News > Building Science
The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) is helping to dispel five common myths about fire sprinklers, and highlighting the benefits of home sprinklers to kickoff Fire Safety and Awareness Week (May 6-12), which is part of National Building Safety Month in May.
Meritage Homes shares information on their new MGV5 pilot, which achieves the home innovation they wanted to start building four years ago. Durable, Healthy, Safe, Sustainable, emotionally engaging, behavior adapting, and achieving ZNE for an average consumer with no compromises in first cost, lifestyle, or design.
The latest research from the Dept. of Energy’s Building America program challenges many of the most common ways of building - and offers better alternatives.
Comparing the Envelope Performance of a Virtual Home Using 3D Technology
Brick siding may be worth the premium cost, especially when you factor in the environmental perks.
By using the natural insulating qualities of soil and an innovative, fast assembly method, this company is challenging the sticks and bricks model.
“Project 234” is the first energy neutral home in Santa Monica. Built LEED-H Platinum, it’s above and beyond its contemporaries.
Builders don’t necessarily want to hear it, but talk to some architects and they’ll tell you that prefabricated homes are the wave of the future. Not only do they make it possible to build unique, high end homes for a fraction of the price of their stick-built cousins, but they’re way more environmentally sustainable to boot, say these prefab aficionados.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has taken on a project of major significance--demonstrating that a typical American home in the suburbs can be built to net-zero standards. In other words, it will look and perform just like a "normal" house, but will produce as much energy as it consumes over the course of a year.
Sealing ducts is cost-effective energy-efficiency practice that offers a high return on investment.
Here's how to make the EnergySmart Home Scale work for you.
They don’t just say it’s green; they crawl all over it and make sure it’s green.
This custom home in Coupeville, Wash., uses SIP technology, vigilant air sealing, and passive solar orientation to keep energy use down.
Eco-conscious owner behavior meets time-tested green principles in this off-the-grid home in the Hill country outside San Antonio.
Everything you ever wanted to know about sustainable plumbing strategies.
Fiber cement siding continues to grow in popularity. If you are ready to make the switch, keep these install tips in mind.
To keep pace with increasingly advanced glazings, window and door makers have fine-tuned the science of installation.
The first of its kind in the country, ZETA launches modular, LEED Gold, high density urban infill project in San Francisco.
Once notorious leakers, residential flat roofs have been rebuilding their reputation in recent years. Better coatings and insulating systems, plus the ability to integrate solar and rooftop gardens have builders and architects taking a second look.
New products and a better understanding of building science can help you insulate, waterproof and improve almost any underground space.
A new ranger’s residence at John Day Fossil Beds National Monument marks the first National Park Service house in the United States to achieve net-zero-energy.
This residence is full of surprises. A sprawling high-performance beauty, it's situated in The Prairie, the first green development in northwest Texas.
Distinct as the first photovoltaic (PV)-powered production home in coastal Brevard County, Florida, the stylish St. Croix sets the pace for LifeStyle Homes’ leadership in developing net-zero housing. Completed in August 2010, this four-bedroom, three-bath revised model is the company’s first net-zero-energy residence.
Photo courtesy of Dow Building Solutions. What makes a building shell “super” efficient? That’s a moving target, but German-inspired passive house (or passivhaus) concepts are a good baseline: an airtight building enclosure, extreme insulating values, high-performance fenestration, passive solar heating and natural ventilation. To hit those marks, however, you have very little room for error.
This prototype for a regenerative community won the 2010 World Architecture Community award. Design: Jason Jackson
Can pre-fab construction cut the cost of a low-energy home?
Wall systems made of tires, straw and log ends seem eccentric, but they're maturing to embrace best building practices.
Construction materials made with fly ash offer great sustainable and performance benefits, but are they environmentally safe?
The thermal mass effect is a clear selling point for insulated concrete wall systems. What’s less clear is how--and where--this effect works.
Here's the Green Building Pyramid we developed in 2009 and updated in 2011 to clarify the meaning of building sustainably.
When asked what elements will have the biggest impact on the green building market next year, performance-based codes was the highest response, second only to affordability. Our next survey dug deeper to learn how our audience is affected by codes and how active they are in this arena. Here are the results.
Green Builder magazine interviewed Robert Broad of Pulte in Las Vegas, Nevada about being an Energy Star Builder.
Deconstruction is a growing trend that keeps waste out of the landfill, creates new jobs, and saves natural resources and energy.
SIPs deliver winter surprise for unsuspecting owner.
This is an interesting concept--storing energy from air conditioners in ice during peak cooling hours. We haven't seen one of these "Ice Bear" units at work in person yet, but the promotional video makes it look like a real game changer. Let's hope it lives up to the hype. Here's the video.
Help our country to kick the oil habit with high-performance houses.
Offer your home buyers a more durable and safe home with a lightning prevention system.
This one-day intensive workshop cover everything you need to get Form-Based Codes up and running in your community.
The nation’s first state-wide green building and water saving building code addresses products, building techniques, and consumer behavior.
What kinds of homes will be able to withstand climate change?
Pioneering stronger buildings.
Troubleshooting surface condensation on windows.
Underlayment made from recycled tires increases durability.
Construction of D.C. area's first passive house begins in Maryland.
Sealing ducts offers a high return on investment.
Understand the science to spec the right product.
This building company had green at its core from the beginning; the Building America program helped take it to the next level.
Mitigate water intrusion when using adhered manufactured stone veneer.
New programs and products help VISION House Orlando up the ante on safety.
Water heating is one of the biggest energy users in the home. Solar alternatives could lighten the load.
Plastics may be convenient and inexpensive, but they come with many hidden costs. Should we collect and recycle them, or rethink the whole experiment?
Study: The depth to which nails are driven impacts how durable the structure will be over time.
Simple “caps” for attic stairways offer an affordable way to reduce air infiltration and protect indoor air quality.
In response to demand for tighter more foolproof insulating jobs, some big insulation companies have cleverly merged old and new products and techniques under one roof.
Air conditioning upgrades are not always an easy sell, but if you factor in rising energy costs, resistance fades away.