A Watershed Year for Green Homes
There’s no doubt 2006 has been a great year for green building—at least in terms of PR.
building
Buildings That Breathe
Five percent of new commercial construction meets standards set by the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program (LEED). Ten percent of new homes satisfy the federal government’s Energy Star guidelines, meaning they’re nearly one-third more energy-efficient than regulations require. But U.S. buildings put out about a third of the country’s greenhouse gasses, and at the rate green building is penetrating the market today, it will be many years before we save the 70 percent of emissions thought necessary to stabilize the climate.
New Life for Old Floors
New Life for Old Floors: Alternative Materials Add Character to Home Designs. Have you considered wood, cork, linoleum or bamboo?
The Green Scale
In sizing up a prospective house, more and more homebuyers are asking themselves how the property rates on the green scale…
Greening Habitat for Humanity
In the fall of 1995, a group of architects, environmentalists and builders converged on Atlanta for a symposium on encouraging low-cost green home design in the non-profit sector. "There’s nobody out there really focusing on affordable green housing," says Global Green USA Executive Director Matt Petersen, whose group co-sponsored the conference with Habitat for Humanity, the Department of Energy (DOE) and several private foundations.