Building Design/ Construction

Organizations

Advanced Buildings
http://www.advancedbuildings.org
Technologies and practices that improve the energy and resource efficiency of commercial and multi-unit residential buildings.

American Institute of Architects (AIA)/Committee on the Environment (COTE)
http://www.aia.org/cote_default
COTE works to advance, disseminate, and advocateto the profession, the building industry, the academy, and the publicdesign practices that integrate built and natural systems and enhance both the design quality and environmental performance of the built environment.

Austin Green Builder Program
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/greenbuilder/
Sustainable building practices, products, and techniques. Nationally known for expertise in "green" residential and commercial construction.

Builders Without Borders
http://builderswithoutborders.org
International network of ecological builders who form partnerships with communities and organizations around the world to create affordable housing from local materials and to work together for a sustainable future.

Building Green
http://www.nrdc.org/buildinggreen/
Created by NRDC, this website outlines the business reasons for getting into green building and then provides a guide to getting started. Learn how to find a green architect, how to streamline design and construction, which strategies deliver the biggest paybacks, how to get green building projects noticed, and what pitfalls to watch out for. Fact sheets, case studies.

Building Materials Reuse Association
http://www.buildingreuse.org
Dedicated to supporting the recovery and reuse of building materials in the US and Canada.

Building Research Establishment (BRE)
http://www.bre.co.uk
Leading green building institution in the UK.

Built Green Colorado
http://www.builtgreen.org
Local resource for green building.

California Green Builder Program
http://www.cagreenbuilder.org/
Certification program for green builders.

Development Center for Appropriate Technology
http://www.dcat.net/
Working to remove barriers to sustainable building & development through building codes. Survey on building code impediments, checklist for getting approval to alternatives to building codes.

Energy & Environmental Building Association
http://www.eeba.org
Provides education and resources to transform the residential design, development and construction industries to profitably deliver energy efficiency and environmentally responsible buildings and communities.

Energy Services Coalition
http://www.escperform.org
Education & information on how to use future energy savings to pay for building upgrades and energy efficiency improvements today. A nonprofit organization of representatives of state energy offices, energy service companies, finance companies, building owners and others.

Florida Green Building Coalition
http://www.floridagreenbuilding.org
Local resource for green building.

Georgia Earthcraft House
http://www.earthcrafthouse.com
Local resource for green building.

Green Communities
http://www.greencommunitiesonline.org/
Green Communities is a 5-year, $555 million commitment by Enterprise to build more than 8,500 healthy, efficient homes for low-income people and make environmentally sustainable development mainstream in the affordable housing industry. Green Communities provides funds and expertise to enable developers to build and rehabilitate homes that are healthier, more energy efficient and better for the environment -- without compromising affordability. Green Communities also assists state and local governments to ensure their housing and economic development policies are smart and sustainable. Green Communities homes are built according to the Green Communities Criteria, the first national framework for healthy, efficient, environmentally smart affordable homes.

Partnership for Advanced Technology in Housing (PATH)
http://www.pathnet.org
Public-private partnership promotes advanced building technologies. A related website, ToolBase, provides detailed results of PATH field projects and PATH's "Technology Inventory": www.toolbase.org

Rocky Mountain Institute
http://www.rmi.org

Sustainable Buildings Industry Council
http://www.sbicouncil.org/
Membership organization. Website has publications and software.

The California Collaborative for High Performance Schools
http://www.chps.net
Produces design guides on how to make schools energy efficient, healthy, well-lit and conducive to learning. Widely noted for indoor air quality standards.

U.S. Department of Energy EnergySmart Schools
http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/energysmartschools/
Information on how to build energy efficient schools, tips on how to save energy in existing buildings and advice on how to use renewable energy.

U.S. DOE: Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy
http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/
DOE's Building Technologies Program works in partnership with states, industry, and manufacturers to improve the energy efficiency of our nation's buildings. Through innovative new technologies and systems-engineered building practices they are working to transform how we design, build, and operate the approximately 15 million new buildings projected to be constructed by 2015.

U.S. EPA Green Building Website
http://www.epa.gov/greenbuilding
Gateway to EPA's related programs such as Energy Star, Indoor Air, Smart Growth, & Environmentally Preferable Building Products, construction & demolition.

U.S. Green Building Council
http://www.usgbc.org
Trade association for the U.S. green building industry. Developers of LEED, the industry certification program.

World Green Building Council
http://www.worldgbc.org/
Forming national green building councils around the world.

Database(s)

Building Energy Software Tools Directory
http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/tools_directory/
Directory provides information on 345 building software tools for evaluating energy efficiency, renewable energy, and sustainability in buildings: databases, spreadsheets, component and systems analyses, and whole-building energy performance simulation programs.

Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability (BEES)
http://www.bfrl.nist.gov/oae/software/bees
The BEES software program (free) is designed to assist businesses in choosing cost-effective, environmentally preferable building products.

Center for Resourceful Building Technology
http://www.crbtdb.ncat.org/
Database of companies offering green building products. Search by company name or description.

DesignGuide.com
http://www.designguide.com
Internet directory for the building + design industry: architects, engineers, landscape, interior design professionals, product manufacturers.

Ecospecifier
http://www.ecospecifier.org
Online database and educational knowledgebase of eco and health-preferable building materials and technologies that provides information on how to design and deliver buildings, interiors and surrounds using environmentally preferable products available in Australia.

Efficient Windows Collaborative
http://www.efficientwindows.org/
Now to select the right windows.

Green Building Pages
http://www.greenbuildingpages.com
Growing database of green building products.

GreenSpec Directory
http://www.buildinggreen.com
Leading directory of green building products.

Looking for FSC Certified Building Materials?
http://www.fscus.org/faqs/fsc_products.php?link=6
This section of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) website will lead you to certified building materials.

National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities
http://www.edfacilities.org/rl/high_performance.cfm
Resource list for high performance school buildings.

Oikos: Green Building Source
http://www.oikos.com
Green building product database.

Sustainable Build
http://www.sustainablebuild.co.uk
A great site that summarizes the various issues and technologies related to green building, with action recommendations.

Sustainable Building Sourcebook
http://www.greenbuilder.com/sourcebook/
On-line free database.

U.S. DOE: EERE High Performance Buildings Database
http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/database/
Database of cases on high performance buildings: buildings, interiors, and whole neighborhoods. Add yours!

Whole Building Design Guide
http://www.wbdg.org
Web portal providing government and industry practitioners with one-stop access to current information on a wide range of building-related guidance, criteria and technology from a 'whole buildings' perspective.

Yestermorrow Design Build School
http://www.yestermorrow.org/
Yestermorrow offers over 100 courses each year in design and build homes, furniture, and more.

Yourhomeplanet.com
http://yourhomeplanet.com/
The YourHomePlanet project is an environmental building design search engine with 1202 links in over 160+ categories linking to information on green buildings, eco construction products, indoor air quality, strawbale homes, sustainable architecture, green offices, water efficiency, renewable energy including solar, wind, mini hydro, fuel cells, and geothermal. Plus waste management, composting toilets, recycling, etc. Find an enviro job, pick an environmentally friendly hotel.

Listserv(s)

BigGreen Discussion Group
http://www.biggreen.org/
Online forum focusing on implementing sustainable design and construction principles on large-scale projects.

EEBA Building Science Listserv
http://www.eeba.org/media/lists/index.html
To facilitate communication in the energy efficient and environmental building community, EEBA has established this email discussion list. The Building Science Listserv is a free flowing discussion among the participants on energy efficient design and construction including building science principles, emphasizing our buildings as whole systems, and environmentally superior practices.

Green Building Discussion Group
http://oikos.com/resources/maillist.html
Discussion forum for anyone interested in green building issues. Discuss and promote green building principles and practices on all types of projects.