Published by Concrete Products: A new U.S. General Services Administration standard targeting low embodied concrete on federal projects will require contractors to provide environmental product declarations (EPD), where available, from ready mixed suppliers. It compels procurement of concrete exhibiting production...
Published by Green Energy Times: NBI: Model Government Zero Emissions Buildings Policy – With building construction and operations making up nearly 40% of U.S. carbon emissions, many jurisdictions have made reducing emissions from the built environment a top strategy for...
Published by The McMorrow Reports: America’s K-12 schools currently spend $12.5 billion per year on energy (PDF file). Meanwhile, students are demanding a more hopeful and sustainable future, starting with better learning environments than the many aging, unhealthy, and underfunded school...
Published by Electrical Construction & Maintenance: Energy-efficient building design could be marking an important progress milestone with the recent opening of a potentially groundbreaking property. The Hotel Marcel New Haven, in New Haven, Conn., was set to welcome its first...
Published by EducationWeek: Schools have a big role to play in reducing emissions of harmful greenhouse gases that cause an overload of carbon dioxide. The nation’s schools annually emit as much carbon as 18 coal plants or 8 million homes,...
Peggy and Kim Cheslak, Director of codes at New Buildings Institute, discuss a new study on building decarbonization. She says one of the primary questions is: what does it cost? Thus, it went into the study with two primary goals:...
Published by Food & Water Watch: Today, the Assembly hearing on the All-Electric Building Act is demonstrating the consensus that ending gas in new construction fights climate change, creates jobs and cuts air pollution. Experts, including NYSERDA President Doreen Harris...
Published by BuildingGreen: The Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy loan program (C-PACE) offers low-interest capital to projects pursuing energy and water savings; the loan gets paid back through a special tax assessment. Pretty good deal, but New Buildings Institute (NBI)...
Published by Energy Monitor: It is cheaper to electrify buildings – or at least make them ready for future electrification – at the time of construction than retrofitting them for electric equipment afterwards, according to new research from US non-profit New Buildings Institute...
Published by The Real Estate News Exchange: Today, ESG factors have moved to the forefront of our decision-making processes and are driving visible transformation across all industries – CRE included. It is now widely accepted that ESG investment significantly decreases...
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...
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...
Published by EC&M: New Buildings Institute (NBI) recently released the “Cost Study of the Building Decarbonization Code.” The study analyzes the incremental first cost and life cycle cost of two common building types that follow the code language in NBI’s...
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...
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...
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...
Published by S&P Global: Washington will require all-electric space and water heating in new commercial and multifamily construction, making it the first state to incorporate building electrification mandates into statewide energy codes. One proposal would require all-electric systems and appliances...
Published by MTBA Architecture: One of the biggest obstacles for deep green retrofits to existing & historic spaces is the lack of regulations and building codes that enforce climate goals. The opportunity to create new building codes for climate is...
Published by Window + Door: Buildings generate nearly 40 percent of the annual global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, according to the World Green Building Council. This figure includes energy used to heat, cool and light buildings as well as embodied...
Published by Concrete Products: The most recent New Buildings Institute (NBI) report presents language to incorporate embodied carbon requirements in codes, and explains the need for jurisdictions to address such criteria for materials or products with the highest carbon dioxide...
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...
Published by NRDC: Historically, the energy code has been developed through a public process where stakeholders submit proposed changes to the code, then come together to debate the proposals in front of a technical committee that makes recommendations for whether...
Published by Concrete Products: A new General Services Administration standard targeting low embodied concrete on federal projects will require contractors to provide environmental product declarations (EPD), where available, from ready mixed or precast suppliers. It compels procurement of concrete exhibiting...
Published by BuildingGreen: Aspirational limits on embodied carbon in our buildings are all well and good, but how do you actually determine and implement those limits? New code language and a new model specification could be the ticket. New Buildings...
Published by Natural Resources Defense Council: The Biden Administration has taken an important step forward in leveraging the purchasing power of the federal government to grow the market for cleaner industrial materials. For the first time, the Government Services Administration...
Published by Scientific American: The procurement arm of the federal government is imposing new limitations on high carbon-emitting building materials for all its major projects, a move that will affect billions of dollars of federal infrastructure investments. GSA only will...
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...
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...
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...
Published by Mechanical Business: As North America adds more renewable energy to the grid and more communities commit to building decarbonization as a way to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that are fuelling climate change, demand for energy-efficient radiant designs,...
