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Subtitle:  Air leaks are a big source of moisture problems that lead to bugs, mold, and rot in homes Images: 

This podcast series is excerpted from a two-day class called "Building Science Fundamentals" taught by Dr. Joe Lstiburek and Dr. John Straube, of Building Science Corporation.

Podcast NID:  Why Homes Need Air Barriers To Stay Dry

Two years after Richard Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency, the new institution sent out 100 photographers to document the nationâs environment writ large.Now, those photos have made it out of the root cellar of the National Archive and onto Flickr Commons, where they are getting a wider viewing than they hâve ever received.

A council of the world’s top scientists will review the research and management practices of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate to Change (IPCC) to try to prevent the types of errors that have shaken public confidence in the group in recent months. UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon said the InterAcademy Council — a consortium of the world’s top scientific bodies, including the U.S. National Academy of Sciences — will name scientists to take a closer look at the IPCC’s work following revelations of mistakes in its 2007 report, including an unsubstantiated claim that Himalayan glaciers could disappear by 2035. In the furor that followed, critics have used the mistakes to discredit the entire report and climate science in general. The international group of scientists will not dissect the entire IPCC report, said Robert Dijkgraaf, the InterAcademy co-chairman and president of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Science. Instead, he said, it will help IPCC leaders install better quality control procedures for the future and recommend stricter citation standards before its next report, which is due in 2014. “We are ready to take on the important task of assuring nations around the world that they will receive sound climate advice,” Dijkgraaf said.

An extremely rare sight in Antarctica makes one bird appear underdressed.

Despite strong evidence that growing food crops to produce ethanol is harmful to the environment and the world’s poor, the Obama administration is backing subsidies and programs that will ensure that half of the U.S.’s corn crop will soon go to biofuel production. It’s time to recognize that biofuels are anything but green.
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I had never quite understood why federal agencies were so focused on green building certification.  That was, until I read this:

"U.S. agencies are required to have 15 percent of their existing building inventory incorporate sustainable elements by 2015 under Executive Order 13423, signed by George W. Bush in 2007.  

To comply with the order, the Department of Veterans Affairs aims to have 21 facilities reviewed and rated by third-party green building systems by the close of this year.

'Reaching the goal of 21 third-party certifications in 2010 will make VA a leading example of green achievement,' said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki in a prepared statement. 'We will proudly reach and surpass the 15 percent requirement before 2015.'" In order to demonstrate sustainable elements in its existing building stock and satisfy Executive Order 13423, Veterans Affairs is obtaining Green Globes certification for existing buildings.  As we move closer to 2015, obtaining green building certification for a federal building will be an important step towards an agency's compliance with Executive Order 13423.

The consequences are growing for failing to achieve green building certification.  Simultaneously, the importance of negotiating a balanced green building contract is also growing.

Related Links:
15 Veterans Affairs Medical Centers Attain Green Globes Certification (GreenerBuildings)

Photo credit: cisc1970

Alex Steffen: Here are three talks I found thought-provoking and inspiring. All three demand some attention (and probably some time after to ponder what was said), but...

A global seed vault dug out of an arctic mountainside has just reached its half-million mark of seed varieties.

WorldChanging Team: by Warren Karlenzig Last post I covered some guiding principles for urban resilience planning in the face of climate change and diminishing resources (especially fresh...

WorldChanging Team: A blue-collar business embraces a green stormwater fix. by Lisa Stiffler Editor's note 3/9: This profile is now available in PDF format here. On Seattle’s...

Eric De Place: A climate action lesson from Denmark There's been a lot of ambitious talk lately about carbon neutrality. It's exciting stuff, but it's worth pausing to...

WorldChanging Team: There was a time, not long ago, when the idea of a national low-carbon growth strategy for India would have been hard to imagine....

Yale Environment 360: More than one-third of the carbon dioxide emissions associated with consumer goods used in developed nations is actually emitted in other nations where the products...

Ethan Zuckerman: John Wilbanks, the founder of Science Commons, is in the midst of a big move. His division of Creative Commons, focused on opening scientific research...

Few people consider that these small gadgets in our pockets could be causing a lot of damage to the environment. The negative impact of cellphones on the environment can be reduced in some ways, but some of the serious environmental damage cellphones may be causing will be more difficult to fix.

They've been plugging away for awhile now on ways to get directions for cyclists that avoids hills, excessive traffic, and points you in the best directions for pedaling to your destination. Now it's live!

A U.S. startup has developed a process that uses concentrated solar heat to vaporize biomass into synthetic fuels, a system the company says is cleaner and more efficient and can produce twice as much fuel per ton of biomass as existing systems. In the process, a network of solar mirrors direct sunlight at a mounted gasifying unit, heating ceramic tubes to 1,200 to 1,300 degrees C. Any biomass, such as wood and crop waste, that is passed through the tubes becomes vaporized and is converted into synthetic gas, the company says. At such extreme temperatures, the process leaves behind little tar residue, which the developers say can be expensive to get rid of and can kill the catalysts that reform the product into liquid fuel later in the process. And unlike other gasification processes — in which the heating comes from the burning of 30 to 35 percent of the biomass — this system requires no biomass to heat the unit, said Alan Weimer, a chemical engineering professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder, who is working with Colorado-based Sundrop Fuels to commercialize the process.

More than one-third of the carbon dioxide emissions associated with consumer goods used in developed nations is actually emitted in other nations where the products are made, according to a new study. In the U.S., about 2.5 tons of carbon produced per person annually — or about 11 percent of U.S. per capita emissions — are emitted elsewhere, researchers at the Carnegie Institution for Science say. In Europe, it’s about four tons of carbon per person. In fact, in smaller European nations like Switzerland, the emissions associated with products manufactured outside the borders exceed the actual emissions produced at home. Using 2004 trade data from 113 countries and regions, the authors of the study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, were able to

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Steven Davis/Carnegie Institution for Science'Outsourcing' Carbon Emissions construct a global model of the flow of “imported” and “exported” emissions, most of which are “outsourced” to developing nations. The biggest “importer” by far is China, they said. “Just like the electricity that you use in your home probably causes CO2 emissions at a coal-burning power plant somewhere else, we found that the products imported by the developed countries of western Europe, Japan, and the United States cause substantial emissions in other countries, especially China,” said lead author Steven Davis.

During green building presentations that include legal views, I usually expect that someone in the crowd will not agree with my views of the green building industry.  Usually, the unhappy audience member cannot fathom that there are potential risks associated with green building.  Last week, though, I received a much different reaction when I presented to the National Research Council.  

A number of the federal agency employees in attendance voiced dismay that I focused exclusively on federal agencies' adoption of the United States Green Building Council's (USGBC) LEED rating system.  Some audience members expressed concern that federal agencies had wholesale adopted LEED certification in order to build green. 

These concerns reminded me of a recent news article highlighting alternative green building certification adopted by a federal agency: "Fifteen Veterans Affairs Medical Centers in 10 states have received Green Globes green building ratings under the assessment system administered by the Green Building Initiative.

The GBI's third-party review system certifies buildings at four levels with ratings ranging from a single to four Green Globes.

All but two of the 15 VA medical centers that were recently certified received ratings of three Green Globes. The Los Angeles Ambulatory Care Center and the Durham VA Medical Center in North Carolina each received a rating of two Green Globes."

In describing the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' Green Globes buildings, Rob Watson, the Father of LEED, argued that Green Globes was continuing to "penetrate its mid-market target." 

The use of non-LEED rating systems is a new development in federal policy, and one that may continue to gain in popularity for different building markets.  On Thursday, we will look at why green building certification is so important to federal agencies.

Is it possible that two green building rating systems can live harmoniously in federal policy? 

Related Links:

15 Veterans Affairs Medical Centers Attain Green Globes Certification (GreenerBuildings)
 
Yogi Berra Was Right (GreenerBuildings)

"South Korean researchers Tuesday launched an environmentally friendly public transport system using a 'recharging road' -- with a vehicle sucking power magnetically from buried electric strips."