Building Science
Parent
Building Science
Deep Dives
Get up to speed on complex topics. You can also earn CEUs and download PDF Spotlight Reports.
-
Build Green on a Budget: Lessons from Affordable Housing
Feature Article
Sustainability doesn’t have to cost more—and no one knows that better than affordable housing experts. But every project type can benefit from these 12 cost-reducing ideas that support people and the planet.
-
Build More or Build Green? Affordable Housing’s False Choice
Feature Article
The housing crisis is also a climate crisis and a social equity crisis. If we change our ways, we can address them all at once.
-
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.
-
IRA Tax Breaks May Reinforce Inequities, So We Need to Help
Feature Article
Four tax provisions could be used to include disadvantaged communities in the clean energy transition, but equity outcomes are unclear.
Quick Takes
Jump straight to the essentials with these short explanations of green building concepts.
-
Building Decarbonization: Learn the Lingo
Explainer
Building decarbonization 101 for architects, engineers, and sustainability consultants cutting emissions from building materials and operations.
-
Energy Performance: Learn the Lingo
Explainer
The AIA 2030 Commitment and many other programs require project teams to predict and report on energy use. Here are the key terms you’ll need to get the job done.
-
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.
-
What Does It Mean to “Use Water”?
Explainer
The difference between consumptive and non-consumptive water use is like night and day in the world of policy and regulation.
Product Guidance
Unbiased information from our product experts helps you separate green from greenwash.
-
New Recyclable LVT Replacement Is PVC Free—and Affordable
Product Review
EcoWorx Resilient flooring outperforms LVT on durability and sustainability, at a comparable price, claims Shaw Industries.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
In The News
We break news down to the essentials and provide expert analysis.
-
Talking COP’s Buildings Breakthrough with Lindsay Baker
News Analysis
The Buildings Breakthrough initiative offers a set of actions for the international building sector to collaborate on decarbonization and resilience
-
USGBC Certifies First LEED v5 O+M Projects
News Brief
USGBC announces the first three projects certified under the new LEED v5 Operations & Maintenance (O+M) rating system, still in beta testing.
-
EHDD Launches Spinoff of its Free Whole-Life Carbon Tool
News Brief
Free, whole-life carbon tool C.Scale spins off from EHDD as an independent public benefit corporation.
-
Industry Aligns on Federal Zero-Emissions-Building Definition
News Brief
The federal government finalized its definition of a “zero-emissions building” in June of this year, and now major industry groups have formally announced their intentions to align with it.
Perspective
Thought-provoking opinions from the most trusted minds in sustainability.
-
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.
-
Want to Love the Future? First, Figure Out What It Looks Like
Op-Ed
Bringing forth a habitable planet will require energy, ambition, and purpose. What will fuel this work? Not data and doomsaying—instead, imagination.
-
The Universal Low-Carbon Building Standard Avoids RECs and Unnecessary Complications
Op-Ed
RECs and carbon offsets lack credibility, and grid interactivity adds unnecessary complexity. That's why this standard leaves them out.
-
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.
Learning Resources
Syllabus supplements and CEU content, with automatic reporting for AIA and GBCI.
-
Build More or Build Green? Affordable Housing’s False Choice
Feature Article
The housing crisis is also a climate crisis and a social equity crisis. If we change our ways, we can address them all at once.
-
The BuildingGreen Guide to Thermal Insulation
Special Report
The BuildingGreen Guide to Thermal Insulation, Fourth Edition, provides detailed guidance on insulation products and practices, including environmental and health comparisons, and recommendations on what insulation to use and what to avoid.
-
Build Green on a Budget: Lessons from Affordable Housing
Spotlight Report
-
Affordable Housing or Green Housing? We Can Say Yes to Both
Webcast
Yes, available funding for building and rehabilitating affordable housing is inadequate—but that’s all the more reason to get this right when we get the chance.
Just For Fun
Something weird happens every April at BuildingGreen...
-
Experts Warn of “Literally Deadly” Hyperbolic Feedback Loop
April Fools
With headlines daily jumping the shark, scientists warn of dangers for Earth’s oceans and for humanity.
-
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.
-
Are Ground-Source Heat Pumps So Last Year?
April Fools
GSHPs have gone mainstream, thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, and the hippest AEC professionals are so over them.
-
Public Demonstrations Challenge Company’s Decarbonization Efforts
April Fools
Decarbonization is the new buzzword in sustainability, but efforts to lower one product’s embodied carbon are being challenged by an increasingly agitated public.
