GreenSpec Insights
State-of-the-Art Windows Installed in Our New Home
Posted by Alex Wilson on 01/30/2013
Top-performing quad-glazed windows from Alpen installed with three ...
Making Healthier, Greener Foam Insulation
Posted by Alex Wilson on 01/08/2013
A proposed change to the residential building code (International Residential Code) would eliminate the need for halogenated flame retardants in many applications
As readers of this blog know, I’ve come down fairly hard on certain types of foam insulation over the years. The downsides include the blowing agents used in extruded polystyrene (XPS) and most...
Open-web rafters for superinsulated roofs
Posted by Alex Wilson on 12/04/2012
Open-web, parallel-chord joists with solid-wood diagonal struts for use as superinsulated roof rafters.
Last week I wrote about an innovative foundation insulation material, Foamglas, that we used in our new house in Dummerston. This week I’ll talk about the open-web rafters we’re using to achieve a superinsulated roof.
First, a little background. To create highly insulated roofs there are several approaches:
...5 Cool New Products from the Greenbuild 2012 Expo Floor
Posted by Brent Ehrlich on 12/03/2012
From high-tech BIPV to smarter plugs for the home, we found lots of great new products at Greenbuild this year.
Greenbuild is always a great time to find new products and reconnect with...
Gaining Experience with a New Material
Posted by Alex Wilson on 11/29/2012
Using Foamglas instead of polystyrene to insulate beneath our basement slab and on the foundation walls.
In my role with Environmental Building News and our GreenSpec Product Database, I get plenty of opportunity to research and write about innovative building products. That’s one of the really fun aspects of my job.
...
A Few Product Highlights from Greenbuild
Posted by Alex Wilson on 11/19/2012
The Greenbuild conference, as usual, was the place to find out about innovations in green building products.
I attended the Greenbuild Conference and related meetings in San Francisco last week. This is the largest conference and trade show in the green building field, and it is increasingly becoming the national event where large manufacturers roll out new building products.
...Google Gives USGBC $3 Million for Healthy Building Materials Research
Posted by Tristan Roberts on 11/14/2012
In one of the biggest announcements to come out of Greenbuild 2012 in San Francisco thus far, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has announced a $3 million grant from Google to support work on healthier building materials. Google has already been a pioneer in keeping toxic chemicals out of building products used in its building projects (see A Peek Inside Google’s Healthy...
Top-10 Products for 2013 Take the Long View on Resilience and Durability
Posted by Paula Melton on 11/13/2012
Resilience and building science are the focus for our eleventh annual BuildingGreen Top-10 product awards.
Last year's BuildingGreen Top-10 product awards were the first to emphasize resilient design. This year, in the wake of more droughts, wildfires, and the last straw—SuperStorm Sandy—our need to focus on resilience is ever more urgent. Hand in hand with resilience is durability:...
Masonry Heaters
Posted by Alex Wilson on 11/01/2012
One of the cleanest and most efficient ways to burn wood is provided by high-mass masonry heaters.
Over the past two weeks I’ve written about wood stoves and pellet heating. This week I’ll focus on another way to burn wood cleanly and efficiently: using a masonry heater.
A masonry heater, also called a masonry stove or Russian fireplace, is a wood-fired heating system that is fired intermittently at very high temperature to...
How to Prevent Your Worst Building Assembly Fears from Coming True
Posted by Paula Melton on 10/29/2012
Expensive callbacks and lawsuits can result when you don’t attend to the assembly details.
We’ve all heard the nightmare scenarios: water leaks that mar the finest architectural features of a new building; air leaks that cause hidden mold or rot inside the walls; thermal bridges that compromise occupant comfort and energy performance.
Money on the line
These scenarios have two things in common: first, they could all land you in court...
About the Authors
Alex Wilson is founder and executive editor of BuildingGreen, Inc., and coeditor of GreenSpec. For more than 30 years, Alex has been the most trusted voice on energy efficiency and environmentally responsible design and construction. Since launching Environmental Building News (EBN) in 1992, he’s built a reputation, resources, and staff to serve the companies for whom sustainable design is a core value.
Brent Ehrlich is BuildingGreen’s products editor, conducts research and writes product and category insights for the company’s GreenSpec product directory. He also contributes product reviews and feature articles for Environmental Building News, and is a contributing editor to McGraw-Hill’s GreenSource magazine.
Jennifer Atlee is research director at BuildingGreen, responsible for guiding the in-depth independent research that is the hallmark of all BuildingGreen resources. With her broad knowledge in sustainability, analytical acumen, and passion for improving the standards used to assess the sustainability of products, processes, and organizations, Jennifer brings strong direction to the research process behind GreenSpec’s product-screening decisions, and technical rigor to BuildingGreen’s custom research projects.
Tristan Roberts is Editorial Director at BuildingGreen, Inc., a position that requires broad knowledge about sustainable design, deep understanding of products, and mastery of all things LEED. Tristan Roberts brings that to Environmental Building News, GreenSpec, and LEEDuser, a plug-in tool supported by the U.S. Green Building Council to provide credit-by-credit advice for LEED projects.
Peter Yost brings more than 25 years' experience in building, researching, teaching, writing, and consulting on high-performance homes to his role as director of residential services for BuildingGreen. He has been called upon to provide his building-science expertise to the nation’s leading homebuilding programs, including NAHB’s Green Building Standard, USGBC's LEED for Homes, EPA’s WaterSense, and the U.S. Department of Energy's Building America.
Paula Melton, BuildingGreen’s managing editor, brings a dynamic style, critical mind, and sharp wit to the many feature articles, blog posts, and product reviews she writes for GreenSpec, BuildingGreen.com, Environmental Building News, and other BuildingGreen-supported websites.
Nadav Malin is president of BuildingGreen, where he oversees the company’s industry-leading information and community-building resources and consulting services. He also convenes and facilitates gatherings of industry leaders, and lends his technical expertise and vision to GreenSource magazine. Nadav was the founding chair of the Materials & Resources Technical Advisory Group for LEED.
Recent Discussions
I too have been trying to find a non-toxic sofa and am frustrated by the lack of options.
I have a ratty-looking but structurally-sound...
I am a little (a lot) late to this conversation, but I think the only wood-burning appliances should be direct vent masonry ovens which burn at...
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Tanya,
In regards to open-cell spray foam insulation it is a great choice epsecially in your application. With the right type of spray...