Our April EBN feature article--"Passive House Arrives in North America: Could it Revolutionize the Way We Build?"--went online today. This was a fun article to research and write, because it put me in touch with my low-energy building roots.
The last several weeks I've written about common myths of green building: that it has to cost more to build green, that green building is mostly about materials, that green products don't work as well as conventional products, and that
Addressing both interior and exterior lighting, this credit seeks to reduce light pollution that can block our view of the night sky and cause human health problems as well as ecological problems for many birds, insects, and other animals. Light pollution often represents nighttime lighting that isn’t needed, wasting energy while causing light trespass and contrast, reducing visibility.
InPro Corporation was founded in 1979 as Institutional Products Corporation (IPC). Originally a distributor of high-impact door and wall-protection products for the healthcare industry, IPC began its own manufacturing in 1986, changed its name to InPro Corporation in 1995 (cleverly retaining IPC), and today is one of the leading producers of a wide range of wall and corner-protection components, plastic surfacing products, handrails, and signage used in commercial and institutional buildings.
Outdoor air delivery monitoring ensures that the ventilation system, whether natural or mechanical, provides enough fresh air to occupants. The credit requires carbon dioxide (CO2) and outdoor airflow monitors that signal when fresh air is needed according to minimum set points defined by ASHRAE 62.1-2004. Typical ventilation design (without monitors) tends to encourage increased ventilation that may result in increased energy use and added cost for conditioning increased amounts of outside air.
The last few weeks I've written about common myths of green building: that it has to cost more to build green, that green building is mostly about materials, and that green products don't work as well as conventional products.
Capturing useful energy from natural energy flows like sunshine, wind, moving water is a great concept. The technologies to capture this energy aren’t cheap, however, nor do they work equally well in all locations. Typically, it’s hard to generate a significant fraction of total electricity we use onsite.