Group is ready with green certification for parking garages

With a tip of the hat to LEED standards for people-occupied buildings, the Green Parking Council is bringing environmental assessment to construction commercial garages.

By Ron Gallagher • June 2, 2014

Installing new technology when the client wants clean

An Atlanta-area grocer wanted a non-polluting refrigeration system, and the answer is one that uses carbon dioxide rather than conventional refrigerants.

By Ron Gallagher • May 30, 2014

The world's toughest green building standard just got tougher

Introducing the Living Building Challenge, version 3.0.

By Ron Gallagher • May 22, 2014

Washington, DC studies the cost-benefit of energy building options

The nation's capital has more green buildings per capita than anywhere else in the country.

By Ron Gallagher • May 22, 2014

Japanese architects pan design for 2020 Olympic stadium

A petition campaign led by Pritzker Prize winners Toyo Ito and Fumihiko Maki is trying to knock down Zaha Hadid's 20-story facility before it gets started.

By Ron Gallagher • May 16, 2014

Color changes as home ages

Known as Fall House, a home designed by a San Francisco architectural firm has one side that will change color as the copper siding ages in the salt air.

By Ron Gallagher • May 5, 2014

Google invests $100M in residential solar

Google and SunPower are creating a $250 million fund to finance rooftop solar installations that homeowners will lease.

By Ron Gallagher • May 5, 2014

How rehab can be a green building strategy

Improving existing buildings can be much more green than new construction if local government understands the need to be flexible instead of code-driven.

By Ron Gallagher • May 5, 2014

Construction unemployment rate hits 9.4% (and that's a good thing)

The figure is high compared with the U.S. overall workforce, but it is so much better than the recession high of 21.8% in April 2010.

By Ron Gallagher • May 2, 2014

Norway project seeks tallest timber-frame apartments title

A 14-story building with luxury apartments is targeted for completion in fall 2015.

By Ron Gallagher • May 2, 2014

CA plans $360M for 'active transportation' projects

The state Department of Transportation is looking for bicycling and walking projects on which to bestow money. 

By Ron Gallagher • May 1, 2014

New 'solar roadway' technology could disrupt road-building

In a parking lot in Sagle, Idaho, a prototype road surface offers the prospect of generating electricity from roadways paved in glass.

By Ron Gallagher • April 27, 2014

Top U.S. markets for solar installation have some surprises

The list includes such seemingly unlikely cities as Newark, N.J., Raleigh, N.C. and Boston.

By Ron Gallagher • April 16, 2014

Study: Best way to reduce energy is to improve homes

Norwegian researchers calculated that greener homes would have the biggest effect in cutting the country's energy use.

By Ron Gallagher • April 12, 2014

Five companies win LEED for Homes awards

The U.S. Green Building Council announced one winner in each of six categories related to designing and executing green homes for people last year, and one entrant took two prizes.

By Ron Gallagher • April 10, 2014

New Berkeley lab's goal is to test low-energy building innovations

The Facility for Low-Energy Experiments is dedicated to testing how building components will perform in real-life situations.

By Ron Gallagher • April 7, 2014

Developer plans 'green roof' at Brooklyn's Barclays Center

A 130,000-square-foot plant-covered roof is in design for the Barclays Center as both a marketing feature and a sound shield.

By Ron Gallagher • April 7, 2014

Honda's smart home produces more energy than it uses

Honda's demo at the University of California, Davis, generates enough power to run the home, charge the family electric car and even put juice back onto the grid.

By Ron Gallagher • April 2, 2014

Study: Building with wood is good for the environment

That's the conclusion of scientists at Yale and the University of Washington, which is based on reducing carbon dioxide emissions by manufacturing less steel and concrete.

By Ron Gallagher • April 1, 2014

Dutch architects experiment with 3-D printed house

In Amsterdam, the Netherlands, the firm has its own printer to generate plastic segments that connect on the site next to a canal.

By Ron Gallagher • March 30, 2014

Concrete at Marines air station has to handle high temperatures

As part of an $85 million project at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Granite Construction needed to place specially mixed concrete.

By Ron Gallagher • March 30, 2014

Why insurers love 'green' buildings more

The sustainable-building industry has an unexpected advocate in insurers.

By Ron Gallagher • March 24, 2014

Green contractors face risks others do not

Fewer experienced subcontractors, fewer materials suppliers and more legal ambiguities make the market different from conventional contracting.

By Ron Gallagher • March 20, 2014

Life-cycle assessment for building materials made easier with new app

An architectural firm teamed with a data firm and a software maker to come up with Tally, an app that runs on the Revit design software.

By Ron Gallagher • March 10, 2014

Dutch students' house 'skin' uses solar to alter temperature control

Students at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands will cover a model house at the Solar Decathlon Europe with a skin that can vary its insulating and ventilating profile.

By Ron Gallagher • March 6, 2014