Content about Building engineering

Lowe’s will begin carrying a line of outdoor sheds made of structural insulated panels (SIPS) at its 1,700 retail locations, as well as through its website. But unlike traditional SIPS – rigid foam insulation between two panels of oriented strand board (OSB) – the new product will be made with sheets of magnesium oxide, often referred to as MgO.

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) said its LEED for Homes program crossed the 20,000-home milestone.

More than 20,000 homes across the United States have earned certification through the national voluntary certification system that provides guidance and verification that homes are designed and built to be energy- and resource-efficient and healthy for occupants.

U.S. Representative Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson has sent a letter to U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) president and CEO Rick Fedrizzi, urging changes to the treatment of forest products under the council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) 2012 rating system. LEED is currently taking public comment as it revises its evaluation process and standards, which will be released in November of 2012.

There’s a lot riding on how the United States government defines green building. A review process has groups jockeying for position, according to an article in Federal Times.

Among the building material groups pressing for revisions to the LEED-centric status quo are the PVC pipe manufacturers and the lumber industry.

SFI Inc., the non-profit organization that oversees the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) program, has issued a statement criticizing the third and latest draft of LEED 2012 for only issuing LEED points or credits for certified wood that is “FSC or better.”

SFI maintains that the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), which administers the LEED program, continues to put up artificial barriers, shutting out 75% of North America’s forests that are certified by programs other than the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has announced the new elected officers and directors to its 2012 board of directors. The USGBC’s membership elected the following to serve as directors:

Tax credits for energy efficiency home improvements like insulation, replacement windows, and upgraded HVAC systems will end on Dec. 31, and Congress has not yet renewed them for 2012.

This warning from the Alliance to Save Energy gives homeowners less than a month to take advantage of as much as $500 in tax credits on their 2011 federal tax returns.

An A. O. Smith manufacturing facility in Johnson City, Tenn., earned the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver certification. 

The 470,000-sq.-ft. Johnson City facility manufactures residential and light commercial gas and electric water heaters.

An evaluation of the Green Glue Noiseproofing System found, among other things, that the system is indeed green.

Saint-Gobain recently commissioned Sustainable Solutions Corporation to undertake an evaluation of its Green Glue Noiseproofing System to understand how Green Glue could contribute to earning points in U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification system.

Among the findings:

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has honored KB Home’s Primera Terra community with a 2011 LEED for Homes award. The LEED Platinum project, one of the largest in California, was recognized as the best in the Multi-Family category.

Dow Building Solutions, in collaboration with Cobblestone Homes, announced the completion of a 12-home energy efficiency test community in Midland, Mich. It is the nation’s first subdivision designed to generate scientific, whole-house performance data while providing all of the typical comforts of home to its occupants. The new homes will generate comparative data on home energy efficiency based on whole-house insulation, air-sealing systems and real-world living conditions.