Imagine a world in which buildings and communities clearly and definitively help to prevent some of our most widespread illnesses, improve our mental health, and strengthen our overall wellbeing. We are now one step closer to this place after this week’s Summit on Green Buildings & Human Health, hosted by the US Green Building Council. If there’s one thing that I took away, it’s the enormous potential of public health professionals joining forces with the green building community to...

Westport, Connecticut... November 15, 2012 — According to a recent AHR Expo survey sent to more than 1,000 HVACR manufacturers worldwide, 70% of the respondents expect the economy to be better in 2013 than in 2012. In fact, 15% of these manufacturers expect a “much better year” while 28% percent of respondents expect the economy to remain the same. Just 3% expect it to be worse than 2012. In keeping with this optimistic outlook, 86% of the HVACR manufacturers believe sales will increase next...

Our weekly collection of green building clips. Share your good reads of the week in the comments below. Have a great weekend! Prefabricated homes build a following, promise efficiency, The Kansas City Star: "Would you want your car to be built in your driveway? Of course not." An excellent piece building the case for pre-fabricated homes. The future of agriculture may be up, The Wall Street Journal: WSJ profiles a new agricultural revolution. Little brick building on Grand Rapids' West Side...

The World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) is partnering with McGraw-Hill on a new international green survey, and we encourage members of green building councils around the world to participate. The survey will examine important trends affecting and transforming the construction industry on a global, regional and national level. Most critically, the survey will provide information on the benefits experienced in green construction globally and the variation of green practices and standards by...

On Wednesday, I walked into our boardroom at USGBC for our Green Building & Human Health Summit and I got goose bumps. Of the hundred or so folks in the room, many have been with us forever, long-time leaders in the green building movement and I’m always humbled when I’m in their company. But what got me so excited was the number of people in the room that I didn’t know, people who were part of the public health community, from big universities, and from organizations we’ve rarely engaged...

One of the most important events for anyone concerned with green building-related issues will take place next week when the AHR Expo opens its doors at the Dallas Convention Center, January 28-30. More than 45,000 HVACR professionals from around the world will come together to experience all the latest products, technologies and green solutions from nearly 2,000 exhibiting companies. While the major focus of the world's largest HVACR expo and conference is on heating, ventilation and cooling,...

Our weekly collection of green building clips. Share your good reads of the week in the comments below. Fifth public comment for LEED v4 opens: Open Oct. 2 to Dec. 10, public comment allows anyone to view the most recent draft of the LEED rating systems and provide input. New features include a video on how to submit comments and ability to participate on LEEDuser. An Experimental New Starbucks Store: Tiny, Portable, And Hyper Local, FastCoDesign.com Enlightened business strategy: closing...

Happy Friday: Check out our favorite clips and announcements from this week (World Green Building Week, at that!) - and share your own in the comments. Hey, soul sisters (and brothers): Today, we announced that three-time Grammy Award-winning band Train will headline the Greenbuild 2012 celebration. We hope you're as excited as we are! World Green Building Week 2012: From Slovenia to Sweden, 90 nations representing more than 20,000 organization celebrated global green building this week....

This article was originally published on ENR.com on January 23, 2013. As part of ENR's Top 25 Newsmakers. By Nadine M. Post Research scientist Chris Pyke is a data zealot on a mission to help create environments that benefit people and the planet. For three years, he has focused his energy on his big-data brainchild: a search engine called the Green Building Information Gateway. GBIG provides design, performance and related sustainability data for thousands of green buildings. The unique...

It’s no secret that business as usual is changing: A Deloitte study found that 90 percent of companies have set goals for their electricity and energy management practices. Two-thirds of CFOs are involved in their company’s sustainability strategies. From chief sustainability officers to corporate sustainability reports, consciousness about environmental impact has entered the C-suite. That’s pretty exciting. For many of you, USGBC member companies and sustainability trailblazers, the concepts...

Our weekly collection of green building clips. Share your good reads of the week in the comments below. Green apples in Jordan: With Green Apple Day of Service just one day away, the green building and schools community have been sharing photos and stories. This album, from Jordan Green Building Council, is a wonderful example of green apples in action. Sustainability and healthcare: 54% of hospitals say green attributes are very important in their purchasing decisions, according to a new...

$3.5 Trillion of Global Capital Fueling Green Buildings Legislation is an important driver of green building adoption in the real estate sector. But while the pace and strength of legislation is affected by the volatility of policy making, there is a another force in green building investment quietly happening everyday, driven by the capital market. With the global growth of green building over the past decade, energy efficiency and sustainability in the built environment have now become...