U S Green Building Council

Resources

Online Information and Tools

Last updated April 24, 2006

  • it may be necessary to copy and paste some links into your browser
  • For corrections, additions, or deletions please e-mail Christopher Davis @ c_davis@gspnet.com
  • Items listed below are for reference and information purposes only and are not connected to the USGBC.

BUSINESS:  Capital E Study: GreenBuilding Costs and Financial Benefits (Nov 2003)

http://www.cap-e.com/spotlight/index.cfm?Page=1&NewsID=25770

BUSINESS:  The Costs and Financial Benefits of GreenBuilding : California Case Study

www.usgbc.org/docs/news/news477.pdf

http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/greenbuilding/Design/CostIssues.htm#Cost&Benefit

COMMUNITY:  "Ten Shades of Green" Architecture League of New York  http://www.archleague.org/tenshadesofgreen/

COMMUNITY:  City of New York, Department of Design and Construction    http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/nyclink/html/ddc/home.html

Contains downloadable High Performance Building Guidelines including useful appendices

COMMUNITY:  City of Santa Monica Sustainable City Program ( http://www.ci.santa-monica.ca.us/environment)

COMMUNITY:  Mountain Assn for Community Economic Development (MACED) ( http://www.maced.org)

COMMUNITY:  New York City Office of Sustainable Design   http://www.nyc.gov/html/ddc/html/ddcgreen/

COMMUNITY:  Pennsylvania green building focused GGGC (Governor's Green Government Council)

http://www.gggc.state.pa.us

Includes information on Pennsylvania's green building activities, an extensive list of library holdings (bibliography), Guidelines for Creating High-Performance Green Buildings, and an order form for the free video of the Department of Environmental Protection office building.

COMMUNITY:  Seattle Sustainable Building

·                     http://www.cityofseattle.net/sustainablebuilding/Leeds/default.htm

·                     http://www.cityofseattle.net/sustainablebuilding/SBpolicy.htm

Contains LEED tools, sample RFP and contract language, and other useful resources

COMMUNITY:  US Department of Energy - Sustainable Communities   http://www.sustainable.doe.gov/

DESIGN:  Department of EnergyBuilding Software Tools:

http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/tools_directory/

http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/tools_directory/software/blcc.htm

DESIGN:  Life Cycle Costing - eVALUator

eVALUator is an easy-to-use WindowsT-based program that calculates the lifecycle benefits of investments that improve building design. It analyzes the financial benefits from buildings that reduce energy cost, raise employee productivity, and enhance tenant satisfaction.

http://www.energydesignresources.com/resource/131/

DESIGN:  Sample green RFP Language

http://www.aia.org/pia/cote/rfp/

http://www.cityofseattle.net/sustainablebuilding/Leeds/sample_language.htm

DESIGN:  WholeBuilding Design Guide

EPA's Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Program is responsible for providing information to federal agencies to assist them in practicing environmentally preferable purchasing ( EPP). Because construction and renovation of buildings constitutes a large share of federal expenditures and may involve significant environmental impact, EPA has a special interest in providing tools to promote environmentally preferable purchasing during these activities.

http://www.wbdg.org/design/greenspec.php

FLORIDA:   "Shade Conditioning" Bruno Stegno  http://www.architectureweek.com/2002/1016/environment_2-1.html

FLORIDA:  "SouthFloridaSustainableBuilding Conference - 1997" http://sustainable.state.fl.us/fdi/edesign/news/9704/sfl-main.htm

FLORIDA:  edesign Online - a Florida Sustainability Newsletter ( http://edesign.state.fl.us/)

FLORIDA:  Florida Energy Office   http://www.dep.state.fl.us/energy/

FLORIDA:  Florida GreenBuilding Coalition   http://floridagreenbuilding.org/

FLORIDA:  Florida House Institute for Sustainable Development (http://www.i4sd.org )

FLORIDA:  Florida Solar Energy Center   http://www.fsec.ucf.edu/

FLORIDA:  Florida Steward Foundation ( http://www.fl-stewardship.com/)

FLORIDA:  Florida Sustainable Communities Network ( http://sustainable.state.fl.us/)

FLORIDA:  Governor's Council for Sustainable Florida ( http://sustainable.state.fl.us/fdi/fscc/gcsf/gcsfmain.htm)

FLORIDA:  Rebuild SarasotaCounty ( http://rsc.co.sarasota.fl.us/)

            To develop coalitions with government agencies, community groups and businesses that will promote cost effective, resource efficient and environmentally friendly practices.

FLORIDA:  Southface Energy Institute ( http://www.southface.org)

FLORIDA:  Sustainable Sarasota (http://www.sustainablesarasota.com/GreenBuilding.aspx)

FLORIDA:  Urban Environment League of Miami  http://www.uel.org/

FLORIDA:  USGBC Caribbean Chapter (www.usgbc.org/chapters/caribbean/)

FLORIDA:  USGBC Central Florida Chapter ( www.usgbc.org/chapters/centralflorida/)

FLORIDA:  USGBCFloridaGulfCoast Chapter (www.usgbc.org/chapters/floridagulfcoast/)

FLORIDA:  USGBC North Florida Chapter ( www.usgbc.org/chapters/northflorida/)

FLORIDA:  USGBC South Florida Chapter (www.usgbc.org/chapters/southflorida/)

GENERAL:  AIA Committee on the Environment - AIA COTE (http://www.aia.org/cote/cote_default)

Includes top green projects for the last approximately five years  (http://www.AIATopTen.org)

GENERAL:  American Solar Energy Society - ASES (www.ases.org)

Solar Today Magazine, annual conference, and more; encompassing both active and passive solar as well as related renewable energy and sustainable building projects, trends, etc.

GENERAL:  Audubon International -Design for the Environment  http://www.audubonintl.org/e-source/designforenvironment/designforenv.htm

GENERAL:  Building Systems Design, Inc. SpecLink/PerSpective/CostLink

( http://www.bsdsoftlink.com/speclink/sl_frame.htm)

Includes over 700 master specification sections, performance oriented project descriptions, and cost estimating tools for designers

GENERAL:  Center of Excellence for Sustainable Development, U.S. Dept of Energy ( http://www.smartcommunities.ncat.org/)

GENERAL:  EcosustainableHub- http://www.ecosustainable.com.au/links.htm

            linksfrom around the tropical world 

GENERAL:  Ecotecture   http://www.ecotecture.com/

GENERAL:  Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network   www.eere.energy.gov.

GENERAL:  Environmental Building News   http://www.buildinggreen.com/

GENERAL:  Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Program/EPA (http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/epp/ )

            Includes "how to" information and resources, including EPP guidelines

GENERAL:  Federal Energy Management Program, U.S. Department of Energy        ( http://www.eren.doe.gov/femp)

Information on alternative financing, case studies, training opportunities, resources; includes Greening of Grand Canyon and other Greening reports and Greening Federal Facilities Guide

GENERAL:  ForestCertificationResourceCenter: www.certifiedwood.org.

GENERAL:  Forest World: www.forestworld.com.

GENERAL:  General Services Administration - Buildings, Environmental Programs

( http://www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/channelView.do?pageTypeId=8195&channelPage=/ep/channel/gsaOverview.jsp&channelId=-13907 )

The GSA is the owner/provider of facilities for over 100 Federal government agencies and, as such, is among the largest real estate owners in the U.S. This site includes case studies, resources, GSA green-building programs, etc.

GENERAL:  GeoLink Library - Sustainable Topics ( http://www.geonetwork.org/links/)

GENERAL:  Global Action and Information Network (GAIN) ( http://eelink.net/gaindirectories.html)

GENERAL:  Green Affordable Housing Coalition   www.greenaffordablehousing.org

GENERAL:  Green Builder   www.greenbuilder.com

GENERAL:  Green Building Discussion Group ( http://www.buildinggreen.com/elists/)

This Green Building Discussion Group, sponsored by Environmental Building News and REPP-CREST (the Renewable Energy Policy Project and Center for Renewable Energy) is open to anyone interested and includes useful Highlights Page ( http://www.buildinggreen.com/elists/contents.cfm)

GENERAL:  Green Home Guide  www.greenhomeguide.com

GENERAL:  Green PCs ( http://www.greenpcs.com)

GENERAL:  Healthy Building Network   www.healthybuilding.net

GENERAL:  Healthy House   www.healthhouse.org

GENERAL:  International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) ( http://www.iclei.org)

GENERAL:  International Initiative for Sustainable Built Environment ( http://www.greenbuilding.ca)

Information on an international effort to develop a method for assessing "green-ness" of buildings

GENERAL:  International Network for Sustainable Design   http://www.o2.org/

GENERAL:  National Institute of Building Sciences: Whole Building Design Guide ( http://www.wbdg.org)

Design guidance for specific building types; Detailed discussion of strategies for everything from daylighting to sustainable construction practices, materials/products to codes & standards, and numerous other sustainable design topics. Particularly strong with respect to energy-related topics and tools, but not at all lacking in comprehensive coverage of the broader topics of sustainable design-addressing cost-effectiveness of strategies, potential for productivity improvements, and even historic preservation.

GENERAL:  National Renewable Energy Laboratory ( www.nrel.gov)

Building energy analysis, technology assessment, renewable energy systems, and more

GENERAL:  Natural Resources Defense Council   http://www.nrdc.org/

GENERAL:  NREL High Performance Buildings Research ( http://www.nrel.gov/buildings/highperformance/)

Closely coupled to the DOE High performance Buildings Initiative and similarly focused on energy efficiency; Additional specifics on software tools, case studies, related research programs, and the NRELCenter for Buildings and Thermal Systems ( http://www.nrel.gov/buildings_thermal/)

GENERAL:  Pesticide Management Resource Guide - EPA ( http://www.epa.gov/oppfead1/pmreg/)

GENERAL:  President's Council on Sustainable Development ( http://www.whitehouse.gov/PCSD/)

GENERAL:  Rocky Mountain Institute ( http://www.rmi.org/)

GENERAL:  Rocky Mountain Institute ( www.rmi.org)

Sustainable design and green building information and related services

GENERAL:  Smart Growth Network ( http://www.smartgrowth.org/)

GENERAL:  Smart Wood (Rainforest Alliance): www.smartwood.com.

GENERAL:  Sustainable Architecture ( http://www.sustainableabc.com/)

GENERAL:  Sustainable Communities Network ( http://www.sustainable.org/index.html)

GENERAL:  Sustainable Living ( http://solstice.crest.org/index.shtml)

GENERAL:  The Deconstruction Institute  ( http://www.deconstructioninstitute.com/)

GENERAL:  The Deconstruction Institute  ( http://www.deconstructioninstitute.com/)

GENERAL:  U.S. Department of Energy

Building Technologies Program: Software tools; Case studies; Energy statistics and strategies by building type; General methodologies; Publications; other resources

( http://www.eren.doe.gov/buildings)

High Performance Buildings Initiative: Case studies; Design Approach/Strategies; Tools; Technologies; High Performance Buildings Database ( http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/highperformance/)

GENERAL:  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ( http://www.epa.gov)

Includes information on statutes and regulations, indoor air quality, EPA programs and initiatives, and environmental databases (see, for example, Surf Your Watershed under Ecosystems on the extensive Key Topics menu)

GENERAL:  U.S.EPANewBuilding Design Guidance and Target Finder ( http://www.energystar.gov)

Energy Star tools and resources; Target Finder and New Building Design Guidance ( http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=target_finder.bus_target_finder) ( http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=building_design.bus_new_building_design ) assist users with setting energy targets, enhancing the conventional design process, and moving toward energy performance goals (for these and other links, Search: New Building Design