Design Process
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Design Process
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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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.
Quick Takes
Jump straight to the essentials with these short explanations of green building concepts.
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Weighing Embodied vs. Operational Carbon Tradeoffs
Explainer
There can be a seesaw dynamic between operational and embodied carbon. Under what circumstances is a tradeoff worth the price
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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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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.
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30 Years of Green Building in the U.S.
Infographic
As The BuildingGreen Report (formerly Environmental Building News, or “EBN”) celebrates its 30th year of publication, we decided to track the growth—and explosion—of the green building movement. We start in 1990 with the founding of AIA’s Committee on the Environment.
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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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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Wallcoverings
Product Guide
These durable wall treatments have no PVC and no toxic phthalates. This mitigates health concerns with this important design choice.
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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How to Use the Right Tools to Design for Climate Change
News Analysis
Weather files that help designers plan for climate change will soon be readily available. ASHRAE design conditions still lag.
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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.
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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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.
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“Happy” Earth Day? Here’s What Young People Think
Op-Ed
Three Millennials and ten members of Gen Z share scorching, optimistic, and skeptical thoughts about their future and the future of the planet.
Learning Resources
Syllabus supplements and CEU content, with automatic reporting for AIA and GBCI.
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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.
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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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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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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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An Artificial Intelligence Cautionary Tale
April Fools
The new tool OpenAI-Architect proves problematic with the design of the new Leave It to Beaver Center at Disney World.
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Americans React to Latest IPCC Report
April Fools
The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s report outlines some of the significant impacts of current and future carbon outputs. What do Americans think?
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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.
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Leaked IPCC Draft Struggles with Messaging
April Fools
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released part two of its Sixth Assessment Report in February—but it left out some strong feelings.
