In the Spotlight:

Updated 10/17/2012

What You Need to Know About Concrete and Green Building

BuildingGreen's new report helps builders and designers determine when to embrace concrete over competing materials — and when to look for alternatives.

Free to BuildingGreen members (must be logged in).

Managing LEED Costs

Experienced cost estimators evaluate hundreds of specific technologies and approaches that teams are using right now to earn points in LEED-NC. Learn more about your best options for achieving specific LEED-NC credits -- and the cost implications of those options.

LEED-Existing Buildings readiness review

Identify the EBOM credits that are within easy reach — and learn the steps to achieve the hard ones.

What Makes a Building Product Green?

See GreenSpec's criteria for every major building product category.

How to Select Windows: Understanding 7 key decision drivers

The latest BuildingGreen special report includes:

  • Anatomy of a high-performance window
  • How to use NFRC ratings
  • The framework you need to make informed choices on windows
  • Smart strategies that save money

See the complete table of contents

For Educators: Free Green Building Course Syllabus

Sign up for a free campus-wide trial of BuildingGreen Suite and get a sustainable-design syllabus outline.

Sportworks Bicycle Racks —


Sportworks offers a range of secure, space-efficient, and convenient steel bike racks. As is common in steel building products, the steel contains pre-consumer recycled content. Included in Sportworks…

Geneo High-Performance Windows —


Wasco Windows offers Geneo windows, a range of high performance windows made of a glass-fiber reinforced PVC. The windows achieve a U-factor ranging from 0.14–0.17, and meet the Passivhaus standard,…

Logix Integrated Ceiling Panels —


Logix Integrated Ceiling System uses USG’s acoustic ceiling tiles and is designed to incorporate GE Lighting’s Lumination LED Linear Recessed Luminaires; luminaires from a-light, amerlux, and…

Open Joist Triforce —


Open Joist Triforce is a open-web, parallel-chord truss with solid-wood diagonal struts. It is most commonly used as for joists, but can also be used as rafters to achieve superinsulated roofs. The…

Climate Wizard —


Climate Wizard, from the Australian company Seeley International and distributed in the U.S. by L&H Airco, is a refrigerant-free indirect evaporative air conditioner. The Climate Wizard uses fans with…

 > More green products from GreenSpec

Changing Behavior and Saving Energy

Author name:  Alex Wilson Blog Category:  Energy Solutions Turn off the lights, turn down the thermostat, and take shorter showers. Remembering to turn off the lights is easy and it saves a lot of energy.Photo Credit: Alex Wilson We live in a world of gadgets…

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Get Ready for LEED-EBOM with Our Stress Test

Sure, most project teams get points for EAc6: Emissions Reduction Reporting (78% achievement rate in LEED-EBOM 2009). But how ready is your project team for the challenging credits—like EAc3.2, SSc6, and MRc6?
Read more

What does LEED certification cost, credit by credit? "The Cost of LEED" report breaks it down

Looking for LEED documentation? LEEDuser's Documentation Toolkits offer credit-by-credit samples and templates, as well as actual LEED Online form samples

LEEDuser Forum

Table G3.1.1 exceptions b and c interaction
in NC 2009 EAp2: Minimum Energy Performance
3:35 AM

Project without any HVAC change
in PIf4: Schedule and Overview Documents
Saturday, 7:34 PM

LEED CI 2009 : Project without HVAC change
in LEED CI 2009 : Integrating HVAC work after project completion
Saturday, 7:33 PM

RE: Performance Period too short to reflect annual costs
in EBOM 2009 IOc3: Documenting Sustainable Building Cost Impacts
Saturday, 4:09 PM

Manufacturer bulb information availability is lacking!
in EBOM 2009 MRc4: Sustainable Purchasing—Reduced Mercury in Lamps
Friday, 4:20 PM

RE: Achieving IEQp1 with no ventilation systems for C&S project
in CS-2009 IEQp1: Minimum IAQ Performance
Friday, 3:06 PM

RE: outdoor air rate for kitchens
in CI-2009 IEQp1: Minimum IAQ Performance
Friday, 2:57 PM

RE: Commissioning Walk-in Freezers / Coolers
in NC 2009 EAp1: Fundamental Commissioning of Building Energy Systems
Friday, 2:45 PM

Something might be helpful
in Living with LEED Online - quirks, bugs and hiccups
Friday, 2:43 PM

RE: International project-onsite renuable energy
in NC 2009 EAc6: Green Power
Friday, 2:38 PM

An EBie Awaits You: Submissions Open for 2013 Existing Buildings Award

Author name:  Tristan Roberts Blog Category:  Mister Tristan Talks LEED On Our Radar Urban Green's EBies recognize professionals who work behind the scenes to make existing buildings perform sustainably.Image: Urban…

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Verifying Performance with Building Enclosure Commissioning

Verifying Performance with Building Enclosure Commissioning

For a lot less than the cost of a lawsuit, BECx uses collaboration, design-to-occupancy reviews, and testing to ensure quality and high performance.

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“You really have to design your air barrier—not just put a line in your spec that says ‘make air barrier continuous.’”

— Elizabeth Cassin of Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates

From Verifying Performance with Building Enclosure Commissioning