Our buildings used to be made from local, natural materials. With no petrochemicals, these natural materials had minimal carbon footprint and were healthier for people and the environment. The climate and environment are now in crisis, brought on partially by the building materials that have ushered in our era of skyscrapers and... Read more

Batt insulation is inexpensive and readily available. Most brands contain formaldehyde-free resins, so they provide decent insulation with minimal indoor air quality concerns.

Batt insulation R-values vary between 3.5 for typical mineral batt insulations to about 4 for high-density products.

Before petrochemicals, our buildings were made primarily from local, natural materials, making the most of the resources at hand. We had a circular economy—using and reusing high-value goods until they fell apart completely and became valuable fertilizer for future high-value goods—by necessity. The embodied carbon of these natural materials... Read more

There are few commercial-grade drop-in alternatives to luxury vinyl tile (LVT)—a state of affairs that flooring manufacturer Shaw Industries is hoping to change. Shaw has introduced a new PVC-free, polyolefin-based flooring collection called EcoWorx Resilient. The company claims the collection, whose name leverages the well-known brand of its... Read more

Ever since the invention of plastics, the global economy has become more and more linear, meaning that building products, and even whole buildings, follow a one-way trajectory: resource extraction, then use, then disposal.

This model boosts short-term profits, but it relies on fast and cheap manufacturing to do so, which can directly... Read more

The stakes are high, the mission clear: we must eliminate the carbon emissions associated with our buildings. Taking these three steps will get us most of the way there:

Building performance metrics used to be the exclusive purview of engineers and energy modelers. But as the need to decarbonize our built environment gets increasingly urgent, project teams must collaborate across disciplines to take the biggest step forward in that work—using less energy.

Here are a few of the energy metrics you’ll need... Read more

In my early adult years, noise-canceling headphones were a luxury I didn’t feel I could afford. Then the price came down, the quality went up, I had a bit more disposable income … and I splurged. I love how they help me feel more relaxed when I’m on an airplane or a subway—but that pleasure comes with a distinct awareness of my... Read more

Collecting data on indoor air quality (IAQ) is the first step toward ensuring it’s safe and healthy. The second step is to do something with it.

“So, You Have Some IAQ Monitors. Now What?” is a free white paper by the Air Quality Working Group, a subset of the BuildingGreen Peer Networks, that delves into how practitioners can interpret... Read more

Should housing be affordable? Or should it be sustainably designed, built, and operated?

When you put it like that, the question sounds absurd.

But the idea—usually unspoken—that sustainability wastes precious time and resources is painfully common in the affordable housing world. 

It’s time to bust that myth. In this... Read more

Experts agree: it is possible to build both sustainably and affordably.

But to do so, we must shift our business-as-usual approach by applying systems thinking and centering equity in sustainable design. After all, a building is only “green” if its entire supply chain is too. 

So what does this... Read more

This is Part Two of a two-part series related to affordable housing. It supports project teams across disciplines and building typologies with 12 specific ideas for building green on a budget. Part One emphasizes the critical importance of sustainability in affordable housing and details six steps building professionals can take to help that... Read more

Air-to-air heat pumps transfer heat energy from the air into and out of a building. These systems have an outdoor unit with a compressor and condenser, and either indoor units or a central... Read more

As we work to provide affordable shelter to tens of millions of households in the U.S., we have a choice: we can reinforce the exploitive systems that created our housing crisis, or we can support health, life, and resilience.

But the perceived first cost of sustainable and regenerative design solutions is one of the... Read more

This is Part One of a two-part series related to affordable housing. It emphasizes the critical importance of sustainability in affordable housing and details six steps building professionals can take to help that happen. Part Two supports project teams across disciplines and building typologies with 12 specific ideas for building green on a... Read more

Note: This guide does not include information on boilers or air-to-water heat pumps used in larger commercial applications, though some HPWH systems are modular and can sometimes meet those demands.

Heat-pump... Read more

The commercial water-heating systems used in hotels, restaurants, and large multifamily buildings have a few problems. As we move toward all-electric buildings, we need an alternative to gas, but heat-pump water heaters face a couple of challenges:

Wood products are widely considered to be inherently “carbon neutral.” The current surge of interest in mass timber was spurred by this belief.

But could scaling up our demand for wood actually make climate change worse?

It’s a huge risk. Our forests are a massive carbon bank and a critical climate buffer,... Read more

This article has been prepared for informational purposes only; it is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, legal advice.

Architects are required to help their clients plan for climate change, but building codes and design standards are based on weather histories that are often over 20 years old. As a result, stormy... Read more

By Nadav Malin and Paula Melton

It’s here. So what’s new?

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) released LEED v5 for its first public comment period on April 3, 2024, giving us our first detailed look at the next generation of the program that has defined green building in North America and around the world for more than... Read more