Sourced from the Northwest and made in SoCal, a new collection of architectural wood finishes is a West Coast product, through and through.
These low-profile ceiling troffers use 40 less energy than a conventional three-lamp fluorescent troffer.
A fashion designer turns to tile, and the results include houndstooth- and corset-inspired patterns.
Soap. water, blown air now come in one unit for hand-washing.
Luxury vinyl tile gets the recycled-content, formaldehyde-free treatment.
LMN Architects knits old and new together at the University of Washington's Foster School of Business.
Radiant floor heating can provide cost savings and comfort in those hard-to-condition commercial places.
Old shipping crates and pallets and gym bleachers get a new life as hardwood flooring.
Climate change and green building finally took the spotlight at the end of 2012, but how do we keep it in mainstream sights?
Control heat and glare using electrochromic technology.
David Benjamin of The Living and Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation talks about the intersection of biology, technology, and architecture.
Macalester College's Institute for Global Citizenship gets its Ph.D. in energy savings.
Do housing starts reveal a jobless recovery? A look at recent economic numbers reveals data that affects all construction, including green projects.
How to increase natural light to reduce energy use, as well as minimize glare and heat gain.
A subtle addition to UC Berkeley's School of Law digs into an existing courtyard to make room for a mix of communal spaces.
We compile ECO-STRUCTURE's most-read online stories of 2012. Did these headlines make your list?
USA Today renews its examination of green building with a focus on schools and claims that there is little link between environmentally friendly buildings and learning or energy use. USGBC fires back.
A net-zero-energy prototype for Los Angeles Unified School District aims for top results across the board.
Industry groups foresee problems with the proposed changes to LEED. We look at some of the concerns with LEED v4.
Passive House vs. Net Zero
The debate between the two approaches to green building heats up.
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The USGBC and the Land Use Law Center at Pace Law School introduce two resources to help local governments leverage LEED for Neighborhood Development as a tool for sustainable development.
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November/December Project Specs
November/December
Forty-five college teams receive grants as part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s People, Prosperity and the Planet student design competition.
How close is architecture to carbon neutrality?
What we design uses 40 percent of the nation's energy.
The recent addition to the company’s Accsys product range is Cradle to Cradle Gold certified.
The new convector is made of entirely renewable components.
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German businesses and households accounted for 95 percent of German climate finance in 2010, according to a new report from the Climate Policy Initiative.
Teams from Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Architecture and Clemson University win the International Sustainable Laboratory Student Design Competition.
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The organization is seeking standards development committee members.
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A new guide aims to unify roof and wall insulation values among the International Energy Conservation Code, the International Green Construction Code, ASHRAE 90.1, and common forms of construction.
The USGBC’s web-based tool aims for greater transparency and understanding of green-building practices.
The non-profit organization takes responsibility for certifying the products, and also announces a $250,000 Product Innovation Challenge in partnership with Make It Right.
AIA COTE announces a new Top Ten Plus award to recognize post-occupancy performance of past Top Ten Green Projects, and is now accepting submissions for the 2013 program.
During the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo, the U.S. Green Building Council announced a $3 million grant from Google meant to make indoor environments healthier.
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A new study by McGraw-Hill Construction and United Technologies shows that the popularity of green building is rapidly increasing both in the U.S. and abroad, largely thanks to a shift in consumer and market demand.
Energy efficiency, water conservation, and healthy living showcased at San Francisco event.
This multidimensional installation piece for interior walls is made of 85% pre-consumer recycled aluminum.
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The new WaterSense program guide highlights products, best practices, and case studies.
The free, public format aims to standardize the disclosure of building product contents, emissions, chemical hazards, and health information.
Made entirely from recycled paper, NakedBoard can be used as decorative wall board, wall-tile backer, ceiling panel, a curved wall, or accent material.
Inspired by the work of late American artist and designer Vera Neumann, Marquee has 20% post-consumer recycled polyester.
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An opinion piece in The New York Times questions whether buildings should be designed to respond to the impacts of the environment, such as flooding, pandemics, and energy shortages, and not just to generate lower environmental impacts.
Two building technologies come together to form a monolithic ceiling and lighting system.
This self-priming, no-VOC, flat-finish paint is suitable for walls in environmentally sensitive spaces such as bedrooms and hospitals.
Shredded bamboo fibers are intertwined with a pressure-treated base to form a high-density product 154 percent harder than red oak and 125 percent harder than North American maple.
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The U.S. General Services Administration is gathering info for its Green Proving Ground program that examines sustainable building technologies and practices for federal buildings.
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In round four of the back and forth between USA Today and the USGBC over the on-going series on the green-building organization and LEED, USGBC vice president of LEED technical development Brendan Owens weighs in.
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Buildings less than 5,000 square feet soon may no longer be exempt from a greater level of commissioning. An addendum to Standard 189.1 pushing this measure is up for public review through Nov. 18.
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Carbon emissions dropped 8.2 percent and energy use is down 4.4 percent from 2010 to 2011, according to an Urban Land Institute study.
Thermal imaging can shave significant time off of building investigations, but only if the results are interpreted correctly.
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USA Today's series examining the USGBC and LEED continues with a focus on the relationship between the organzation, LEED development, and the building industry.
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The USGBC repsponds to USA Today's article critiquing LEED, asserting that "LEED isn't perfect, but it is always improving" and "the costs of individual LEED credits are irrelevant because the market learns to deliver green buildings at little to no added cost."
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USA Today asserts that the green-building rating system wins tax breaks and grants, higher rents, and expedited permitting for low-cost, minor steps that have little or no proven environmental benefit.
Along with Gensler, this firm is the other half of the design team behind the new Tower at PNC Plaza in Pittsburgh, Pa., scheduled to be completed in 2015. In this Q&A, they discuss the project and their philosophy.
PNC's ambitious new headquarters under construction in Pittsburgh wins the 2012 Evergreen Awards On the Boards category.
The a Q&A with the firm behind the dormitory at Unity College in Unity, Maine, winner of the 2012 Evergreen Award in the Residential category.
A student residence designed to European Passive House standards wins the Evergreen Awards residential category for 2012.
We chat with Lazarus, the winner of our 2012 Evergreen Awards Perspective category and HOK's director of sustainable design, about performance-based design, biomimicry, health, and more.
We have many ways to make our voices heard, and now is the time to find your platform.
This Bremerton, Wash., firm won the Evergreen Award in the Commercial Interiors category for the old Sears Automotive Center that they transformed into their new offices.
An architecture and planning firm breathes new life into an abandoned automotive center and wins the Commercial Interiors category of the 2012 Evergreen Awards.
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Now in its second year, the LEED Fellows Program announced this year’s winners.
Lake|Flato revitalized downtown San Antonio, Texas, with the Full Good Warehouse to win the Existing Buildings category in this year's Evergreen Awards.
A 1974 storehouse is revitalized as a mixed-use development and wins the Evergreen Awards Existing Buildings category.
A Q&A with the firm behind the James I. Swenson Civil Engineering Building at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, the Evergreen Award winner in the New Construction category.
The engineering building at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, won over the 2012 Evergreen Awards judges in the New Construction category with its water-management strategies.
The Northeast state tops the list of most energy-efficient states, and Mississippi needs the most improvement, according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy’s State Energy Efficiency Scorecard.
An emphasis on natural materials highlights this Canadian child-care facility and community center.
These façade and wall panels made of ultrahigh-performance concrete can be installed outdoors, indoors, and as a rainscreen.
A look at how schools are being designed and constructed to better serve communities and the environment.
The AIA’s managing director of government relations and outreach argues for an extension of the Energy Efficient Commercial Building Tax Deduction.
LEED certification was just one requirement for the green-building giant's own space in Washington, D.C.
Highlights with a focus on sustainability from Cersaie 2012, Italy's international exhibiton of ceramic tile and bathroom furnishings.
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Building on Trend Group’s Liberty mosaic line, Metropolis plays with light on glass tile and contains up to 75% post-consumer recycled glass.
Facts are stubborn things.
Postal facilities may offer the greatest opportunities for adaptive use.
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For the fifth year, ECO-STRUCTURE recognizes excellence in environmental performance and design in the Evergreen Awards competition, and we thank this year's jury.
A new study reports that retrofitting existing windows comes close to delivering the same energy benefits of new, high-performance replacement windows—at less cost.
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The standards development organization announces it will help develop product category reviews (PCRs) and verify environmental product declarations (EPDs).
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Thirty-two state and local governments, tribes, and non-profit organizations will receive funds for their efforts to improve indoor air quality.
Lea has added a patterning element to its Slimtech line of porcelain laminate slabs, as seen in the Studies in Gouache collection
Cromie is the first collection from Refin to use the company’s Ecosan24 treatment, which uses titanium dioxide and metallic elements to treat pollution, self-clean, and sanitize the tiles.
Breaking from the abundance of wood patterns and undetailed stone visuals of Cersaie 2012, Marazzi Group’s Ragno subsidiary taps into another trend at the show with decorative detailing.
For her fourth design for Mutina, Italian designer Patricia Urquiola strikes with a collection of tiles made from glazed porcelain.
In a partnership with Japanese manufacturer Toto, Casalgrande Padana is producing Bios Self Cleaning Ceramics, a line of self-cleaning porcelain tiles for use in exterior and interior applications.
Under its Rex subsidiary, Florim Ceramiche is offering Selection Oak and Taiga, two new collections that include recycled content.
Aisthesis is the first collection of Cermica Panaria’s ZERO.3 laminated porcelain stoneware, and is an Ecolabel—certified collection that features eight neutral colors in 3mm-thick slabs of seven shapes.
Featuring seven tile sizes, Pietra Jura is the first eco++ line from Coem.
Suitable for use in walls and floors in residential bathrooms and kitchens, and as wall tiling in commercial bathrooms, kitchens, and public lounge areas, Supernatural is Ecolabel certified and features seven patterns in two sizes.
Three mayors representing the southwest, midwest, and coastal southeast talk about how local government is placed best to create sustainable policy.
An architect at Tom Eliot Fisch, the interior design consultant for the new headquarters of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, talks about design challenges behind the recently opened structure.
The fifth public comment period is now open, and the USGBC is accepting responses until Dec. 10.
The Commercial Building Modernization Act reforms and extends the tax deduction for energy-efficient commercial and multifamily buildings.
Thirteen companies have now joined the California Best Buildings Challenge, which has aggressive two-year goals for energy, water, and waste reductions.
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The team of Olin landscape architects, Fisher Marantz Stone, Ballinger, and Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects delivered a LEED Platinum–certified building for the Barnes Foundation.
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Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Montana’s capital cities will receive help from the EPA to create healthy communities through green development.
The first city in the country publicly posts commercial building energy data for 2,065 buildings gathered by a mandatory benchmarking law.
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The fifth public comment period will be open until Dec. 2.
Opsis Architecture finds creative ways to integrate sustainable solutions without additional costs.