In the June issue of Environmental Building News last year, we published one of those slap-in-the-face, wake-up-call articles that forces people to rethink conventional wisdom. Most of us had long thought that more insulation was almost always better in saving energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. After all, the more insulation we install, the less energy gets used in the building and the less carbon dioxide is emitted.

When the Modernists declared that form follows function, did they really intend for the built environment to look so ... dreary? Maybe beauty is an essential building function--not just something for the interior designer to work out at the end.

Next week I'm starting an eight-month sabbatical.

Market-based solutions only get us so far: we need policies, too, and fast. David Orr stares political reality right in the eye, and refuses to back down.

When David Orr began his keynote speech on full-spectrum sustainability at the Building Energy conference yesterday, I was sitting in my car at a dead stop near the Harvard campus, furious with myself (and everyone else) for not taking public transit.

A new LEED for Homes tool can help designers get the jump on certification--and is great for homeowners too.

Natural gas has been in the news a lot recently.

Over the years, there have been as many as three cotton insulation manufacturers, but for the last several years there has only been one: Bonded Logic, which makes UltraTouch batt insulation, along with duct insulation and sound-control panels.

We spend a lot of time and money making our homes more energy efficient. Whether adding insulation, upgrading windows, replacing incandescent light bulbs, or replacing appliances, efforts we make to use less energy save us money and help the environment. But what about where we live?

Update: The LEED Interpretations database was moved and relaunched in April 2013. Its new location is Update: The LEED Interpretations database was upgraded in Oct. 2011.