, CO2 refrigerant, thermal batteries, and no need for water storage.
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BuildingGreen Announces Top 10 Products for 2024
Product Review
BuildingGreen’s Top 10 industry-transforming products this year include innovative heat-pump energy storage, electric construction equipment, PFAS-free textiles, healthier lighting, PV circularity, and more.
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New Products from Greenbuild 2023: Part Two
Product Review
In part two of our Greenbuild expo product roundup, I’m covering CO2 heat pumps, a ground-source system heat pump system, agricultural fiber panels, construction equipment wash systems, and more.
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New Products from Greenbuild 2023: Part One
Product Review
The Greenbuild expo floor had quite a few new products, an exciting change post-pandemic. In fact, there were too many for one article. In part one we’re covering IAQ and low-carbon concrete. Stay tuned for part two!
In The News
We break news down to the essentials and provide expert analysis.
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3 First Steps to Break the Chains of Slavery in the Supply Chain
News Analysis
Forced labor is embedded in many common building materials. The building industry can’t solve this alone, but we can ask the right questions.
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Amid a Silicosis Surge, We Need to Rethink Countertops
News Analysis
Engineered stone countertops may be causing a spike in silicosis, with cases seemingly tied to the material’s unique properties. Find out what design and construction teams should do.
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Can “Works with WELL” Make Product Selection Easier?
News Analysis
The International WELL Building Institute has launched a new program to help users find building products and systems that align with WELL feature requirements.
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IRA to Fund the Creation of EPDs, but Note the January Deadline
News Brief
A new IRA grant program will provide $100 million to help U.S. manufacturers create EPDs used to track greenhouse gas emissions, but the timeline for applications is January 16, 2024.
Perspective
Thought-provoking opinions from the most trusted minds in sustainability.
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COP28: Noise and Progress
Op-Ed
The COP28 politics and protests were crucial, but behind the scenes, it was all about good-faith collaboration, community, and commitments.
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The Universal Low-Carbon Building Standard’s Path to Adoption
Op-Ed
To decarbonize the building sector, we need to align our efforts. Let’s get to it.
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The Universal Low-Carbon Building Standard Does Six Things
Op-Ed
Here’s how we’re going to deconstruct “net zero” and rebuild it as a comprehensive standard that applies to every building.
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This is the Universal Low-Carbon Building Standard We Need
Op-Ed
The building industry’s current net-zero-energy and net-zero-carbon standards got complicated for a reason, but they don’t have to stay that way.
Learning Resources
Syllabus supplements and CEU content, with automatic reporting for AIA and GBCI.
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The BuildingGreen Guide to Building Product Certifications and Ecolabels- Discounted
Special Report
This BuildingGreen publication provides a no-nonsense guide to the world of green building product certifications to help designers, purchasers, manufacturers, and others in the industry to focus on what is significant and relevant so that market forces can work and the industry can focus on bigger issues.
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Wood: Is It Still Good? Part Two: Moving from Carbon to Climate
Spotlight Report
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The BuildingGreen Guide to Building Product Certifications and Ecolabels
Special Report
This BuildingGreen publication provides a no-nonsense guide to the world of green building product certifications to help designers, purchasers, manufacturers, and others in the industry to focus on what is significant and relevant so that market forces can work and the industry can focus on bigger issues.
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Keeping PFAS Forever Chemicals out of Building Products
Feature Article
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been linked to negative health and environmental impacts. Getting them out of our building products is going to require work.
Just For Fun
Something weird happens every April at BuildingGreen...
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Time to Desert the Island
April Fools
A mass timber controversy compels BuildingGreen to bid a regretful farewell to its hippest and most popular event venue.
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OK COVID, It’s HAMMER Time!
April Fools
COVID has upended our lives, homes, and offices. It’s time to fight back with HAMMER brand biocidal antifungal nonviral germicidal disinfectant antimicrobial therapeutic (BANGDAT) sprays, coatings, and composites.
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Reclaimed Building Materials in the Age of COVID
April Fools
Using reclaimed building materials is a great way to save resources and lower the embodied carbon of a building, but obtaining these materials in the age of COVID has created a new set of legal and ethical challenges.
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A Concrete Phoenix Rises: Meet the Brutalist Tiny House
April Fools
Two great movements—from the past and present—come together in a towable 45,000 lb. package
