Architects & Builders

Some day, all our homes and office buildings will turn off the lights when we’re not around, make sure the coffee pot’s off, adjust our thermostats for maximum comfort and energy savings, and generally be the responsible energy users we have failed to be. It's the promise of the smart…

Oil-drenched Abu Dhabi has been sinking billions into colossal clean energy projects. And now it's promising to enact the world's toughest green building standards. The measures, called the Estidama Program (Arabic for "sustainability"), are still in development -- part of Plan Abu Dhabi 2030,…

Airlines need to scramble to cope with skyrocketing oil bills and dirty footprints. Fuel now represents 40 percent of airline expenses, some analysts say. Commercial aircraft account for about five percent of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, and 12 percent in the US, by some…

Rising fuel prices in the UK are boosting demand for an innovative government home retrofit scheme that reduces fuel bills for poorer families and saves thousands of tons of CO2 emissions a year. Since it began eight years ago, the scheme has brought relief to millions of UK citizens. Poor…

Think "green building" and what advances come to mind? FSC-certified wood or LEED credits, perhaps. Think again. Try heavy machinery.The $90 billion construction equipment industry is going hybrid, with Japan's Komatsu being first to release a product. read more

In my last post, I covered the good news and the great news about US windpower: how growth is surpassing the most optimistic projections, and, based on an extrapolation of Department of Energy figures, wind power is poised to replace 37% of the electricity from our coal plants. But alongside…

Lagging so far behind the rest of Europe in delivering green energy, the UK needs to make a bold statement. Two recent developments have collided to make that more likely. First came the government's ambitious programme to up the production of renewable energy. It will require generating a…

Let’s face it: The Bush Administration has made a mess of things. It is now clear, if it hasn’t been all along, that by the time George Bush leaves office, the White House will have wasted eight years of leadership on the Mother of All Issues. If those eight years are a profound…

The brass ring for solar energy has long been "grid parity," or delivering electricity to the grid at the prevailing local price. But the solar photovoltaic (PV) march toward parity has been delayed, ironically, by the sector's own surging popularity. The main reason? Supply of the raw…

Architecture 2030 has a knack for cutting through complexity and clarifying what needs to be done to dramatically reduce emissions from the building sector. Take the organization's 2030 Challenge. It provides a pathway for the building sector to reach carbon neutrality by 2030. That's no small…

It's called SB 375, a law which passed the California senate after winning passage in the assembly. It awaits Governor Schwarzenegger signature, and its a trailblazing measure designed to address both urban sprawl and the global warming emissions it produces. The legislation's architect,…

The economic stimulus plan approved by the U.S. House this week would invest billions of dollars in renovating government buildings for greater energy efficiency, but the plan is missing a key element to ensure that our tax money has the greatest positive impact: high standards. Building experts…

In his first address to a joint session of Congress, President Obama called on lawmakers tonight to create a market-based cap for carbon emissions and to commit to a future built on renewable energy. The president's own commitment to clean energy as an economic driver for the nation was clear…

As governors across the country set ambitious goals for greenhouse gas reductions, county and regional task forces are emerging to take the challenge to the streets. Counties have unique advantages when it comes to dealing with the effects of climate change. They have regional jurisdiction…

Covering the green build environment over the last eight years has been a journey filled with surprises, not the least of which was the quick integration of green building principles to the mainstream build environment. When the U.S. Green Building Council launched the Leadership in Energy and…