Using only materials he’d use on his own home, Greg Powell is constructing a golf course community on Lake Michigan that will be Gold-rated green and easy to maintain.

Transparent, fire-rated glass walls are an aesthetic and functional way to provide structure and safety while preserving the view.

In the North American construction market, spray polyurethane foam is gaining wide recognition for a number of reasons. First, it provides strong insulating properties. Second, spray foam allows builders to create a tight building envelope around the entire building.

Expert Drywall of Redmond, Wash., is one of this year’s Northwest Wall & Ceiling Bureau’s award winners for its work on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (the charitable organization founded by the creator of the Microsoft Corporation) Iris Campus in Seattle.

Energy codes and standards play a significant role in the United States construction market by influencing the design of commercial buildings. Once a code or standard is adopted by lawmakers, it becomes a legal requirement that protects our society from substandard building practices and ensures a minimum level of energy efficiency is achieved.

In 2011, Bill Chaleff, of Chaleff & Rogers Architects, came to Community Environmental Center (CEC) with a challenging situation. Chaleff’s client, who owned a vintage mansion in Southampton, Long Island, wanted to repair the house and wanted a sustainable solution for insulating the exterior walls so that the original interior plaster faces of the walls could be preserved.

Building on a strong foundation has been a well-recognized principle of construction for thousands of years, but we still continue to violate the concept. One of the most violated areas of below-grade construction is the failure to include moisture management. Joseph Cubby said, “Learn the past. Decide the present. Build the future.”

Village Suites Oshawa is a 556-bed student residence built for the University Of Ontario Institute Of Technology, Canada’s fastest growing university. The building is currently being evaluated by the CaGBC for LEED Platinum certification and if successful, at 270,000 square feet will be one of the largest LEED Platinum certified buildings in Canada.

One of the key components of sustainable homes and buildings is a thermally efficient and dry building envelope that minimizes the leakage of air through the home. Air leaks in walls and attics decrease occupant comfort by permitting the entrance of cold or hot air, depending on the season.