Blog

LEED-EBOM Platinum Project Shares Documentation with LEEDuser

StopWaste says there is nothing to fear about LEEDv4 and adds its completed documentation to LEEDuser’s toolkit.
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Sample documentation for LEED version 4 is now available on LEEDuser from one of the first certified v4 projects. The browse by rating system and credit.

This content allows LEEDuser members to see how the highest-scoring v4 project to date obtained some of the most difficult credits. Curious about the story behind the spreadsheets, LEEDuser spoke to the project team about what they found different in v4 and lessons they would pass on to other project teams.

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Poll – Should LEED v4 Credits Have Numbers?

Get ready for change in LEED credit numbering.
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If like a lot of LEED professionals you're used to using shorthand like MRc4 to refer to the recycled content credit, and EAc1 for energy performance, LEED v4 throws a curveball into your jargon.

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A View from Inside the Climate March

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Maybe, if enough of us March, and plan, and make smart choices, we’ll have a chance at beating this thing. 

I’m not a frequent social activist. In fact, I haven’t been to a major rally since my college days. But when my teenage daughter gets excited about something I care about, I'm all in! And she was getting excited by the social media buzz about the People's Climate March. So, with some last minute scrambling, I headed down to NYC with family and friends to the big March.

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Foam-In-Place Insulation: 7 Tips for Getting Injection and Spray Foam Right

Quality installation of the two types of site-manufactured foam insulation is no easier than fiberglass batt and no less important. Here is how to avoid the most common problems.
by Peter Yost

One of my first research projects when I started at the NAHB Research Center in 1993 was looking into a new insulation: Icynene. We were evaluating its performance as a spray-applied, open-cavity insulation as well as an injection foam in closed cavities. I was enamored: this seemed to be a miracle insulation that installed itself, sealing up tight even in the toughest and most complicated building cavities.

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Our Energy Solutions Have All Been Found

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Not really, of course. But after five-plus years I’m ending my weekly Energy Solutions blog to focus more on the Resilient Design Institute and re-making Leonard Farm back into a farm.

Our completed house and barn in the early morning light a few months ago.Photo Credit: Alex Wilson

Transitions.

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The Cover Image That Set Off a Firestorm

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The divide between the worlds of design and sustainability is persistent, but returning to core values can bridge it.

For me, the creative tension between beauty and green performance came to a head in 2006, when I began working with the staff of Architectural Record on their new magazine: GreenSource. (GreenSource is no longer a separate magazine; it’s now an insert in the products magazine SNAP. And I’m no longer involved with it.)

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The Living Future Conference

With each new program, ILFI continues to push the building industry (and now other industries) toward greater stewardship and a “living future.”
by Alex Wilson

I’m just back from Portland, Oregon where I attended the annual Living Future Conference.

The Living Future Conference was created by the International Living Future Institute (ILFI) initially to provide a networking and learning venue for designers and builders involved in creating buildings that are being certified through the Living Building Challenge.

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Switching to a Plug-In Hybrid—With Our Own Solar Power

We oversized our PV system so that we will be able to use solar energy to power around-town driving with a plug-in hybrid
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Our 12 kW PV system going in on the roof of our restored 1812 barn.Photo Credit: Alex Wilson

Among the energy-related features of our new house in Dummerston, Vermont, is one parked in the garage.

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Low-Tech Cooling with This High-Tech Fan

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The sleek, energy-efficient Haiku fan from Big Ass Fans will help keep us comfortable in our new house this summer

The Haiku fan in our upstairs guest room.Photo Credit: Alex Wilson

As summer heats up here, I’m looking forward to trying out the high-tech ceiling fans we installed in our two upstairs bedrooms. First, let me explain why I like ceiling fans so much.

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Making Your Family Safer Through Resilience Strategies

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Whether or not you believe that climate change is happening, implementing resilient design strategies will make you and your family safer—and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions

Our completed house and restored barn — which provides a model of resilience.Photo Credit: Alex Wilson

 

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How Much Water to Turn on a Light Bulb?

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Cooling towers at a nuclear power plant in Byron, Illinois.Photo Credit: Scott Olson, Getty Images

Nearly all of our methods for generating electricity involve water consumption—some a lot, some not as much. Producing electricity with hydropower is the most water-intensive method, owing to evaporation from reservoirs.

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6 Ways Our Household is Saving Water—And Energy

Saving energy isn’t only about using less electricity and fuel; it’s about saving water.
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In this weekly blog, I’ve focused a lot of attention on the energy-saving measures at our new home—from the innovative insulation materials we used to the air-source heat pump heating system and our top-efficiency heat-recovery ventilator. What I haven’t said much about are the measures we’ve taken to reduce water use and why these measures save energy as well.

The water-energy nexus

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