Blog - New Buildings Institute

NBI 20th Anniversary: The Arc of Innovation

Post / September 21, 2017 / New Buildings Institute

by CEO Ralph DiNola 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...

NBI Completes Study into Energy Performance of Commercial Buildings with Radiant Systems for Cooling and Heating

Post / August 10, 2017 / Advanced Buildings

During the renovation of the Edith Green Wendell Wyatt Federal Building, a variable air volume (VAV) system was replaced with a radiant design system. The design team included numerous CBE industry partners, including SERA Architects, Stantec, Interface Engineering, and Charles...

Best Practice Options for LED Lighting in Multifamily Offer Illumination Without Negative Impacts

Post / July 5, 2017 / Advanced Buildings / Lighting

This material has been excerpted from the soon-to-be-released Multifamily Guide offering best practice design for high performance multifamily new construction projects. Stay tuned for more information on the Guide’s release. LED lighting had some of its earliest and broadest successes...

ZNE Fellowship

Post / June 19, 2017 / Zero Net Energy

Shilpa Surana Oregon’s net zero energy (NZE) buildings market is getting a boost with a new Net Zero Fellow to focus on one of the major barriers to NZE adoption—money. The fellowship was awarded by the Energy Trust of Oregon...

Rhode Island Shows Economic and Climate Leadership by Embracing Zero Energy Buildings

Post / June 13, 2017 / Zero Net Energy

As states look to realize their climate and energy policy goals, they are turning to strategies for improving building efficiency to cut carbon emissions and lower energy demand. Rhode Island is an emerging leader in this regard with a bold...

The Sum of its Parts – Honoring the Paris Climate Agreement

Post / June 2, 2017 / New Buildings Institute / 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...

New Tool Calculates Water Savings from Energy Efficiency Measures, Spotlights the Water-Energy Nexus in Buildings

Post / May 31, 2017 / New Buildings Institute

The water-energy nexus is a nascent topic in the building industry. The impact on water systems linked to energy generation has important ecological, conservation, and sustainability implications, particularly in water-strained areas such as the Southwestern desert of the United States....

Cities Get Help to Prioritize Energy Upgrades, Improve Codes and Policies that Drive Better Building Performance

Post / April 21, 2017 / Deep Energy Retrofits / Benchmarking & Feedback, Existing Buildings

Buildings are responsible for almost half of all U.S. energy consumption (46%), and poor-performing buildings have an outsized impact on energy use. But without a systematic approach to track building performance, it’s often difficult to know where to start. By setting...

The Budding Energy Footprint of Indoor Agriculture

Post / April 7, 2017 / Codes And Policy

Indoor agriculture energy usage is projected to grow substantially over the next several years, driven in large part (but not entirely) by the legalization of medical and recreational cannabis. Seven U.S. states and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational...

Trainings Help Build Knowledge and Design Capability that is Driving ZNE in California

Post / March 30, 2017 / Zero Net Energy

Zero net energy workshops are back in 2017! California has ambitious goals around zero net energy (ZNE) buildings and rightly so. Buildings account for roughly 40% of the carbon emissions in the United States and is up to 80% of...

Thought Leadership From NBI

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