Interactive Map of Carbon Neutral School Districts

Online Tool / September 24, 2024

This interactive map includes districts that have addressed healthy, efficient, resilient schools by adopting formal goals to tackle carbon emissions. These goals may be written into policies, resolutions, plans, design standards, or other formal mechanisms. Carbon emissions reductions encompass a…

School Districts from Across the U.S. Gathered to Promote Clean Energy and Indoor Air Quality

Post / July 24, 2024

We were very excited to join K-12 school district staff from across the country in Denver for the Schools Clean Energy and Indoor Air Quality Summit, as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s program for Efficient and Healthy Schools....

Comprehensive Guide to Transform Energy Consumption in Sports and Entertainment Venues

News / July 24, 2024

Published by Green Sports Alliance: Building on the foundation of the “Building for the Next Generation Playbook” released in 2023, the Energy Decarbonization Playbook delves deeper into sustainable practices related to energy, such as GHG tracking, reduction, electrification, renewable energy,...

Grunin Prize Winners Played Key Role Creating Calvert’s Cut Carbon Note

News / July 24, 2024

Published by Forbes: According to Conway, the Cut Carbon Note removes barriers to participation by property developers, who typically might think that such building would be too expensive. Properties that meet a new low-carbon building standard for efficiency improvements, developed...

Preparing a Large Property Portfolio for the Future

News / June 13, 2024

Published by NAIOP: The city [of Cambridge] established funding and sent out a RFQ seeking to develop a Municipal Facilities Improvement Plan (MFIP). The partnership of Arup, the New Buildings Institute and Boston-based ICON Architecture had the winning bid.

Reflections on the 2024 Getting to Zero Forum

Post / June 5, 2024

Reflections and Industry Insights  NBI and RMI were thrilled to bring together over 360 industry leaders in Charlotte, North Carolina for the 2024 Getting to Zero Forum. It was an invigorating gathering, filled with thought-provoking conversations and concrete examples of...

Small actions & strong leadership: the call for climate action in museums

News / June 4, 2024

Published by blooloop: “It’s through that coalition that we have access to information and partners like New Buildings Institute, which helped us do Culture over Carbon or Rocky Mountain Institute, which helps us in the Helen Frankenthaler project grantmaking. It...

Is Your Building Operating at Net Zero Energy or Zero Carbon?

News / May 31, 2024

Published by ASHRAE: In the spring of 2023, ASHRAE published the first edition of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 228, Standard Method of Evaluating Zero Net Energy and Zero Net Carbon Building Performance. It contains a method of evaluating a building, or group...

Meet the Nation’s First Zero Energy Outpatient Healthcare Facility

News / May 31, 2024

Published by Facilities Net: Pueblo Community Health Center in Colorado achieved what no other facility of its type had before: Its total site energy use is offset by total site energy production, as verified by the New Buildings Institute.

Building Electrification Hastens Clean-Energy Transition

News / May 28, 2024

Published by Facilities Net: Ralph DiNola, CEO of the New Buildings Institute, has a bird’s-eye view of how this transformation is going. The institute, based in Portland, Oregon, is a nonprofit organization working to advance scalable and practical approaches that...

Getting to Zero Buildings Database

Online Tool / May 21, 2024

NBI works to identify, research, analyze, and promote commercial and multifamily buildings that are leaders in low and zero energy. We maintain the most comprehensive list of zero energy (ZE) commercial and multifamily buildings across North America. This interactive tool…

This new software makes it simpler to crunch the prices of power upgrades

News / May 3, 2024

Published by Canary Media: RMI developed The Green Upgrade Calculator in partnership with seven different organizations including New Buildings Institute. Since the calculator’s debut final week, almost 2,000 people have used it to carry out their very own analyses, stated...

Army Corps embarking on cutting-edge mass timber R&D

News / April 24, 2024

Published by Woodworking Network: As the Army works to meet these goals and accomplish the objectives set in its own Climate Strategy, it has begun to focus more attention on one of its biggest emissions drivers: construction activities related to...

US army works on net zero emissions with wood

News / April 24, 2024

Published by TimberBiz: Embodied emissions, which occur during construction because of material manufacturing, transportation and assembly account for up to 10% of global emissions, according to New Buildings Institute.  

ERDC leads advances in sustainable materials for military construction

News / April 24, 2024

Published by ERDC: As the Army works to meet these goals and accomplish the objectives set in its own Climate Strategy, it has begun to focus more attention on one of its biggest emissions drivers: construction activities related to its...

These Utah students want their school district to commit to clean energy. The Sierra Club is helping.

News / April 24, 2024

Published by Easy Branches: The Granite students’ efforts follow successful bids for similar clean energy commitments from the Salt Lake City School District in 2020 and the Park City School District in 2021 — both of which were championed by...

‘Next generation of climate leaders’: These Utah students are trying to get their school district to commit to clean energy

News / April 24, 2024

Published by The Salt Lake Tribune: The Granite students’ efforts follow successful bids for similar clean energy commitments from the Salt Lake City School District in 2020 and the Park City School District in 2021 — both of which were...

Living the 100-amp Lifestyle

News / April 24, 2024

Published by Green Building Advisor: New Buildings Institute says: “The process usually costs $3,000 to $25,000 and takes 2 to 18 months.” They also note that “if millions of homes upgrade their panels over the next decade, and fill the...

What is Net Zero?

News / April 24, 2024

Published by gb&d Magazine: A number of green building organizations have created certification programs to encourage the implementation of net zero design strategies including New Buildings Institute’s (NBI) Net Zero Energy Verification.

Efficient and Healthy Schools: Funding for Facilities’ Needs

Webinar / March 27, 2024 @ 11:00 am - 2:00 pm PDT

Join the Efficient and Healthy Schools Program’s webinar to learn about funding for achieving efficient and healthy school improvements. K-12 schools and their supporters will hear about federal funding opportunities, approaches to leverage state and local funds, and examples of…

The Building Electrification Technology Roadmap for Schools

Report / January 29, 2024

Learn strategies tailored for K-12 schools to reduce carbon emissions from water heating, HVAC, buses, and other technologies that power classrooms and operational spaces. This report provides K-12 leaders a roadmap and decision-making tools to electrify their school buildings.

How soon do you have to buy heat pumps and EVs to avoid climate catastrophe?

News / November 16, 2023 / Zero Net Energy (ZNE)

Published by The Washington Post: “Just 1 percent of U.S. homes have installed heat pump water heaters, which deliver hot water with ultra-efficient heat pumps, making them one of the least-common climate technologies in U.S. homes.[…] The biggest reason to...

Helping Schools be BETR with the Building Electrification Technology Roadmap

Webinar / November 30, 2023 @ 10:00 am - 11:30 am PST

Join New Buildings Institute and Resource Refocus to learn more about the Building Electrification Technology Roadmap (BETR) for K-12 schools. BETR for schools is a new technical guide for school district stakeholder and decision makers who are interested in incorporating…

2024 Getting to Zero Forum

Event / May 21, 2024 - May 23, 2024

The Getting to Zero Forum is the premier event dedicated to building decarbonization. With a growing number of climate emergencies across the United States and around the world, there is no more important time than now for the Getting to…

Trane Technologies Foundation Supports Sustainable Futures for 40 Students

News / August 23, 2023

The donation provides professional development and career opportunities in the sustainable building sector through New Buildings Institute’s Next Gen Program Portland, Ore. – Thanks to a generous donation from the Trane Technologies Charitable Foundation, 40 underrepresented students will now have...

Lower Energy Costs, Healthier Air: How Energy CLASS Prize Winners Are Transforming Their School

News / July 27, 2023

Published by NREL: 25 local education agencies (LEAs) have been named Energy CLASS prize winners and awarded $100,000 each, along with the training and one-on-one coaching needed to put those funds to work helping their schools meet health and energy-efficiency...

Efficient and Healthy Schools Campaign Honors 17 School Districts for Upgrading Facility Health and Sustainability

News / July 10, 2023

On Wednesday, June 28, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Efficient and Healthy Schools Campaign celebrated the achievements of 17 K-12 schools and districts that implemented exemplary projects to improve the energy and environmental performance of their school’s facilities. Schools...

The Future of Buildings is Net-Zero Energy

News / July 10, 2023

Published by FacilitiesNet: Verified net-zero buildings currently represent less than 1 percent of all commercial buildings according to data from the World Green Building Council. But that number is increasingly rapidly – as much as 50 percent every two years, according to...

Low carbon verification pairs greener designs with reduced interest rates

News / July 6, 2023

Published by MAREJournal: Prior to CIRRUS Low Carbon’s introduction to the market in 2022, no private capital source offered lower rates for greener buildings. Now, developers can fortify their financing with a significantly lower interest rate when a project meets...

How going electric can save construction costs in North Dakota

News / July 6, 2023

Published by KXNews: Building an all-electric home is less expensive than building a home with oil, gas, or propane appliances. According to the non-profit New Buildings Institute, all-electric homes save people about $8,000 on construction costs and reduce energy consumption,...