Author: Ralph DiNola
ASHRAE accelerates building decarbonization
Post / February 28, 2023
ASHRAE, along with 24 of the world’s leading building industry organizations, issued a statement a few months ago to government representatives attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP 27) pledging to assume a leadership role in...
The Future We Seek: Equitable and Resilient Buildings and Communities
Post / August 25, 2022
For more than 25 years, New Buildings Institute (NBI) has worked collaboratively with industry market actors to promote advanced design practices, innovative technologies, public policies, and programs that improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions from the built environment. Our collective...
Future-ready buildings: increase asset value and reduce real estate investment risks by preparing for building performance standards now
Post / April 18, 2022
New construction codes have been driving toward net zero performance in jurisdictions around the country but building performance standards (BPS) with similar aims are emerging for existing buildings. Building performance standards are state and local laws that require existing buildings...
Hopeful in 2022 during this make-or-break year on climate change
Post / January 6, 2022
We are optimists, and a new year offers opportunities for inspiration and hope. Our current challenges seem unrelenting. But even as we battle several emergencies all at once, we see bright spots of opportunity for necessary and significant progress to...
Could coronavirus be a wake up call for climate action?
Post / May 8, 2020
We are living through an unprecedented global health crisis that has upended our daily routines and halted the economy in a matter of weeks. Rebounding from the loss of lives and the economic fallout caused by the coronavirus across the...
Reflecting on the 2019 Getting to Zero Forum – Optimism, Urgency and Poised for Action
Post / November 13, 2019
As urgency around addressing climate change increases, local leaders are working to define near-term actions, including those targeting the built environment, which accounts for 39% of global carbon emissions. Uptake in actions happening across the United States include: a surge...
2019 is the Year of Energy Codes
Post / January 14, 2019
If there’s a defining theme for the building sector in 2019, it’s energy codes. Actions to update the rules that cities and states set to determine how effectively new residential and commercial buildings use energy are progressing on several fronts...
Eric Makela Joins NBI’s Codes and Policy Team
Post / February 22, 2018 / Energy Codes
We are pleased to announce the addition of Eric Makela to our Codes and Policy team. He brings over 30 years of global expertise in energy code development, training and evaluation, throughout the United States as well as abroad, including...
NBI 20th Anniversary: The Arc of Innovation
Post / September 21, 2017
Anniversaries provide the opportunity to mark a point in time and provide the space to examine accomplishments, purpose, and vision of the future. Staff and board members, some with NBI since the beginning, are reflecting on why the organization was...
The Sum of its Parts – Honoring the Paris Climate Agreement
Post / June 2, 2017 / Policy
Last October, New Buildings Institute along with a host of partners, opened the Getting to Zero National Forum with great enthusiasm, sharing gratitude and satisfaction over the ratification of the Paris Climate Agreement, noting how the global agreement to address...