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Boon Edam's Power-Generating Revolving Door

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All right, I'll admit it. The fact that the Netherlands-based revolving-door manufacturer Boon Edam has a model that uses human power to generate electricity is mostly a gimmick. By entering or leaving through the NRG+ Tourniket, a generator built into the revolving door mechanism powers three LED spotlights in the ceiling of the door.

But if it's a gimmick, it's a great one--if it gets more people to use revolving doors instead of standard hinged doors in commercial buildings.

Green Building Myth #6: Technology Will Solve All Our Problems

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The last several weeks I've written about a number of common myths of green building.

What's Another Name for Geoengineering?

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Geoengineering. That's what they're calling some of the more high-tech proposals for solving the climate crisis.

A Skyscraper Based on a Plant

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An article in the UK version of Wired talks about a design for a skyscraper that would collect water in much the way plants do. The skin of the building collects rainwater, guiding it to storage cisterns below ground. It could then be used for toilets, irrigation, clothes washing, and other uses for which potable water is not required. Unfortunately, the design is just that--a model created for a competition. It's not likely to be built any time soon.

Sage Triple-Glazed, Tintable Glazing

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I've been following Sage Electrochromics for a long time. In 2006, BuildingGreen named SageGlass one of our Top-10 Green Building Products. It was the first practical, durable dynamic glazing that worked in exterior façade applications. This week, the company rolled out a new, much-higher-performance product.

By way of context, most glazing is "static." That means it has certain performance properties that remain the same, including visible light transmittance (Tvis), solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC), and U-factor.

Passive House in North America

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Our April EBN feature article--"Passive House Arrives in North America: Could it Revolutionize the Way We Build?"--went online today. This was a fun article to research and write, because it put me in touch with my low-energy building roots.

Green Building Myth #5: Adding Solar is the Best Way to Green a Home

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The last several weeks I've written about common myths of green building: that it has to cost more to build green, that green building is mostly about materials, that green products don't work as well as conventional products, and that

InPro's New BioPolymer

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InPro Corporation was founded in 1979 as Institutional Products Corporation (IPC). Originally a distributor of high-impact door and wall-protection products for the healthcare industry, IPC began its own manufacturing in 1986, changed its name to InPro Corporation in 1995 (cleverly retaining IPC), and today is one of the leading producers of a wide range of wall and corner-protection components, plastic surfacing products, handrails, and signage used in commercial and institutional buildings.

Green Building Myth #4: Green Products Are Hard to Find

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The last few weeks I've written about common myths of green building: that it has to cost more to build green, that green building is mostly about materials, and that green products don't work as well as conventional products.

FourYears.Go

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If you thought making substantive change by 2030 was a challenge, how about by 2014? A new initiative launched last week and getting spread around the Internet today, 'fouryears.go' says "There is still time to act, but no time to waste." Started by Pachamama Alliance and Wieden+Kennedy--the ad agency behind Nike's 'just do it' (they're donating their services to do a ma

Handy Reference Tool for LEED Regional Priority Credits

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What are the environmental priorities in your region? How can you find out?

As you may know, USGBC responded to the longstanding call for regionalization of LEED by establishing Regional Priority Credit 1 (RPc1) in its LEED 2009 family of rating systems (NC, CS, CI, Schools, EBOM).

Greening Sin City?

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Years ago a friend and I borrowed my mother's minivan, left our small college, and drove west in search of the Great American Wilderness. For months we steered clear of cities in favor of National Parks and Forests, but as we passed through the Sierras we couldn't help but notice how close Death Valley is to that other American extreme: Las Vegas. We drove out of Death Valley around midnight, and soon the artificial sun of Sin City was glowing on the eastern horizon.

Zehnder's High-Efficiency HRV Systems

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Our next feature article for Environmental Building News is on the Passive House standard for ultra-low-energy buildings--a standard that originated about 20 years ago in Germany. Excitement about Passive House in North America is resulting in some really cool products being introduced from Europe.

People Like Urine-Separating Toilets

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If you've been following this blog for a while, you know that I wrote about urine-separating toilets last year. You'll also know that I'm rather enamored of the image at right.

Green Remodeling Workshops Coming to a Town Near You

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Ever since the premier of USGBC's two-day REGREEN workshop in Phoenix, AZ at Greenbuild last November, Annette, Rob, and I have been gearing up for a slew of green remodeling workshops across the country -- the REGREEN Roadshow. The REGREEN workshops are a lot of fun to teach (and take) for two reasons: one, the blend of builder/remodeler with interior design perspectives is completely refreshing; and two, the substantial and substantive group work woven into the workshop makes for an energetic and invigorating approach.