More Resources—Green
Building
General Information | Energy Efficiency | Water Usage | Building
Materials
Indoor Environments | Building Sectors | Deconstruction/Recycling Building Materials
Specifications/Codes | Organizations | State-specific Information
Low Impact Development | Landscaping | Directories | Design Guides | Sustainability
General
Information
EPA
Green Building Website
Portal to numerous EPA websites covering green building issues including
Energy Star, Indoor Air, Water, C&D Debris, Brownfields, Smart
Growth and more.
US Green Building Council
The U.S. Green Building (USGBC) is a non-profit organization committed to expanding sustainable building practices. USGBC is composed of more than 12,000 organizations from across the building industry that are working to advance structures that are environmentally responsible, profitable, and healthy places to live and work.
USBC Local Chapter Locator
USGBC Chapters provide local green building resources, education, and leadership opportunities. Get involved in your local chapter to connect with green building experts in your area; share strategies, resources, and best practices; tour green building projects; and more.
Whole Building Design Guide
A portal used by Federal agencies and others for design infomration for public and commercial buildings.
Resource
Efficient Residential Construction: Industry Web Directory
The Peaks to Prairies Residential Environment Web Site provides
the following services: . Technical Assistance and Referrals . Industry
Contacts . Database of Resources and Publications . News . Events
Calendar . Frequently Asked Questions
Managing Your Environmental Responsibilities (MYER) - A Planning
Guide for Construction and Development This document explains
in detail the environmental obligations that construction
companies can face across the various federal laws (stormwater,
air, wetlands, waste...). Use it to factor in costs during
the bidding process, assign responsibilities and use the
checklists to self-audit.
Energy
Efficiency
A Guide for Energy Efficient Lighting. This site identifies practical, low-cost ideas for different lighting technologies and methods that can help reduce costs and energy use.
Energy Efficiency Resources For Homes & Apartments. Yellow Key Reality maintains useful links to various resources concerning energy efficiency.
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network
The Department of Energy Energy
Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network (EREN) website provides
a comprehensive resource for DOE's energy efficiency and renewable
energy information, plus access to more than 600 links and 80,000
documents.
Energy
Star
The program promotes partnerships with homebuilders,
office building managers, product manufacturers, and many other
organizations to improve the energy efficiency of homes, buildings,
and various building components and appliances. Specific programs
are available for labeling buildings that meet EnergyStar criteria.
Specific building sectors covered include commercial, new homes,
schools, and home improvement.
Green
Power Partnership
A
new voluntary program designed to reduce the environmental impact
of electricity generation by promoting renewable energy from a variety
of sources, including landfill gas. The Partnership will demonstrate
the advantages of choosing renewable energy, provide objective and
current information about the green power market, and reduce the
transaction costs of acquiring green power.
Nicor Home Service's Energy Efficiency Guidebook for Kids!
Good energy use and conservation habits can be instilled into our society through education and practice. This especially includes our young people who can have an impact for many years to come. Kids can do their part by telling other people, including family members, about energy-saving methods. This will help to raise awareness in the community, which will have a very significant impact in the long haul. This guidebook provides links to numerous resources that contain practical energy conservation methods.
Water
Usage
EPA's New WaterSense Program
WaterSense is a partnership program sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Its mission is to protect the future of our nation's water supply by promoting and enhancing the market for water-efficient products and services. Saving water is easy—many products are already available for use, and it doesn't require changing the way most of us live or do business. By choosing products labeled through the WaterSense program, you know you'll be saving wate for future generations.
Building
Materials
Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability (BEES) version 4.0. A new software tool for selecting environmentally preferred, cost-effective building products is now available. It updates data on more than 200 products and adds 30 new products for review. It also offers users the option of a new set of consensus weights for scoring the environmental impact of individual building products, based on a BEES stakeholder panel convened last year.
Green Seal
Green
Seal is the independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting
the environment by promoting the manufacture and
sale of environmentally responsible consumer products. It sets
environmental
standards and awards a "Green Seal of Approval" to products that cause
less harm to the environment than other similar products.
Peaks
to Prairies Residential Construction Technical Assistance
Resource efficient building practices will allow residential construction
professionals to meet consumer demand, increase profits, provide
savings for the consumer and enhance marketing opportunities while
using resources in a sustainable manner.
GreenSpec/EPA
CPG Recycled Content Project
This
database of green specifications includes more than 1,650 product
vendor listings that EPA Comprehensive Procurement Guideline products
flagged and added information on EPA Region 9 major metropolitan
area product availability. This industry-standard green building
information is used by approximately 10,000 subscribers and more
than 7,500 web hits are recorded monthly.
Indoor
Environments
Indoor airPLUS. EPA created Indoor airPLUS to help builders meet the growing consumer preference for homes with improved indoor air quality.
EPA's Indoor Environments Division conducts numerous research and educational projects to improve indoor environmental quality, including indoor air and other factors affecting building occupant health, comfort, and productivity.
Health House Advantage (American Lung Association)
A nationally recognized program for raising the standards of residential air quality and energy efficiency.
Building
Sectors
EPA Financing for Environmental Compliance
A step-by-step financial planning process that can help your community determine capital asset technical and financial needs and find available air, waste and water resources to meet your compliance goals.
Green Infrastructure. Green infrastructure is a cost effective and environmentally friendly approach to reduce stormwater and other excess flows entering combined or separate sewer systems. Green infrastructure is a way to protect surface waters and drinking water supplies, reduce drinking water and stormwater treatment costs, reduce urban heat island impacts, and provide more sustainable water resource management systems.
Green Guide for Health Care™.
A best practice guide for healthy and sustainable building design,
construction, and operations for the healthcare industry.
Healthy
Schools
Collaborative for High-Performance Schools—www.CHPS.net
LEED Resources
Find all the resources you need to help you achieve LEED certification, inlcuding reference guides for each rating system, templates for submitting projects' documentation, other reference documents, and the tools you need to keep your projects' status up-to-date.
Federal
Environmental Executive - Federal Green Building
The
Office of the Federal Environmental Executive (OFEE) has made the
greening of Federal facilities one of their top priorities. OFEE
has begun researching existing Federal green building practices
and developing options to facilitate the greening of more Federal
facilities.
Deconstruction/Recycling
Building Materials
Characterization
of Building-Related Construction and Demolition Debris in the United
States
The purpose of this report is to characterize the quantity and composition
of building-related construction and demolition (C&D) debris generated
in the United States, and to summarize the waste management practices
for this waste stream. C&D debris is produced when new structures
are built and when existing structures are renovated or demolished.
Structures include all residential and nonresidential buildings
as well as public works projects, such as streets and highways,
bridges, piers, and dams. Many state definitions of C&D debris also
include trees, stumps, earth, and rock from the clearing of construction
sites. (94 pages)
Building
Savings: Strategies for Waste Reduction of Construction and Demolition
Debris from Buildings
The Waste Reduction Record-Setters Project fosters the development
of exceptional waste reduction programs by documenting successful
ones. These programs can be used as models by others implementing
their own programs to reduce disposal. This fact sheet packet is
aimed at local governments that want to encourage more building-related
construction and demolition debris recovery, building owners and
developers interested in green building design, and building contractors
seeking a competitive edge.
Toolbase
Services: Construction Waste Management Web Site
The Home Building Industry's Technical Information Resource
Peaks
to Prairies Residential Construction Technical Assistance
Resource efficient building practices will allow residential construction
professionals to meet consumer demand, increase profits, provide
savings for the consumer and enhance marketing opportunities while
using resources in a sustainable manner.
Deconstruction
Assessment Tools and Technical Training Projects, Gainesville, FL
EPA awarded a series of grants to the Florida Department
of Environmental Protection and the University of Florida's Center
for Construction and Environment to enhance markets for C&D
debris and foster deconstruction.
WasteWise
Building Challenge
WasteWise
is an EPA voluntary partnership program that helps U.S. organizations
reduce their solid waste, benefitting both their bottom line and
the environment. In early 2002, WasteWise launched a Building Challenge
that challenges partners to reduce, reuse, and recycle C&D debris
and purchase recycled building products.
Asphalt
Shingle Recycling
Developed
through a grant from EPA Region 5 to the Construction Materials
Recycling Association (CMRA), with technical support from the University
of Florida, this site provides extensive information on asphalt
shingle recycling, including research results, market data, regulatory
information, and additional links
Converting
Wood Pallet Waste-to-Flooring
Tests the feasibility of converting wood pallets
at the end of their useful life into value-added flooring products.
The funds will support the actual start-up of the new pallet flooring
product line by providing technical expertise, developing partnerships
with retail building suppliers, and monitoring the supply chain
and customer feedback. The funds also will be used for public education
and information dissemination via case studies, web publishing,
and professional journal articles to assist in project replication
in other regions.
Residential
Reuse Program,
Phoenix, AZ
Stardust Building Supplies, Inc., a nonprofit organization,
review demolition and renovation permits, and contacted realtors
to provide deconstruction services. The organization diverts reusable
building materials from landfills and offers them to nonprofit housing
and shelter groups and the public at discounted rates.
Construction
and Demolition Debris Source Reduction and Recycling Project,
Santa Barbara, CA
The
Community Environmental Council worked with a team of stakeholders
develop and implement model construction and demolition debris recycling
guidelines. Three pilot projects with construction and demolition
diversion rates of 83%, 93%, and 86% were conducted and fact sheets
were developed.
Drum
Top Crushing Device Policy for Flourescent Lamps
Data
on mercury and other emissions from the use of DTC devices is being
collected to develop a national policy on the use of DTC devices.
The use of DTC devices for managing fluorescent lamps has been subject
to inconsistent regulatory determinations, in part, because there
isn't a clear national strategy for controlling emissions from these
devices. A clear policy directed at protecting human health and
the environment should help reduce mercury emissions.
RCRA
Federal Facility Buy Recycled Requirement
Requirement
for Federal agencies to buy EPA-designated recycled building materials.
Administrative penalties are not authorized, but EPA and State RCRA
and multi-media inspectors can issue a notice of violation or enter
into a compliance agreement.
Specifications/Codes
Growing
Greener: Conservation by Design
Using development to save land sounds like a contradiction. But this is exactly what 42 municipalities throughout southeastern Pennsylvania are doing, since they adopted Growing Greener: Conservation by Design ordinances developed by Natural Lands Trust. These "conservation subdivision" ordinances plan development around natural resources and set aside at least half of every development parcel as open space, accelerating land conservation in growing communities at little public cost.
Model
Green Construction Specifications on the Whole Building Design Guide
Developing model construction specification language
to assist federal agencies in meeting green goals and mandates (e.g.,
CPG, EnergyStar, E.O. 13101, LEED, EPA Waste Minimization Priority
Chemicals, NTTAA, etc.).
American
Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Standards
The
Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) Program has been working
to engage nongovernmental standards-developing organizations in
developing environmental standards. Specifically, there has been
a great deal of success in ASTM's Performance of Buildings Committee.
The Subcommittee on Sustainability is focusing its efforts on revising
E2129 "Standard Practice for Data Collection for Sustainability
Assessment of Building Products" to include questions specific to
certain types of building products such as cement, wood, HVAC systems,
and floor coverings. The intended audience for the standard includes
building industry professionals -- architects, engineers, contractors,
planners, developers, and others -- who possess a broad, general
understanding of sustainability issues relative to the performance
of buildings, but who would benefit from additional data to inform
their product choices. Other efforts within this ASTM Subcommittee
include the development of a Standard Guide laying out general principles
of sustainability (economic, environmental, and social) as it relates
to building, and a Standard Practice for assessing, documenting,
and reporting sustainability as it relates to building.
EPA
Green Buildings
EPA facilities and green features are listed. Many
EPA green building and lease projects are ongoing.
EPA
Green Lease Riders
Region
7 Green Lease Rider
Kansas
City Science and Technology Center Green Lease Rider
Green lease rider language that has been successfully developed
and implemented by EPA/GSA teams for leasing healthier, greener
EPA facilities.
Research
Triangle Park Green Building
Which
includes general project documentation and technical specifications.
Organizations
NAHB
Research Center Green Buildings Fact Sheet
US
Green Building Council
The leading
coalition representing the green building industry, developing the
Leadership In Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Rating System,
and providing policy guidance, education, and marketing tools. EPA
supports program development, participates on LEED content development,
promotes LEED training, and participates in local Chapters.
National
Association of Homebuilders Research Center (NAHBRC)
NAHBRC
supports residential green building helping the home building industry
to understand the "how" and "why" about this trend, providing training,
and developing reference documents and tools. EPA has supported
NAHBRC research and training.
State-specific
Information
California
Green Building Design and Construction Web Site
This web site offers a lot of information on sustainable design
or building "green". Includes are a Sustainable Building Tool Kit,
a blueprint for state facilities, a review of construction projects
using sustainable materials, training programs for state and local
government, and much more.
Vermont
DEC: Reducing Vermont's Construction Waste Stream
Guide to Reducing Vermont's Construction Waste with links to: Fall
2002 Waste Reduction Grants Available Salvaged walk-in cooler doors,
McFarland House renovation, Barre, VT. Engelberth Construction Corp.
Vermont Markets for Reusable, Salvaged and Recyclable Materials
New Hampshire Markets Massachusetts Markets ANR Waste Reduction
Plan - ACT 250 permit application, schedule B, criterion 1B (o)
- State Buildings and General Services Recycling Planning Calculating
the Cost Effectiveness of Job Site Recycling Contract Specification
Language for Job Site Waste Reduction Planning for Waste Reduction
Vermont Jobsite Case Studies Green Building Resources Links to other
states & National Associations Vermont Construction Waste Management
Reports Vermont Business Materials Exchange
Low
Impact Development
EPA Green Infrastructure Website
An informational site on green infrastructure techniques, which utilize natural systems, or engineered systems that mimic natural landscapes, to capture, cleanse and reduce stormwater runoff using plants, soils and microbes.
Rooftops
to Rivers—Green Stategies for Controlling Stormwater and Combined
Sewer Overflows.
This May 2006 report is a policy guide for
decision makers looking to implement green strategies in their
own area, including nine case studies of cities that have successfully
used green techniques to create a healthier urban environment.
Smart Growth
This EPA site provides information on various smart growth topics, and links to other helpful websites. Three EPA publications described and linked at this site are: Using Smart Growth Techniques as Stormwater Best Management Practices, 2005 (EPA 231-B-05-002); Protecting Water Resources with Higher-Density Development, 2006 (EPA 231-R-06-001); and Parking Spaces/Community Places: Finding Balance through Smart Growth Solutions, 2006 (EPA 231-K-06-001)
Low
Impact Development (LID): A Literature Review
A literature review was conducted to determine the availability
and reliability of data to assess the effectiveness of low impact
development (LID) practices for controlling stormwater runoff volume
and reducing pollutant loadings to receiving waters.
The
Low Impact Development Center, Inc. Web Site
Landscaping
P2RX Topic Hubs—Landscaping
This primer is intended as a quick guide to the essential P2 information on landscaping, as well as a compilation of pertinent on-line resources.
EPA
Greenscapes
The US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) GreenScapes program
provides cost-efficient and environmentally friendly solutions for
large-scale landscaping. Designed to help preserve natural resources
and prevent waste and pollution, GreenScapes encourages companies,
government agencies, and other entities to make more holistic decisions
regarding waste generation and disposal and the associated impacts
on land, water, air, and energy use. By focusing on the "4 Rs"-
reduce, reuse, recycle, and rebuy - you can help improve both your
bottom line and the environment.
Water
Efficient Landscaping. This booklet describes the benefits
of water efficient landscaping. It includes several examples
of successful projects and programs, as well as contacts, references,
and a short bibliography.
Directories
Sustainable Sources
Provides a green building professionals directory,
listing of green real estate, sustainable sources bookstore and
information on green building solutions.
Design
Guides
Whole Building Design Guide
The Whole Building Design Guide is a complete Internet resource
to a wide range of building-related design guidance, criteria
and technology.
Sustainability
EPA offers many sustainability opportunities including smart growth, creating structures and using processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle.
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