Design for Equitable Communities
Design solutions affect more than the client and current occupants. Good design positively impacts the future by helping communities thrive—socially, economically, and environmentally.
Learn more about the AIA Framework for Design Excellence.
Reproduced with permission of The American Institute of Architects, 1735 New York Avenue, N.W.; Washington, D.C. 20006
Design for Equitable Communities
Deep Dives
Get up to speed on complex topics. You can also earn CEUs and download PDF Spotlight Reports.
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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.
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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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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.
Product Guidance
Unbiased information from our product experts helps you separate green from greenwash.
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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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Countertops
Product Guide
Select the surface that meets the design objectives, meets health and environmental criteria, and has the greatest durability.
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Textiles
Product Guide
These high-performance, low-impact fabrics are painstakingly vetted and include biobased synthetics and some natural fibers.
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Metal Coatings
Product Guide
These coatings have VOC levels below 50 g/l and contain no chromium, cadmium, or hazardous airborne pollutants.
In The News
We break news down to the essentials and provide expert analysis.
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Equitable Neighborhood Decarbonization Gets the Go-Ahead
News Analysis
A new California law will allow utilities to replace aging gas infrastructure with zero-emission alternatives in 30 pilot projects.
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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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Seeking a Just Transition to a Decarbonized Built Environment
News Analysis
Community Climate Shift funds projects driving community-led decarbonization and building performance standards.
Perspective
Thought-provoking opinions from the most trusted minds in sustainability.
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Bring the Noise! It Can Help You Listen.
Op-Ed
Noise-canceling headphones and tightly sealed buildings have more in common than you might think.
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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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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.
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What’s up with LEED v5? Coffee Talk Follow-up and Recording
Blog Post
Our guests reply to the Qs we didn’t get to during our July 26 event. Plus, here’s the recording if you missed it, and USGBC will host several v5 update sessions at Greenbuild.
Learning Resources
Syllabus supplements and CEU content, with automatic reporting for AIA and GBCI.
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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.
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Biobased Building Materials: the Hype, the Hope, the … Hemp?
Webcast
This webcast explores the promising future of biobased materials in commercial construction.
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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.
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The Missing Embodied Carbon Link: Construction
Feature Article
Some researchers say construction emissions could account for as much as 30% of a project’s embodied carbon. What can be done about it?
