green building

Officials from Third Sector New England describe the LEED-certified green renovation of a historic, 19th Century building that houses offices of a variety of community non-profit organizations. They describe the opportunities and challenges in renovating such an old structure and keep it green.

I ran across something interesting this morning regarding a declining housing market, mortgage turmoil, and building "green". It appears that Countrywide Home Loans is trying to do their part to help correct this downturn in the housing market, as well as do something for the environment. Countrywide Home Loans is offering a .125% decrease in the interest rate on the purchase of a "green home".

"There used to be a terribly vicious cycle that held true when it came to green construction: Builders didn't want to shell out extra cash to offer ecologically-friendly homes because they were afraid that competitors would just continue business-as-usual and steal away all the customers with their lower prices.

"Anytime there is a paradigm shift within an industry, like the one we are seeing now toward Green building practices, there are likely to be two camps: Those who truly believe in the new paradigm and whose body of work clearly shows it and the hangers-on who merely try to 'hop on the bandwagon' without really changing the way they do business.

This week, McGraw-Hill Construction released market research results on green home building, how much it has grown, and preferences of for green materials and processes.

Florida builder uses steel refrigeration panels for energy efficient home construction, saving home owners 60% on energy costs while at the same time utilizing sustainable building products

The most energy-efficient businesses in the U.S. can consume a third less energy than a more conventional company. By arming themselves with knowledge about the financial benefits of sustainability upgrades, facility managers can make these efficiency programs an easy sell.

A review of 320 studies, announced today, found that design definitely impacts human health.

Aussie Klara Marosszek has developed a commercially viable hemp building material. Fire and pest resistant hemp concrete is made by mixing hemp hurds (the pithy core of the stem), lime-based binder, water and a little sand. This is not a new technique, as century old bridges in France were made from hemp concrete.

5 cool urban design ideas that bring a touch of green to the drab city gray

A year after it was practically wiped off the map by a tornado, Greensburg is rising again — and going green, too, with solar panels, wind turbines, tinted windows, water-saving toilets and other energy-efficient technology.

City officials just passed legislation which would require all new single family homes built in Montgomery county to meet the federal energy efficiency standards known as Energy Star. Do you agree or disagree with this type of legislation and why?

A look at our newly finished 85% recycled glass counter top and bamboo panels for our commercial lobby desk.

Lists the most ambitious clean energy and environmental-sustainability projects in the world today.

American cities with the biggest buildings and the smallest carbon footprints.