Building Materials posts, articles, and infographics

Do we still believe in decent housing?

May 15, 2012 by julian dobson
with 116 views

Peabody flats, Westminster: what chance of housing low-paid workers there now?The other day I was talking to the head of a successful housing association. He’d been a chief executive for many years, starting out as one of the wave of young innovators who were going to change the world back in the late 1960s and early seventies. ‘... [read more]

Shipping container "cities" bring creative, funky approach to green construction

May 11, 2012 by Kaid Benfield
with 596 views

This started out as an article on prefabricated modular housing, which can bring the construction price of new homes down considerably and lends itself well to use of green materials and straightforward replication. There’s a multi-part series on green prefab construction, including the history and evolution of the industry... [read more]

Chinese cities – featured in a list they’d rather not be on.

May 11, 2012 by Rich Maltzman
with 58 views

An article in China Daily reports on a recent World Bank report shows that several major Chinese cities have some of the highest per-capita carbon footprints .The report (588 pages, full report link here) details ways in which the trend could be reversed.The key word in reversing the trend?Projects.Lots, and lots, and lots of... [read more]

New Guide for Appraisers Factors Energy Efficiency Into Property Valuations

May 9, 2012 by Glenn Meyers
with 108 views

djem/Shutterstock

The Institute for Market Transformation and the Appraisal Institute have collaborated and released an updated guide that features details in rating energy performance on property value. Energy efficient properties will see an increase in appraisal values as a result.Today, at the ACEEE Energy Efficiency Finance Forum in Boston, the... [read more]

The changing context of comfort in an unpredictable world

April 30, 2012 by Green Buildings Alive
with 43 views

I recently had the pleasure of attending the Network for Comfort and Energy Use in Buildings’ Windsor 2012 conference at Cumberland Lodge in Windsor Great Park, England. Every two years the conference pulls together the literati of the thermal comfort in buildings world for three days and nights of lively discussion and debate. Eighty... [read more]

What Makes a Street Green?

April 18, 2012 by The Dirt ASLA
with 481 views

There are many ecological technologies that can make a street green, but the key element is being “flexible, adaptable,” said Neil Weinstein, executive director of the Low Impact Development Center, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the use of green infrastructure in the built environment, at a session... [read more]

Introducing Spongephalt: A Game-Changer for Roads that Doesn’t Exist Yet

April 17, 2012 by This Big City
with 162 views

It’s been a dry year in Southern California, but that’s typically how it goes—you don’t come to Los Angeles for the lush green and windbreakers. There have been worse years, and I remember dead lawns and short showers during especially parched seasons, but there’s no doubt that we’ll see a bloated number of forest fires when the summer... [read more]

Building a Greener Capital

April 16, 2012 by Adam Mayer
with 103 views

Can you 'green' a city like Beijing? Even if you wanted to, there's a lot of challenges. [read more]

Retrofitting existing buildings is taking off

March 15, 2012 by Doug Gatlin
with 546 views

It’s a great time to be an existing building. First: President Obama released last year’s Better Buildings Initiative, focusing financing opportunities on commercial retrofits. Then: USGBC reported that LEED for Existing Buildings project square footage surpassed new construction projects. Now: A new report has concluded that... [read more]

New York Roof Study Shows Drastic Cooling with White Surfaces

March 9, 2012 by Glenn Meyers
with 246 views

Is bright the new black? A new study of New York roofs during peak heat periods confirms that white roofs do indeed have significantly lower temperatures. [read more]

Is bioremediation without public funds possible?

March 6, 2012 by Erica Bush
with 105 views

The growing interest in compact neighborhoods, walkability and all things connected to sustainable living has brought a new vision of urbanity. From a personal standpoint I am no longer looked at wide-eyed and with pity when I say I grew up in a city without a car, but with something closer to admiration. For example here in the Puget... [read more]

Mining the Lower East Side

March 1, 2012 by Geoff Manaugh
with 103 views

[Image: From "Lower East Side Quarry" by Rebecca Fode; open each image in a new tab for a larger view].Last month, several students from the Bartlett School of Architecture—studying as part of Unit 11, taught by Mark Smout, Laura Allen, and Kyle Buchanan—came through town for some field trips, workshops, and crits. At a public event in... [read more]