As consumers rush to meet the Dec. 31 deadline for the  tax credit on energy efficient home improvements, builders are finishing off a flurry of end-of-the-year projects. When things slow in January, builders should cast their gaze to clean technology, which benefits from a tax credit that won’t expire until Dec. 31, 2016. Just like the [...]

EcoHome magazine reports on the launch of a new non-profit advocacy group called the Passive House Institute U.S. What’s a passive house? According to this new advocacy group: A Passive House is a very well-insulated, virtually air-tight building that is primarily heated by passive solar gain and by internal gains from people, electrical equipment, etc. [...]

In honor of, well, nothing in particular, today’s industry news round-up is focused on a series of news items about “green” homebuilding and design. We hope you’ll find something interesting and informative in the stories below. Home Appliance Industry to Develop Sustainability Standards Builder Online “Interest in greener appliances is moving beyond measurements of energy [...]

Our friends at Re-nest have posted a very useful life cycle assessor. Looking at it, you realize that there’s a lot to think about when acquiring a new item. When you purchase a widget, it’s helpful to think about it all the way from the raw materials to its disposal. And there are other questions [...]

“Green” building means a lot of things to a lot of people. What does it mean to you and your clients, and how, if at all, do you measure how green something is? One Project Closer recently explored this subject, sharing these benchmarks: Water conservation: How are you minimizing wasted water? Energy efficiency: Similarly, how [...]

Last week, we asked how important “green” is to your business and your customers. This week, a post from Charles & Hudson’s Green Building site shows that green building is on the rise. C&H cites a thorough report from NPR that examines the trend and the impact of LEED-certified construction. While much of the U.S. [...]