Codes & Certifications
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Codes & Certifications
Deep Dives
Get up to speed on complex topics. You can also earn CEUs and download PDF Spotlight Reports.
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Wood Certifications: How FSC, PEFC, and SFI Compare
Feature Article
Do wood certifications from FSC, PEFC, and SFI do what they claim? We analyzed forestry standards to find the most reliable markers of responsible sourcing.
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The Promise of Biobased Materials—and How to Use Them Now
Feature Article
There is a lot of hype about carbon storage and other benefits of natural materials, but their potential is real. Read about those that are ready for prime time—and the ones we hope will take off next.
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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.
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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.
Quick Takes
Jump straight to the essentials with these short explanations of green building concepts.
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Circular Economy: Better Design from Start to … Start
Explainer
“Circularity” is about more than just recycling. It means building and buying things only when necessary—and without wasting anything.
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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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Demystifying Climate Change Lingo: From Scope 3 to SSP
Explainer
Climate change is complicated, and the terminology can also be hard to decipher. Here’s a short glossary of a few relevant terms.
Product Guidance
Unbiased information from our product experts helps you separate green from greenwash.
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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.
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BuildingGreen’s Guide to Products for LEED Projects
Product Guide
The products in the collections listed here contribute to the requirements of key LEED credits.
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A Standard for Managing Outdoor Lighting’s Negative Impacts
Product Review
Design Lights Consortium’s LUNA Standard balances verified energy efficiency and performance data with environmental concerns to help design teams select application-specific lighting.
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Fiberglass, XPS, Cork? Insulation Options for LEED v4 and Living Buildings
Product Review
Choosing insulation with an eye to points in LEED v4 or Living Building Challenge compliance? Here’s how insulation materials compare.
In The News
We break news down to the essentials and provide expert analysis.
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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
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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.
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USGBC Launches Program for Real Estate Portfolios
News Brief
Building on its 2023 Portfolio Accelerator program, USGBC created a program to formally verify portfolio-wide progress toward sustainability goals.
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C2C Launches a New, More Accessible Circularity Certificate
News Brief
With its Certified Circularity Standard, Cradle to Cradle hopes to expand the reach of its product circularity efforts.
Perspective
Thought-provoking opinions from the most trusted minds in sustainability.
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SFI Takes Issue with Recent Wood Certification Report
Op-Ed
In a letter to the editor, the Sustainable Forestry Initiative details eight objections to BuildingGreen’s evaluation of its programs.
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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.
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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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Wood Certifications: How FSC, PEFC, and SFI Compare
Feature Article
Do wood certifications from FSC, PEFC, and SFI do what they claim? We analyzed forestry standards to find the most reliable markers of responsible sourcing.
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Wood Certifications: Comparing Programs and Their Impacts
Spotlight Report
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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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The BuildingGreen Guide to ESG
PDF Guide
How to keep up with the environmental, social, and governance programs that are changing the building industry.
Just For Fun
Something weird happens every April at BuildingGreen...
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New Occupational Hazard Threatens Unshod Office Workers
April Fools
Whistleblowers alert state health agencies to possible foot fungus scourge in laid-back Vermont and Silicon Valley workplaces.
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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.
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BuildingGreen Rebrands LEEDuser to Increase Transparency
April Fools
After complaints about rejected credits and failed certifications, BuildingGreen took action.
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A Mind-Expanding Addition to LEED v4.20
April Fools
USGBC adds psychedelic Integrative Process prerequisites designed to be a paradigm-shifting expansion of LEED.
