Path to Zero-Energy Buildings Blog

Taking It to the Bank: Finance and Real Estate Meet on Energy Efficiency

July 14, 2010 - 2:43pm | By Amy Cortese

The Empire State Building–-what better icon to showcase the potential of energy efficiency to literally transform a building and a market? But the story of the Empire State Building (ESB) is really a story about money. Read more »

A Different T – Party: Thinking About Transforming the Market to Measured Performance

June 22, 2010 - 11:12am | By Cathy Higgins

On a recent spring day more than 20 leading design professionals gathered in a small conference room at EHDD Architects in San Francisco. Read more »

Living Future 2010 and the Emergence of zEPI (Zero Energy Performance Index)

May 24, 2010 - 11:17am | By mlyles

This year’s Living Future conference in Seattle provided many highlights. From the simple yet inspirational message of working together provided by Dr. John Francis to the heartfelt thanks (and slight roasting) NBI’s technical director Mark Frankel received as outgoing Director of the Cascadia Board (don’t worry, he was reelected to the Board). Read more »

Window Volume Purchase Program Working to Lower Cost, Improve Availability

May 18, 2010 - 1:28pm | By mlyles

R-5 windows can reduce average heat loss by 30-40% over common ENERGY STAR-qualified products (with an R-3 value), and low-e storm windows have the potential for twice the energy savings of those without a low-e coating, according to Department of Energy (DOE) estimates. The problem? Because of low demand these windows are only available today at a considerable price premium through special order. Read more »

NBI Well Represented at Cascadia Green Building Council’s Living Future Conference

May 5, 2010 - 4:50pm | By mlyles

Today kicked off the first day of the annual Living Future (Un)conference taking place this year in Seattle, Washington.

Four employees from the Vancouver, Washington office, including Executive Director Dave Hewitt, will be joining NBI’s Technical Director Mark Frankel in Seattle to attend the conference for “deep green professionals”.

In addition both Mr. Hewitt and Mr. Read more »

Oregon Buildings Strive to Reach Net-Zero Energy Goal in ETO Pilot

March 29, 2010 - 4:15pm | By mlyles

Fifteen new commercial building projects will push the limits of energy performance under a pilot program offered by the Energy Trust of Oregon (ETO). The Path to Net-Zero pilot program is targeting buildings that will achieve the lowest possible energy use goal of net-zero, meaning the building gets all the energy it needs from renewable sources, preferably sources located on the building’s footprint. Read more »

Green Building Code Released – Open for Public Review

March 23, 2010 - 4:42pm | By mlyles

On Monday, March 15 2010, the International Code Council (ICC) released a green building code proposal, the International Green Construction Code (IGCC) Public Version 1.0, for public review. Read more »

Energy Codes Identified as a Green Building Trend to Watch in '10

February 7, 2010 - 4:01pm | By shobart

As the calendar switches from 2009 to 2010 the attention being given to energy codes is seeming to intensify. A recent post titled "4 Green Building Trends to Watch in 2010" by the popular green innovation blog earth2tech identified energy codes that result in greater energy efficiency as something worth watching in the new year. Read more »

NBI Collaborates with CIEE on Two Measured Performance Case Studies

January 26, 2010 - 12:51pm | By mlyles

In collaboration with the California Institute for Energy and the Environment (CIEE), NBI recently completed measured performance case studies for two buildings on the University of California campus at Merced (UCM). Read more »

Do Green Buildings Make Dollars and Sense?

November 20, 2009 - 5:59pm | By New Buildings I...

Last week, CB Richard Ellis and the University of San Diego presented "Do Green Buildings Make Dollars and Sense?" at the annual USGBC GreenBuild conference in Phoenix, AZ. The study compared 154 Energy Star labeled buildings in 10 selected markets to general office properties in the market. All of the buildings in the survey set were managed by CBRE. Read more »