OPINION: Earth Day is over, but there’s a lot more schools can do to address climate change

News / May 9, 2022

Published by The Hechinger Report: Last month, schools across the country celebrated Earth Day, many bringing children and families together to clean parks and plant trees. That’s excellent, but it’s time to talk about the other 364 days of the...

First Net-Zero School Slated for Alexandria, VA

News / May 2, 2022

Published by Commercial Construction & Renovation: Across the globe, the number of net-zero energy buildings is on the rise. In 2020 New Buildings Institute (NBI) estimated there were at least 700 in the United States alone. Net-zero buildings cost less...

Innovative Chicagoland Buildings Striving for Sustainability

News / April 27, 2022

Published by WTTW: We’ve all heard of “green” architecture designed to reduce the huge toll buildings take on our environment and climate. Chicago itself has received the top level of certification for sustainability in buildings from LEED, or Leadership in Energy and...

Investments from state and federal leaders provide vital funding to create healthy schools, futureproof against climate impacts

News / April 26, 2022

A new guide from NBI can help districts leverage funding for learning spaces that are better for people and the planet America’s K-12 schools currently spend $12.5 billion per year on energy. Meanwhile, students are demanding a more hopeful and...

Key Messages for Communicating About Carbon Neutral Schools

Document / April 25, 2022

Effective communication is critical to successfully engage your audience and ultimately achieve your goal of designing, constructing, and operating a zero energy (ZE) school. This document will help you to address key questions around your communication effort and engage stakeholders…

Decarbonization Roadmap Guide for School Building Decision Makers

Guideline / April 25, 2022

The Decarbonization Roadmap Guide is written for those interested in healthy, efficient, carbon neutral school design, construction and operation. It outlines achievable goals that result in healthy, affordable, all-electric facilities, and explains common actions taken by leading districts to operationalize…

How ‘net-zero’ hotels could make travel more climate-friendly

News / April 25, 2022

Published by National Geographic: The Brutalist Pirelli building was once voted the ugliest structure in Connecticut. Now the hulking 1970 mid-rise has earned a new superlative: the most energy-efficient hotel in the United States. It will take a year of...

Peninsula Clean Energy Awards Building Electrification Leaders

News / April 19, 2022

Innovative San Mateo County residential, commercial projects recognized REDWOOD CITY, CA – Peninsula Clean Energy has awarded residential and commercial builders, property owners and design teams as 2022 building electrification leaders in San Mateo County.   The Jefferson Elementary School District in Daly...

2023 Getting to Zero Forum

Event / May 10, 2023 - May 12, 2023

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…

Key Messages for Communicating About Carbon Neutral Schools

Guideline / April 13, 2022

Effective communication is critical to successfully engage your audience and ultimately achieve your goal of designing, constructing, and operating a zero energy (ZE) school. This document will help you to address key questions around your communication effort and engage stakeholders…

US Government Focuses on Embodied Carbon to Reduce Emissions

News / March 25, 2022

Published by Guidehouse Insights: President Biden signed Executive Order 14057 in December 2021. Among the novel aspects of “Executive Order on Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability” is the establishment of a Buy Clean Task Force. This...

Luxury Real Estate Takes On Its Carbon Footprint

News / March 25, 2022

Published by Forbes: A number of initiatives are underway to begin addressing real estate’s carbon footprint. Among them: New Buildings Institute and PACE Equity have recently introduced a groundbreaking financing tool for owners and operators of low carbon buildings. The...

PACE Equity looks to continue growth by targeting new markets

News / March 23, 2022

Published by WisBusiness: PACE Equity recently launched a new financing option called CIRRUS Low Carbon, which aims to provide lower-cost capital for buildings with a smaller carbon footprint. The company partnered with New Buildings Institute to develop a specification providing...

Target embraces solar panels, with California store its first net zero building

News / March 17, 2022

Published by Star Tribune: In a step toward its goals to improve its environmental footprint, Target Corp. announced on Thursday its first net zero store designed to produce more renewable energy than it uses. The total number of verified and...

A ‘postcard from the future,’ Oak Park building is one of three in the state to prove it creates as much energy as it uses

News / March 17, 2022

Published by the Chicago Tribune: Truth is often as strange as science fiction at the Park District of Oak Park’s Carroll Center, a classroom and recreation space that recently became the second building in Illinois to receive zero energy verification...

Lower Cost Financing For Lower Carbon Construction

News / March 16, 2022

Published by Facility Executive: PACE Equity and New Buildings Institute (NBI) have launched a new financing option that offers a differentiated cost of capital for building a lower carbon building. The approach, dubbed CIRRUS™ Low Carbon, encourages owners and developers to...

Park district’s Carroll Center officially net-zero

News / March 1, 2022

Published by Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest: Only two facilities in Illinois have achieved net-zero verification by New Buildings Institute, and the Park District of Oak Park can lay claim to one. The Carroll Center, which was...

Energy Modeling Done Right: Optimizing Building Energy Outcomes

Webinar / March 16, 2022 @ 10:00 am - 11:00 am PDT

Energy modeling can be a powerful building design tool, informing decision makers about the best building layouts, mechanical systems, and controls. Unfortunately, too many design teams either forego energy modeling entirely or just use it to check a box for…

Measuring Embodied Carbon

News / January 28, 2022

Published by Green Building News: An increasing number of architects and builders are shifting their attention from “operational carbon,” meaning the greenhouse gas emissions connected with heating and cooling buildings, to “embodied carbon,” the emissions that can be attributed to...

Education and Climate Donors Should Join Forces to Develop Green Schools, Expand Climate Instruction

News / January 26, 2022

Published by The Chronicle of Philanthropy: Solving the climate crisis is not possible without engaging elementary and secondary educators on multiple fronts — starting with a focus on the buildings themselves. Schools make up the second largest area of public...

New Construction Done Right: Strategies to Improve Efficiency in Buildings

Webinar / January 26, 2022 @ 10:00 am - 11:00 am PST

California’s buildings of tomorrow will be deeply energy efficient, smart, and resilient – but designers and builders have a multitude of choices to make in order to achieve success. The just-launched California Energy Design Assistance (CEDA) program offers free energy…

Forest Edge Elementary School becomes the largest net zero verified education project in the U.S.

News / January 5, 2022

Published by Building Design + Construction: Forest Edge Elementary School in Fitchburg, Wis., has become the largest net zero verified education project in the United States. The 126,600-sf project features 1,700 solar panels, 90 geothermal wells, and an energy-maximizing design....

Embodied Carbon Bootcamp

Event / December 14, 2021 @ 9:00 am - 12:00 pm PST

In this interactive workshop, industry leaders will present the policies that are quickening the adoption of embodied carbon ideas and show the steps necessary to lower upfront and whole life carbon emissions in new construction and major renovations. Activities will…

U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm Addresses Getting to Zero Forum Attendees

News / November 3, 2021

The 2021 Getting to Zero Forum took place last week, Oct 27-29, both in-person in New York and virtually online. Attendees were welcomed with special opening remarks from Secretary Granholm followed by a Q&A moderated by NBI’s CEO, Ralph DiNola....

Designing with Communities, not for Communities: Equity in ZNE

Event / November 18, 2021 @ 10:00 am - 11:00 am PST

Zero Net Energy (ZNE) buildings have a stigma of being high-cost buildings for the bottomless budget. In fact, ZNE costs are in line with other green buildings. As a benefit, ZNE buildings are higher performing, offering superior comfort, healthier places…

In the business of buildings, net zero becomes a towering target

News / November 1, 2021

Published by GreenBiz: The COVID-19 pandemic reset the business of commercial real estate, with repercussions still coming into focus. Tens of millions of U.S. professionals stopped commuting to work in spring of 2020, laboring from home for months or longer....

Growth In Zero Energy Buildings

News / October 27, 2021

Published by Facility Executive: In September 2020, New Buildings Institute (NBI) released its “2020 Getting To Zero Buildings List,” a document showcasing growth and trends for zero energy and zero carbon buildings across North America. Based in Portland, OR, NBI...

“Soft Infrastructure” Is Crucial for a Post-Carbon World

News / October 26, 2021

Published by Common Edge: The soft/hard infrastructure debate points to a fundamental (but often hidden) truth about climate-responsive design. It’s not enough to design and construct a building that, on paper, is net zero and resilient in the face of...

It’s Time To Start Thinking About Net Zero Homes

News / October 20, 2021

Published by Earth911: An increasing number of cities, counties, and states around the U.S. are committed to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions and are implementing mandatory “zero” policies or codes regulating new construction, according to New Buildings Institute (NBI). There is a...

Biden administration ramps up efforts to reduce carbon footprint of buildings

News / October 12, 2021

Published by IHS Markit: The Biden administration has devoted a significant amount of attention to the building sector as part of its efforts to reduce US carbon emissions. Led by the Department of Energy (DOE), these programs seek to revive...