NEWS LEARN CSI DIVISIONS LEED CREDITS PRODUCTS PROJECTS BLOG

BackPage Primers

Weighting Environmental Impact Categories

Life-cycle assessments (LCAs) score products or design options across a series of environmental impact categories. To compare two products with different impact profiles, it becomes necessary to weight those categories, a difficult process.
Environmental Building News—January 1, 2009

Defining Recycled Content

Accepted definitions bring some clarity to the term "recycled content," but still leave gray areas that are open to interpretation by product manufacturers.
Environmental Building News—December 1, 2008

Reducing Heat Flow Through Windows

Bringing daylight into a building through windows usually means a loss of heat; low-emissivity coatings, multiple panes, and gas fills can make windows more energy-efficient.
Environmental Building News—November 1, 2008

Foam-in-Place Polyurethane Insulation

Sprayed polyurethane foam offers several advantages over other forms of insulation, including R-value and airtightness. Installation, R-value, and ozone safety vary with the type of foam used.
Environmental Building News—October 1, 2008

Vapor Retarders and Air Barriers: Managing Moisture in Building Envelopes

Air barriers, which prevent air leakage, and vapor retarders, which control moisture diffusion, are both important for controlling moisture in a building envelope.
Environmental Building News—September 1, 2008

All About Formaldehyde

A naturally occurring organic compound used in binders for composite wood products, among other things, formaldehyde can create serious health problems in those exposed to high concentrations.
Environmental Building News—August 1, 2008

Comparing Fuel Costs

One would think comparing the costs of different heating fuels would be simple, but figuring out the amount heat available in a given quantity of fuel—and the associated cost—can be tricky.
Environmental Building News—July 1, 2008

CO2 and Other Greenhouse Gases

The family of greenhouse gases extends beyond CO2, with each gas contributing to global warming to some degree.
BuildingGreen.com—June 17, 2008

Life-Cycle Assessment: Tracing a Product's Impacts

Life-cycle assessment—accounting for all of the environmental impacts of a product from its manufacture to its disposal—is a simple concept, but using it to compare products in practice can be difficult.
Environmental Building News—June 1, 2008

Evaporative Coolers

As water evaporates, it absorbs heat. Direct and indirect evaporative coolers use this property to cool homes efficiently.
Environmental Building News—May 1, 2008
Email News Bulletin
Twice a month, fresh news and green product briefs directly to your inbox.

Member Comments
Plyboo Bamboo Flooring

Meredith Elbaum says, “I'm having a hard time finding if the entire Plyboo product has no added urea formaldeyhde. I know the...” More...

Watermiser Flow Control Valve

Brent Ehrlich says, “These valves are appropriate for residential use, but because of the installation cost on a retrofit you may be better...” More...

oso koenigshofer says, “How is the water pressure? I am remonded of the Seinfeld episode with the low flow shower heads where everyone...” More...

Solar-Thermal News

Ethan Goldman says, “The Solar Mining Company sounded like a great way to finance a solar thermal system, but unfortunately their website says...” More...

Energy Dashboards: Using Real-Time Feedback to Influence Behavior

Kevin Little says, “The Prius effect is a real phenomenon, in which drivers use the mileage display feedback to improve performance—they actually change...” More...

Kevin Little says, “There’s a lot to discuss in terms of performance feedback systems but I’ll put the philosophy discussion in another comment.” More...

Free Energy Modeling in Google SketchUp

Caleb Crawford says, “Hi, I read about the IES VE software as a free plug-in to SketchUp and Revit. I am an educator, and...” More...

Copyright 2009, BuildingGreen, LLC
About Us | Press | Help | Contact Us | Send Feedback | Disclaimer | Download EBN