New Buildings Institute Blog

Efficiency and Carbon Reduction Goals Converge at the Built Environment

Posted on April 17, 2019 by Jim Edelson

With mounting evidence that immediate and aggressive action is necessary to address climate change, combined with a lack of leadership on this issue by the federal government, state and local governments are taking meaningful actions to adopt, honor, and meet...

A Small Window of Opportunity to Make Huge Gains in Climate Action

Posted on March 19, 2019 by Amy Cortese

Cities face unrelenting demands on policy priorities. Affordable housing, transportation, economic development, climate action, and other pressing issues compete for limited resources and funds. Now is a moment in time, however, when the opportunity to make significant progress toward carbon...

5 Must Haves to Achieve High Marks in Ultra-low Energy Schools

Posted on March 11, 2019 by Amy Cortese

An increasing number of school districts are investing in ultra-low energy facilities and renewables as a way to save on utility costs and create healthier and more productive learning environments for students and staff. In fact, over 219 school buildings...

Local Governments Can Lead by Example in Climate Action, Starting with the Buildings They Own

Posted on February 27, 2019 by Alexi Miller

For communities across the United States that are committed to implementing policies and practices that advance the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement, buildings represent a golden opportunity to lead by example. Overall, about 20% of the nation’s building floorspace...

Technology Talk—Getting to Zero Energy in Existing Buildings

Posted on February 22, 2019 by Cathy Higgins

Without upgrading our existing buildings to higher efficiency technologies we have zero hope of getting to zero energy (ZE)–or at least ultra-low energy performance–and our carbon reduction targets. We know that there are many roads to retrofits but rapid scaling...

2019 is the Year of Energy Codes

Posted on January 14, 2019 by Ralph DiNola

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...

New York Invests in Energy-Saving Strategies to Meet Climate Action Goals

Posted on January 4, 2019 by Mark Lyles

New York has emerged as a shining star in local energy policy with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s announcement early last year of an ambitious energy efficiency target to reduce energy consumption by 185 trillion BTUs (British thermal units) by...

Four States Make Strides on Advancing Energy Codes

Posted on December 5, 2018 by Kevin Carbonnier

Massachusetts, California and Rhode Island come out on top in the 2018 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard released this fall. The three states ranked high on six categories including utility programs, transportation, building energy codes, combined heat and power, state initiative and...

Ithaca Leads in New York for Net Zero Energy Building Standards

Posted on November 29, 2018 by Stacey Hobart

The energy use in buildings across the town and city of Ithaca is responsible for nearly 75% of carbon emissions, according to the local sustainability officials. To reduce its carbon footprint, the two jurisdictions are taking important steps to increase...

Aiming for Zero Energy in Existing Buildings

Posted on October 10, 2018 by Alexi Miller

This blog was originally published as an article in Facility Executive on October 9, 2018. As the extreme weather impacts of a changing climate become more urgent, cities and states are racing to put in place strategies that will reduce...

Energy Efficiency and Equity

Posted on September 25, 2018 by Webly Bowles

A recent article from CityLab highlights the squeeze on low-income households—primarily renters—from rising energy cost and dwindling funding for low-income energy assistance programs. Disadvantaged communities—low-income and largely minority neighborhoods–spend a much higher share of their income on energy, according to...

Zero Energy Ready Oregon Supports Governor’s Mandate to Transform Buildings to Zero Energy Ready Performance

Posted on September 11, 2018 by Amy Cortese

When Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed Executive Order 17-20 in the fall of 2017, she set Oregon on the path to addressing climate change by ramping up efficiency in Oregon’s buildings. Addressing building efficiency is a critical climate action strategy...

Better Buildings Can Limit Climate Change

Posted on September 4, 2018 by David Goldstein

This guest blog was written by David Goldstein, NBI Board Member and NRDC Co-Director, Energy Program. It was originally published by NRDC on August 28, 2018. Climate change is the most important known-to-be-solvable problem of our time. Because buildings are...

GridOptimal Buildings: Achieving Maximum Benefit for Smart Building-to-Grid Integration

Posted on August 22, 2018 by Mark Frankel

As policymakers and the building community encourage improved building efficiency and reduced carbon impacts, the rapid proliferation of distributed renewable energy resources–on local businesses and homes–creates technical challenges for grid operation, even as traditional revenue models for utilities face significant...

Banking on Sustainable, Zero Energy

Posted on August 21, 2018 by Stacey Hobart

How Suncoast Credit Union is leading the way to save energy and connect with its customers and community With close to 700,000 members, Suncoast Credit Union is the largest credit union in Florida. It’s also a leading company in sustainable...

Linking Legends

Posted on July 20, 2018 by Connie Umphress

John Wilson accepting the Jeffrey Johnson Award John Wilson, former Board President of New Buildings Institute, has been awarded the 2018 Jeffrey A. Johnson Award for Excellence in the Advancement Of Building Energy Codes. This award is named in honor...

Getting to 50 and Back Again

Posted on May 30, 2018 by Dave Hewitt

2005 was a tumultuous year and it was in those challenging times that I got the call that Jeff Johnson was gone – a mountain bike accident in the Columbia River Gorge. I knew Jeff as the Executive Director of...

Michigan Is the Latest State to Embrace the Value of Clean Energy Portfolios

Posted on May 23, 2018 by Rocky Mountain Institute

This guest blog was originally published by Rocky Mountain Institute on May 22, 2018. How renewable energy can unlock customer savings and shareholder value in the Midwest Last Friday, Michigan’s two largest electric utilities, DTE Energy and Consumers Energy, announced...

U.S. Clean Energy Jobs: Mapped Out

Posted on March 15, 2018 by Reilly Loveland

In case you might’ve missed it, U.S. Clean Energy Progress released a comprehensive, dynamic tool that visually illustrates the strong growth and economic benefits of clean energy jobs, including wind, solar and energy efficiency, across the U.S. The U.S. Clean...

NBI’s Legacy of Code Advocacy Lives On

Posted on March 8, 2018 by David Cohan

New Buildings Institute (NBI) has played an active and influential role in building energy codes since the day its doors opened in 1997. Jeff Johnson, one of its first executive directors, was an ardent codes advocate with a long track...

Making the Path to Zero Energy Buildings Well Worn Together

Posted on February 28, 2018 by Cathy Higgins

When does a path become a road? Is it volume of travelers, difficulty of terrain or perhaps the need to arrive more rapidly at the destination to create the attention and resources needed to smooth out the path? For zero...

Eric Makela Joins NBI’s Codes and Policy Team

Posted on February 22, 2018 by Ralph DiNola

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...

Educational Sector Leads on Zero Energy Buildings, but Lacks Retrofits

Posted on January 29, 2018 by Amy Cortese

New research by NBI looks at the reasons why existing schools don’t aim for zero. New Buildings Institute (NBI) recently released its Zero Energy* Buildings List with nearly 500 verified or emerging commercial buildings projects. Educational facilities continue to outpace...

Moving Daylighting into a New Era

Posted on December 29, 2017 by Nancy Jenkins Ander

In the energy efficiency world, we know that if there are specific and tangible non-energy benefits to energy conserving measures, it can be a game changer to motivating the implementation of these measures. One example of this is the work...

Checking in with the Passive House Network

Posted on December 7, 2017 by Mark Lyles

It’s been over 25 years since the Passive House concept — tight, well designed and insulated envelope and minimized mechanical loads — was formalized in Germany, and it feels like the movement has reached a tipping point here in North...

Outcomes Matter

Posted on November 16, 2017 by Ryan Colker

by Ryan M. Colker, Vice President of National Institute of Building Sciences We all know what it takes to lead a healthy life—eat your vegetables, exercise, and visit your doctor to monitor your cholesterol, blood sugar, weight and blood pressure....

Stretch Codes: A Disruptive Solution to Super Charge Green Building

Posted on November 6, 2017 by Mark Frankel

This week, thousands of building industry professionals will converge at Greenbuild 2017 to share their excitement and progress advancing green buildings. While the number of green buildings—energy-efficient, zero energy, LEED and ENERGY STAR-certified, etc.—has grown dramatically over the last decade,...

A New Metric for Tracking Energy Codes Driving Toward Zero

Posted on October 10, 2017 by Kevin Carbonnier

ACEEE’s 2017 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard was released in late September with Massachusetts leading based on six categories including utility programs, transportation, building energy codes, combined heat and power, state initiative and appliance standards, according to ACEEE. Looking ahead, there are...

New Multifamily Guide Offers Solutions that Deliver Up to 25% Energy Savings

Posted on October 10, 2017 by Sean Denniston

Multifamily buildings pose a conundrum for advancing energy performance. As a building type, they are caught somewhere between commercial buildings and single-family residences – they are often constructed like commercial buildings, yet used as residential buildings. Energy-efficient technologies and design...

NBI 20th Anniversary: The Arc of Innovation

Posted on September 21, 2017 by 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 why the organization was...