Articles

Deep energy retrofits can be a gold mine for real estate investors. A project in Silicon Valley demonstrates how a net zero energy retrofit led to profit.

Individual components or a preconfigured system? R-values. Fire safety. Sustainability. These and other issues are topics of debate, and often misinformation, among specifiers. This article parses out facts from commonly held beliefs.

When faced with a multitude of products to see within nine football fields of exhibit space at AHR Expo in January in Las Vegas, how does an attendee find the best sustainable solutions?

Beginning Nov. 1, the fourth version of the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED certification program will be its only active certification.

When dealing with poor speech privacy and noise control, “too quiet” are not the words most occupants would choose to describe their workplace. However, a lack of background sound is often what lies at the heart of these issues. Many high-performance facilities exhibit library-like conditions that allow occupants to clearly hear conversations and noises, even those that are relatively low in volume or generated a good distance away from the listener.

The 531 exhibitors on display at the 2016 Greenbuld International Conference & Expo 2016 Oct. 5-7 offered opportunities to see a wide variety of products and services available to professionals within the sustainable building industry.

A recent study investigated case studies from High Performing Buildings magazine and ASHRAE Technology Awards from 2010 to 2015. It evaluated the impact of factors such as location, climate, HVAC and building type.

In the developed world, mechanical systems such as perimeter heating, compensate for shortcomings in envelope performance to provide a thermally comfortable environment. However, with an increased interest in maximizing energy efficiency and façade transparency, as well as providing healthy spaces for occupants, this model is due for reconsideration.

The open-plan office spaces now ubiquitous across many industries are a source of annoyance for some people, especially those who prefer freedom from distractions, and for those who want to control their interactions with others. Generally speaking, research suggests that people in open-plan offices are less happy with their workspaces overall, and may be more likely to call in sick.

The philosophy of “form follows function” guided architecture for much of the 20th century. Now, even in a time when building performance is being scrutinized as never before, architects and developers are paying a great deal of attention to buildings’ form. Building science often is cloaked in a great deal of art.