The ranks of LEED certified homes would grow faster if builders appealed more to homeowner’s desire to save money on utilities, says Paul Fisette, a sustainable building expert at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
The NAHB and other organizations are recommending any new immigration law to include a program that opens a legal path for foreign workers to enter the United States when the economy needs them.
The newly formed Energy Efficient Foam Coalition announced its opposition to two building code proposals that would side-step the current code requirement for a long-standing fire safety test known as the E-84 Steiner Tunnel Test.
Proving copyright infringement of a song, screenplay, or house design typically relies on circumstantial evidence because eyewitnesses or a confession by the defendant are rarely available.
The National Fenestration Rating Council approved changes to its NFRC 100 and NFRC 200 standards, allowing certain shading devices to be rated for U-factor and Solar Heat Gain Coefficient.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is working on new building standards after discovering previously unknown indoor air pollutants.
The first group of Passive House-certified homes called the Stables will be ready for occupancy in spring 2013. The row of Passive House single-family townhomes is being developed by Onion Flats group with Domani Developers.
“The first dozen or so attempts to build net-zero [homes] in Oregon fell short because they missed the mark on efficiency and performance,” says Sam Hagerman, co-owner of Hammer & Hand and president of the Passive House Alliance US.
The New Mexico State Court of Appeals struck down an attempt to repeal energy-efficient building codes. The original decision to roll back the building codes came from a suggestion by Gov. Susana Martinez’s small business task force.
A group of Fayetteville, N.C., builders and developers is pressing the city for concessions on the zoning and development codes that were approved nearly two years ago.