Projects / Products / Research / Policy
The GAB Report Library
Projects, products, research, policy, and practical intelligence from across the sustainable built environment.
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Gallery of LEED Platinum certified buildings
There are at least 114 LEED Platinum certified buildings in the world. View a gallery of these projects at Cyan PDX. Let’s keep the momentum going! What do the greenest buildings in the world look like? Where are they and what makes them special? We hear these questions all the time and until now, we’ve…
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Can we meet the 2030 Challenge of being carbon-neutral by 2030?
Edward Mazria’s non-profit organization Architecture 2030 challenges the global architecture and building community, asking them to adopt design goals of reducing fossil fuel, GHG-emissions, and energy consumption in all new construction and renovation projects. Buildings are the major source of global demand for energy and materials that produce by-product greenhouse gases (GHG). Slowing the growth…
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Self-Healing Concrete
Self-healing concrete for safer, more durable, and greener infrastructure? Professor Victor Li at the University of Michigan has created concrete that can bend and heal itself. A concrete material developed at the University of Michigan can heal itself when it cracks. No human intervention is necessary–just water and carbon dioxide. A handful of drizzly days…
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Evaluating Whole Building Carbon Emissions
Two years ago, the Society of Building Science Educators* (SBSE) partnered with the American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) Committee on the Environment (COTE), Educator/Practitioner Network, and Sustainability Discussion Group to spearhead the Carbon Neutral Design (CND) Project. This year at the 2009 National AIA Convention, Dennis A. Andrejko, FAIA, moderated a discussion of the CND…
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Cycling for Transportation: More Than Just Nice
Ah, a windmill and bicycles. Where else could this idyllic scene be other than the Netherlands? This windmill in Amsterdam is indeed a quaint historical relic, but the bikes most assuredly are not. In fact, they are the dominant mode of transportation in the modern-day city by the banks of the Amstel River. What, you…
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Sripadanna Residence: Going for the (LEED for Homes) Gold
Is it possible to achieve a 20 °F difference between indoor and outdoor spaces using passive design when it’s a blazing 100 °F outside? Yes, it is possible, and architect Hari Sripadanna has proven so in his house.The Sripadanna Residence is located in Saratoga, California, an area which experiences hot weather in the summer and…
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Integrated Design for Renewables (IDR)
As designers and implementers of design, we know that integrated design theoretically makes sense. However, when it comes to installing renewable energy systems, it is more and more critical that we actually put theory into action. So I’d like to go through a couple of real world examples of what can happen (or not happen)…
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Simplify Rainwater Harvesting with HOGs
How can you beat a name like Rainwater HOG (HOG)? When I walked through the March 2009 PG&E Water Conservation Showcase in San Francisco, my attention was drawn to a group of tall, handsome, and eye-catching Australians. They were 6 feet tall and dark green, with the word “HOG” subtly inscribed on them. The What:…
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Build It Green
Build It Green is a non-profit membership organization that promotes healthy, energy and resource efficient building practices, and offers the GreenPoint Rating system specific to residential buildings in California. Smart Environmental Solutions from the Ground Up Build It Green is a membership supported non-profit organization whose mission is to promote healthy, energy- and resource-efficient homes…
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The Center for the Built Environment
The Center for the Built Environment at U.C. Berkeley is a place where prominent industry leaders and internationally recognized researchers collaborate to produce substantial, holistic, and far-sighted research on buildings. Industry/University Collaborative Research Solutions CBE is a place where prominent industry leaders and internationally recognized researchers cooperate to produce substantial, holistic, and far-sighted research on…
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Pacific Coast Builder’s Conference (PCBC)
The Pacific Coast Builders Conference (PCBC) will be held on June 17 – 19, 2009 at San Francisco’s Moscone Center, and will feature hundreds of product vendors and host a diverse range of speakers and workshops. PCBC connects all the heavyweights from homebuilding, land development, architecture, and home products at one supercharged event. Education, innovation,…
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Who Knew Straw Could Cost $1.125 Million?
Straw-bale construction is a building method that uses bales of straw (commonly wheat, rice, rye and oats straw) as structural elements, building insulation, or both. This construction method is commonly used in natural building or “green” construction projects. Built a decade before today’s green building vogue, Oakland’s only straw bale house has emerged as a…