Hub: New Buildings Institute
2019 Women of Vision award winners named
News / September 9, 2019
The Daily Journal of Commerce has announced the 2019 class of Women of Vision honorees. Amy Cortese, NBI project director, was named as one of the 44 women in the building industry that have not only succeeded in the workplace,...
USGBC And New Buildings Institute Sign MOU To Work Together To Advance Energy Efficiency In Net Zero Buildings
News / June 3, 2019
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and New Buildings Institute (NBI) have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) formalizing the organizations’ relationship. The MoU was signed on May 14 in Seattle, Wash. and defines parameters on how the two...
ASHRAE signs three new MOUs
News / May 27, 2019
Published by Cooling Post: ASHRAE has extended its areas of future collaboration with the signing of agreements with a number of leading organisations. In the last few days the US association has signed MOUs with the International District Energy Association...
Annual Report FY 2015-2016
Report / April 16, 2019
Increasing building energy efficiency is a process that we at New Buildings Institute have been active in for nearly 20 years. Whether driven by policy mandates, a corporate resolution, or by innovative engineers and architects striving for a better end…
Cathy Higgins recognized as a 2018 Women of Vision Honoree
News / October 23, 2018
Published in the Daily Journal of Commerce: Cathy Higgins, Research Director, was recently recognized as a 2018 Women of Vision honoree by the Oregon Daily Journal of Commerce. The annual Women of Vision awards recognize women in the Portland, Oregon,...
2018 ACEEE Summer Study Papers and Posters
News / August 27, 2018
NBI staff presented at the 2018 ACEEE Summer Study in several panels, including “Codes and Standards”, “Net Zero: Moving Beyond 1%”, and “Poster Display Presentations”. Their papers and posters are available here: Jim Edelson, Director of Codes & Policy, presented Taking...
Planning Under Way for First Sustainable Building Week
News / August 24, 2018
Published in the Daily Journal of Commerce: The inaugural Sustainable Building Week begins October 8 and will include panel discussions, lectures, building tours, design slams (challenges), open houses and more in Portland. All of this is to promote green building...
Linking Legends
Post / July 20, 2018 / Policy
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...
Build Better Buildings in Pittsburgh
News / June 12, 2018 / Metering
Published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: The city can meet its climate-action goals, but only if its buildings are more energy-efficient…It was good to see the Post-Gazette’s coverage of City Council’s 8-0 vote to adopt the ambitious Climate Action Plan 3.0,...
Getting to 50 and Back Again
Post / May 30, 2018
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...
U.S. Clean Energy Jobs: Mapped Out
Post / March 15, 2018
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...
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...
2018 State of the Industry
News / February 1, 2018
Every year, Metal Construction News asks industry experts to present their ideas on where the industry will go in the next few years. This year, experts look at a growing economy that still sometimes sputters, code regulations that need constant...
Moving Daylighting into a New Era
Post / December 29, 2017 / Daylighting
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
Post / December 7, 2017 / Energy Codes
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...
Oregon Greens Cheer Brown’s Orders on Energy Efficient Buildings, Electric Vehicles
News / November 7, 2017
Published in Portland Business Journal: Governor Kate Brown issued executive orders intending to encourage more energy efficient buildings and electric vehicle adoption. An array of green groups that includes New Buildings Institute cheered the moves and used the occasion to...
CAISO Expands Attendee Roster for Stakeholder Symposium
News / October 22, 2017
The rapidly changing energy landscape in the Western U.S. was the recurring theme at CAISO’s 2017 Stakeholder Symposium. About 1,000 attendees from the industry, its disruptors and other counterparts gathered at the Sacramento Convention Center. To bring new voices into...
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...
New Tool Calculates Water Savings from Energy Efficiency Measures, Spotlights the Water-Energy Nexus in Buildings
Post / May 31, 2017
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....
Energy Department awards nearly $1.3 million to encourage data-driven local energy planning; releases research results
News / August 12, 2016 / Benchmarking & Feedback
In support of cities’ efforts to reduce energy waste and greenhouse gas emissions and increase the use of energy efficiency technologies, the Energy Department today selected three projects to help cities integrate energy analysis and data into their strategic decision...
DOE Awards $3.7 Million to Spur Investment in Commercial Energy Code Compliance
News / June 29, 2016
The Building Technologies Office has selected three projects to receive a total of $3.7 million to study the effects of improving the implementation of commercial building energy codes. New Buildings Institure is responsible for one of these projects. NBI will...
Increasing Energy Efficiency Through Connected Systems
Post / May 11, 2016 / Integrated Solutions
Ralph Dinola, CEO, recently spoke at the EE Global Forum in Washington, D.C. The presentation was “Increasing EE Through Connected Systems: How Can Communities Take Into Account Holistic System Efficiency From Day One”, and this is his talk. At NBI,...
USGBC approves New Construction Guide for LEED Pilot Credit Library
News / February 10, 2016
(Portland, Ore.) Feb. 11, 2016 – The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has approved the addition of New Buildings Institute’s (NBI) New Construction® New Construction Guide as a LEED Pilot Alternative Compliance Path (ACP). By following the prescriptive path in...
Top 16 Trends for 2016
Post / January 6, 2016
Each year at NBI, we get together to discuss the most significant and potentially impactful or disruptive trends we see coming in the commercial building and energy sectors and actions individuals can take to get ahead of what’s to come....
A Pause to Remember Jeff Johnson
Post / August 18, 2015
This year marks the 10-year anniversary of the passing of Jeff Johnson, New Buildings Institute’s (NBI) former executive director from 2000 to 2005. He died doing what he loved, mountain biking in the Columbia Gorge. Jeff was a person who...
Progress Report 2013-2014
Report / August 13, 2015
This Progress Report begins with a message from our CEO and Board President and contains key highlights from our programs, reports and news.
Why a leading building energy group relocated from Washington to Portland
News / August 11, 2015
After operating for 18 years in Vancouver, Washington, White Salmon, Washington and Hood River, New Buildings Institute has relocated to the Rose City. Portland Business Journal caught up with Ralph DiNola, CEO, to find out more about the move and upcoming...