Spending Too Much on Energy? BuildingGreen's Fuel-Cost Calculator Simplifies Comparisons Free!
July 2nd 2008
Press Release
With rapidly rising energy prices around the country, something unusual has happened. Some heating fuels that used to be quite affordable, such as heating oil, have risen in price dramatically, making competing energy sources such as electricity relatively less expensive. In parts of the Northeast and Upper Midwest, even the most expensive form of electric heat - electric-resistance baseboard heat - is now less expensive than fuel oil.
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What's a Green Material? Many Views, Questions, and Issues Free!
June 19th 2008
Download the slide presentation as a pdf file. Note that slide #11 is under revision.
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New Initiative Launched to Drive Energy Efficiency Free!
June 27th 2008
Press Release
The American Public Power Association (APPA) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) announced today a joint initiative designed “to help American households and businesses take advantage of all cost-effective opportunities to improve the efficiency of electricity use.”
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The Home Depot Launches National CFL Bulb Recycling Initiative Free!
June 27th 2008
Press Release
The Home Depot®, the world's largest home improvement retailer, expanded its long-term commitment to the environment and sustainability by launching a national in-store, consumer compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulb recycling program at all 1,973 The Home Depot locations.
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Target Resources and Emissions Budgets for Healthy and Sustainable Buildings - slideshow Free!
October 15th 2007
Presented as a plenary lecture at ASHRAE IAQ2007 "Healthy and Sustainable Buildings" -- 15 October 2007, Baltimore, Maryland.
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Carbon Emissions Calculators for Air Travel and for Buildings Free!
June 19th 2008
The coolest calculator on the web is for air travel.
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Submit Proposal for 2009 ACI Home Performance Conference Free!
June 16th 2008
ACI (Affordable Comfort, Inc.) is interested in identifying ideas, topics, and presenters for the practical application and implementation of innovative ideas in residential buildings. Submit a presentation proposal for the 2009 ACI Home Performance Conference to share your knowledge, lessons learned, or research results.
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New Study Compares Green Building Rating Systems to AIA's Sustainability Goals Free!
May 27th 2008
Report Examines Green Globes, LEED NC 2.2, and SBTool 07 in Relation to AIA Position Statement on Green Rating Systems.
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EPS Corp Unveils Tracking System for Facility Energy, Carbon Emissions Free!
May 27th 2008
New Product Allows Companies to Monitor and Reduce Energy Use and Carbon Emissions Like Never Before
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Can House Plants Solve IAQ Problems? Free!
August 25th 2007
The idea of common plants solving IAQ problems is attractive. Most people like having plants in their homes and offices and in the hotels, stores, and public buildings they visit. However, important questions exist as to whether plants can actually affect indoor air sufficiently to warrant their use as air cleaners.
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Major Study Shows that Outdoor Air Quality Matters: Ozone, Filters, and Building-related symptoms Free!
January 30th 2008
Two new analyses of the U.S. EPA's BASE Study show that outdoor air quality can affect building occupant SBS symptoms. Papers published in the journal Indoor Air also show that while some respiratory symptoms get significantly worse when outdoor ozone levels are higher, the type of filters can have an even bigger effect when combined with higher outdoor ozone levels.
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Life Cycle Building Challenge Free!
May 9th 2008
Press Release
Enter the second year of the Lifecycle Building Challenge competition, to shape the future of green building and facilitate local building materials reuse. Submit your innovative project, design, or idea for reducing to conserve construction and demolition materials and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by designing buildings for adaptability and disassembly.
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Climate-Change Mitigation: Challenges and Opportunities in California's Residential Building Sector Free!
June 30th 2008
How buildings are built and operated strongly affects atmospheric CO₂ levels and the associated threat of climate change. Today; global average fossil CO₂ emissions are approximately 3 kgC per person per day. Stabilizing atmospheric CO₂ levels in the range 450-550 ppm would require that global emissions decline to 1-2 kgC per person per day by 2100. Californians currently emit about 10 kgC per person per day, with about 12% attributable to energy use in residential buildings. To achieve climate stabilization at 450-550 ppm CO₂ with full international equity, California's per capita fossil C emissions would need to be reduced by 80-90% during this century. Achieving such large proportional reductions in residential buildings will likely require strong measures in conservation, improved energy efficiency, and greatly expanded use of energy sources that have low fossil-C emissions.
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Must Read! IPCC Issues strongest warning yet on climate change Free!
November 17th 2007
The United Nations International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued its strongest report yet on November 17. The report states "Warming of the climate system is unequivocal" as evidenced by increased global average air and ocean temperatures and rising sea levels. The report lacked the many prior cautious qualifications in its assertions that human activities are responsible for the warming, that temperatures have been warmer in the past 50 years than in any prior 50 years during the past 500 years and likely the highest in the last 1300 years.

You can read a copy or download the report, Summary for Policymakers of the Synthesis Report of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, from the IPCC website. www.ipcc.ch/.
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Sustainable Buildings: The Low Energy Path to Good Indoor Air Quality Free!
June 27th 2008
As we attempt to improve the indoor climate (air, thermal, illumination, and acoustic quality) in buildings, we run up against the constraints of resource availability and the effects of their use. In particular, we are challenged to find ways to ventilate, heat, cool, illuminate buildings with minimal consumption of energy. We must find the low-energy pathways.
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