Material Selection
Selecting building materials can be complex. You have to take into account toxicity, performance, the environmental life cycle, cost, and other factors.
Understanding what makes a building product green is a long-term prospect. Green characteristics differ from product category to product category, and multi-attribute vetting is critical.
Material Selection
Deep Dives
Get up to speed on complex topics. You can also earn CEUs and download PDF Spotlight Reports.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
What These Forestry Labels Really Mean
Infographic
You’ve seen FSC and SFI labels on wood products. Most often, you’ve seen no label at all. Here’s a green guide to each one.
-
The 8 Shades of Greenwash: How Many Do You Recognize?
Infographic
Most building products these days have an environmental angle to their sales pitches. Many are legit, but as ever, you still have to watch for the telltale signs of greenwash—the practice of inventing or exaggerating the environmental benefits of a product.
-
The 12 Product Rules
Infographic
These 12 product rules provide a simple approach to selecting better, healthier, and more environmentally responsible building products and materials.
Product Guidance
Unbiased information from our product experts helps you separate green from greenwash.
-
Products at an Exposition
Product Review
These are select products from the Greenbuild expo floor, highlighting natural materials, innovative new technologies, and important updates.
-
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.
-
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.
-
Can AI Help Close the Timber Loop?
Product Review
Urban Machine developed a machine that uses AI and robotics to de-nail salvaged wood for reuse onsite.
In The News
We break news down to the essentials and provide expert analysis.
-
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.
-
IRA Accelerates Low-Carbon Building Products
News Brief
EPA shares its plan for a low-embodied-carbon labeling program, funded by the Inflation Reduction Act.
-
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.
-
This Is What Circularity Looks Like: A Pragmatic Playbook
News Brief
Upending the global economy to make it circular instead of linear sounds daunting. A new resource demonstrates how to become “circular ready.”
Perspective
Thought-provoking opinions from the most trusted minds in sustainability.
-
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.
-
Press Release: Major Green Building Orgs Team Up on Material Education
Blog Post
Mindful MATERIALS has partnered with BuildingGreen to expand knowledge of the Common Materials Framework across the building product manufacturing and AEC industries.
-
Google Goes Public with Ambitious Carpet Tile Standard
Blog Post
With a new procurement program, Google adopted comprehensive sustainability requirements for modular carpet tile that raise the bar for major manufacturers.
-
Let’s Talk: Mainstreaming Transparency Takes More than Letters
Op-Ed
To move the building industry toward greener products, there are two big things we need to do.
Learning Resources
Syllabus supplements and CEU content, with automatic reporting for AIA and GBCI.
-
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.
-
Wood Certifications: Comparing Programs and Their Impacts
Spotlight Report
-
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.
-
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.
