GREEN
DEVELOPMENT: Buildings and Land
The Canadian Green Building Council
http://www.cagbc.com
The Canada Green Building Council is being formed to accelerate the design and construction of Green Buildings across Canada.The Council is a broad-based inclusive coalition of representatives from different segments of the design and building industry.
The Council will work to: change industry standards, develop best design practices and guidelines; advocate for green buildings, and develop educational tools to support its members in implementing sustainable design and construction practices.
The Canadian Eco-Lumber Co-op
http://www.ecolumber.ca
The Canadian Eco-Lumber Co-op offers sustainable solutions to building and construction needs. All products that are carried by the Eco-Lumber Co-op are independently eco-certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). FSC wood and products are also recognized by the Us Green Building Council and LEED. The Eco-Lumber Co-op carries a wide range of products including: lumber, timbers, plywood & sheet goods, flooring & decking, siding & paneling, doors, furniture & millwork and home packages.
Greener Buildings
http://www.greenerbuildings.com
GreenerBuildings: The resource for environmentally responsible building developement is a free, Web-based resource to help companies of all sizes and sectors understand and address building design, construction, and operation in a way that aligns environmental responsibility with business success.
Their mission is to provide hands-on tools, action steps, and other resources companies can use to understand the underlying issues, and to promote positive, cost-effective practices that improve buildings' environmental performance while simultaneously reducing costs and negative health impacts.
GreenerBuildings is a partnership between two nonprofit organizations: the U.S. Green Building Council, the United State’s foremost coalition of leaders from across the building industry working to promote buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable and healthy places to live and work; and Green Business Network, a program of The National Environmental Education & Training Foundation (NEETF), that also produces GreenBiz, ClimateBiz, and other sites.
Better Buildings for Greater Vancouver
http://betterbuildings.ca
Initiated by the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) and its partners, this site acts as a one-stop resource to retrofitting buildings to perform at higher efficiency. It provides resources for municipal sector, institutional, commercial and industrial building types. Included in this website are resources for financing, various initiatives, supports and case studies.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation – Innovative Buildings
http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/imquaf/himu/buin_009.cfm
These case studies from CMHC illustrate some of the innovative approaches to sustainability and green buildings in Canada (and a few from Sweden, U.S., Netherlands, etc). They are all conveniently sorted in categories such as green buildings, acoustics, energy efficiency, earthquake resistance, retrofit, financial considerations, and planning design issues.
City of
Santa Monica Green Buildings Design & Construction Guidelines
http://greenbuildings.santa-monica.org/
Conflict of Interest Declaration! I headed the team (with David Rousseau
and Ray Cole, among others) that created Santa Monicas GB Guidelines.
We tried very hard to make them as useful as possible to time-pressed
design and construction professionals. Covering Siting and Form, Landscape,
Transportation, Envelope/Space Planning, Materials, Water, Electrical,
HVAC and Control Systems, as well as Construction Management and Commissioning,
each chapter has a discussion of its topic, an annotated information resource
list, and (most important) Recommended Practices that succintly illustrate
and summarize most GB design approaches. While it's tailored to what works
in the coastal Southern California climate, I'd say that most of the design
advice is useful anywhere. Available for free download as one or several
.pdf files, the site also includes an annotated WWW resource list.
EBN:
Environmental Building News
http://www.buildinggreen.com/
This monthly newsletter is probably the most useful independent information
resource on all aspects of green building design in North America; and
their website is as well-considered and valuable. It provides access to
articles from past issues of Environmental Building News; summaries of
EBNs current issue feature articles; product reviews, and article-related
links. They also publish GreenSpec, Green Building Advisor software, and
co-sponsors excellent listservs on green homes and commercial buildings.
Some very user-friendly documents on how to build green: http://www.buildinggreen.com/features/4-5/priorities.html
http://www.buildinggreen.com/ebn/checklist.html
http://www.buildinggreen.com/features/lc/low_cost.html
GBIC -
Green Building Information Council
http://greenbuilding.ca/
Supported by Natural Resources Canada's C2000 program, the GBIC and its
president, Dr. Ray Cole of the UBC School of Architecture have been central
sparkplugs driving the seminal Green Building Challenge conferences. The
site, edited by Nils Larsen, is primarily an index for green and energy-efficient
building resources, but also allows ordering of the GBC proceedings -
one of the best sources on performance of green buildings globally. The
GBIC also publishes the Advanced Buildings Newsletter bimonthly; the website
has .pdf files of past issues available for free download. The GBIC site
hosts - an excellent resource on green building technologies and approaches,
in its "Advanced Buildings Technologies and Practices" section; with case
studies, technology summaries and contacts - home page for Natural Resources
Canada's Buildings Group, which develops software tools to support energy-efficient
building design.
Green
Buildings B.C.
http://www.greenbuildingsbc.com/
Covering both the BC Governments' New and Retrofit Programs, this site
summarizes these initiatives, and provide a number of information resources
created and used by them for free download. (Conflict-of-interest declaration:
I acted as a technical resource for the New Buildings Pilot Program.)
IMHO, the most valuable New Building Program documents are the Draft Performance
Targets, and summary of the "Integrated Design Process" used in the New
Buildings Pilot projects. The New Buildings Program site also has an information
resource list covering both WWW and print documents, listed in order of
the performance target they help address; and a listing of GB consultants,
practitioners and suppliers in BC. The Retrofit Program matches BC-funded
school districts, universities, colleges and health care institutions
with funding agencies, low-interest loans and qualified consultants, to
retrofit government-funded facilities to improve their energy and water
efficiency, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and waste. The Retrofit
Program site includes an excellent "How-To Guide" for the program and
GB retrofits in general; links to other North American retrofit programs;
and pre-qualified consultants and contractors.
See "Resources " section for case studies, places to find money, guidelines
and other info. URL link " Resources" in description:
http://www.greenbuildingsbc.com/new_buildings/
resources_guide/index.html
Green
Development
http://www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid261.asp
Rocky Mountain Institute's list of links on green development. Includes
energy links (rating systems, energy efficiency, renewable energy) and
links to centers, listserves, etc. on green building.
Home Resource
Efficiency
http://www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid167.asp
Rocky Mountain Instute's site includes basic information on home resource
efficiency and more detailed publications in the following areas: Energy
efficiency; appliances and lighting; home cooling; household greenhouse-gas
reduction; water efficiency; resource-efficient new home construction;
environmentally friendly building materials; renewable energy: solar,
wind, micro-hydro; ndoor air quality; recycling.
The Ministry
of Finance and Corporate Relations: Policies and Guidelines
http://www.fin.gov.bc.ca/cd/policies.htm
The Ministry of Finance also has a "Ministry of Finances Green Building
Checklist" and is available at:
http://www.fin.gov.bc.ca/cd/documents/Green-Buildings-
Checklist2001.pdf
OIKOS
Green Building Source
http://www.oikos.com/
OIKOS is allied with Environmental Building News, and publishes the Energy
Source Builder newsletters, which have long been respected independent
reviwers of green building products and equipment. The site offers a searchable
archive or ESB articles, and a database of GB products and EE/RE equipment;
as well as a pretty good online library and Project Showcase.
SBIC -
Sustainable Buildings Information Council
http://www.nibs.org/?page=sbic
The Sustainable Buildings Industry Council (SBIC) is an independent, nonprofit
organization whose mission is to advance the design, affordability, energy
performance, and environmental soundness of America’s buildings. SBIC
serves as a national resource clearinghouse for whole building design,
product information, professional training, consumer education, and analytic
tools. The SBICs (very good) books and software can be ordered online;
but there is little available for free.
Sunlight Homes
http://www.sunlighthomes.com/index.html
The Sunlight Homes is a residential development company specializing in design and building the so-called sunlight homes. Sunlight homes are houses designed to maximize the use of natural sunlight, thus providing energy efficient, and comfortable living space. Other than selling their services, it also has two useful sections for those who are consider a sunlight home over a conventional home.
Sustainable
Building Sourcebook
http://www.greenbuilder.com/sourcebook/
The City of Austin (the first North American municipal Green Building
program) publishes this online GB design guide, covering water, energy,
and materials. While oriented to Texas conditions and suppliers, much
of its advice is universally applicable.
US GBC
- US Green Building Council
http://www.usgbc.org/
The U.S. Green Building Council is a non-profit coalition of US building
industry leaders, working to promote buildings that are environmentally
responsible, profitable, and healthy places to live and work. Originators
of the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) GB performance
rating system, the US GBC is having a major effect on building design
practice in North America. Their site hosts LEED documentation, a few
case studies, and a brief list of high-quality GB standards and information
resources.
Whole Building Design Guide
http://www.wbdg.org
The Whole Building Design Guide provides government and industry practitioners with a one-step, up-to-date portal to information relating to building guidance. It provides design guidance and suggestions to various building functions, design objectives, and products. It also provides guidance to project management involved with planning, development, delivery and control. Sustainability is one of the design guidance principles and is found in its own section.
GREEN BUILDING PERFORMANCE TARGETS
Basic Guidelines - Environmental Building Design and Construction
http://www.nrg-builder.com/greenhome-basics.htm
The Environmental Building Design and Construction guidelines were developed by the US consulting firm known as BEST (Building Environmental Science and Technology). The list suggests ways to build buildings that are more comfortable, durable, healthy to live in, and less costly to operate in the long run.
Green Buildings
BC: Performance Targets for Pilot Projects
http://www.greenbuildingsbc.com/new_buildings/
performance_targets.html
BCBC and the Province are using these performance targets (prepared by EDRS
members Ian Theaker & Jessica Wooliams) on some green building pilot projects.
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