USGBC has opened the fifth—and, it expects, final—public comment period on LEED v4, the next version of the LEED rating system. The system was referred to as "LEED 2012" for most of its development, but after the fourth public comment period (see discussion on that comment period and draft) ended with a sense among USGBC membership that the system was not ready for a member ballot, USGBC changed the rollout schedule and the name.

Watch the plants! There are limits to their growth, and ours. Also: data center showdown, cargo bikes, and satellite photos of economic injustice.

Over the past few weeks I’ve written about various strategies to produce hot water efficiently. We’ve seen that tankless water heaters are more efficient than storage water heaters (though are not without their drawbacks), and we’ve learned that heat-pump water heaters produce two to three times as much heat per unit of electricity consumed as electric water heaters that rely on electric resistance heat.

I really appreciate this set of "Lessons Learned" on the Life Support Facility (Building M6-490) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Frank, revealing, sometimes obvious, but interesting nonetheless.

Sustainability might not come naturally to us, but maybe we’ll get past that if we can teach our children well.

Sustainable design: the next generation

Apparently my kids are not the only kids on earth obsessed with Minecraft.

New federal regulations beginning in mid-April 2015 will require that larger electric water heaters be heat-pump models. It’s time to pay attention to this option.

The USGBC announced new membership fee structures: Organizational, Silver, Gold and Platinum. The change will be effective October 1, 2012.

Small companies where able to become members for $300 per year and get member discount pricing for LEED project registration and certification. That appears to no longer be the case as of 10/01/2012. To continue to get the discounts a company has to purchase a Silver membership at $1,500 per year. Upgrading of a membership by contacting the USGBC.

Public facilities don’t have to be ugly, we can now hear air pollution, and the sports industry is going for the gold with green initiatives.

A relatively new type of water heater combines features of both tankless and storage water heaters.