Links

American Institute of Architects  
AIA helps coordinate the building industry and the architecture profession to ensure the advancement of living standards through an improved environment. AIA’s Committee on the Environment initiated the Environmental Resource Guide Project that includes assessments, articles, and case studies of the environmental and resource qualities of building methods and materials, and annually identifies its Top Ten Green Building Projects. AIA also offers training, workshops, and publications. 

Architecture and Building Guide
A huge reference of links related to architecture and building, with a Green Design section.

Building Codes Assistance Project (BCAP)
BCAP is an alliance of nonprofit organizations working to conserve energy in homes and other buildings by promoting the adoption and implementation of building energy codes. A number of free programs are available to states and municipalities, including: support for adopting energy codes; support for implementing codes; support for voluntary efforts; and information gathering and dissemination.

Buildings Topics 
This DOE site on energy efficient buildings provides information on technologies and issues that relate to saving energy in building, including the building envelope construction, heating and cooling, lighting, appliances, financing and building codes. 

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) 
For more than a decade, CMHC has been conducting research on construction and rehabilitation techniques that maximize occupant health, energy and resource efficiency, environmental responsibility, and affordability. Its Web site includes information such as fact sheets on healthy housing, information on how to determine whether your house is making you sick, and a list of the five essential elements of healthy housing.  

Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems  
The Center is a nonprofit education, demonstration, and research organization focusing on appropriate technologies and sustainable design practices for a variety of users, including regional planning agencies. Web site includes a publications list, information on selected projects, and links to other resources.

NCAT Center for Resourceful Building Technology  
CRBT is a project of the National Center for Appropriate Technology focusing on housing and the environment. Its website includes information on research, available publications, demonstration projects, educational programs, and conferences and training, as well as links to other useful sites. 

Cyburbia: The Planning and Architecture Internet Resource Center  
Provides links to a large number of resources focusing on planning, architecture, and the built environment, including message boards and discussion groups.  Site is organized by topic area and includes a search engine. 

Energy & Environmental Building Association  
A non-profit organization that promotes energy-efficient and environmentally-responsible buildings and communities. Provides information and training to a variety of audiences, as well as a list of publications. 

The Green Architect
The Green Architect is a section of the Architectural Record website that offers access to articles on green design and a green product guide.

Green Building Alliance
A Pittsburgh-based nonprofit organization that provides information and assistance to facilitate green building efforts. Programs and services include education, technical assistance, research documentation, development projects, and a green building network.

GreenHomeGuide
A resource for environmentally sound home remodeling for Northern California homeowners, including project, product, service and retailer information.

Green Tree: Decisons for Environmental Buildings
This website is designed to introduce architecture and construction management students to the wide range of resource efficient building materials that they can use in design and building projects. The website encourages student—and professional—designers to consider environmentally responsible alternatives for three major building components: foundations, wall systems, and flooring. The Green Tree site also features case studies highlighting the application of numerous resource efficient materials.

International Initiative for Sustainable Built Environment
iiSBE is an international non-profit organization whose overall aim is to actively facilitate and promote the adoption of policies, methods and tools to accelerate the movement towards a global sustainable built environment.

Northwest Ecobuilding Guild
This association of builders, designers and others associated with ecological building publishes a Green Pages directory of professionals and offers a free e-newsletter. There are chapters in many Northwest communities.

The Not So Big House
Focuses on the concept of building houses more efficiently and using resources more effectively. Includes a host of information on topics such as simplicity, sustainability, and energy-efficiency, as well as case studies and links to other valuable resources.

Oikos: Green Building Source 
Site includes a searchable product database of more than 1,700 companies. Also, information on books, videos, and software related to green building and design, a product gallery, useful information on sustainable design and construction, and a newsletter filled with ideas for making building projects more energy- and resource-efficient.

Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH)
PATH is a public/private sector initiative that seeks to expand the development and utilization of new technologies to make American homes stronger, safer, and more durable; more energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly; easier to maintain and less costly to operate; and more comfortable to live in. Its website includes information on Best Practices, a Technology Inventory, and other resources.

Rocky Mountain Institute 
Provides a number of services, including consulting services on green real estate development, and a number of publications on resource-efficient buildings and other topics.

Smart Growth Issue Areas: Housing
Identifies a number of useful resources related to green buildings, including publications, case studies, and links. Many of these resources can be downloaded or read online.

Sustainable Architecture, Building & Culture
"A compendium of links and content oriented to the global community of ecological and natural building proponents." Topics include Bioregional Planning, Appropriate Technology, EcoVillages & Communities, and Transportation.

Sustainable Architecture Compendium
The National Pollution Prevention Center for Higher Education, housed at the University of Michigan, has a number of on-line documents available that focus on sustainable architecture. The documents are portions of curricula modules.

Sustainable Buildings Industry Council (SBIC)
Formerly known as the Passive Solar Industries Council, SBIC works to advance the design, affordabilty, energy performance, and environmental soundness of residential, institutional, and commercial buildings. Offers professional training, consumer education, energy analysis tools, and much more. Training includes workshops throughout the country on Designing Low-Energy Buildings with Energy-10 software and design guidelines package.

Sustainable Facilities & Infrastructure
This program at Georgia Tech Research Institute provides information on built environment sustainability, undertakes basic and applied research in a variety of facility-related topics, and provides technical assistance to public and private institutions seeking to implement sustainability in their capital facility practices. The program also offers training and customized courses.

The Architectural League of New York has created a traveling exhibit on architectural excellence and environmental responsibility, titled "Ten Shades of Green." The exhibit highlights projects that address ten key issues that must be considered to create fully green architecture, including energy performance and community context. A variety of building types and approaches are included in the exhibit. Highlights of the exhibit are featured online.

Books/Publications 

Builder’s Manual 
1995, Canadian Home Builders’ Association.  
A well-illustrated guide discussing energy-efficient construction techniques for cold climates. Includes useful information on achieving healthy indoor air quality and resource efficiency. Available from: Canadian Home Builders’ Association, 150 Laurier Avenue West, Suite 200, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1P 5J4. Phone: (613) 230-3060; Fax: (613) 232-4635. 

Chelsea Green Publishing
This publisher offers books for sustainable living, including a wide selection of titles on innovative building with straw, earth, used materials, and passive solar design.

Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves
1988, Habitat Press/Ten Speed Press. ISBN 0-89815-306-9.
Introduces the concept of cohousing and reviews eight cohousing projects. Offers useful information on creating cohousing, including the development process and design considerations. 

Collaborative Communities: Cohousing, Central Living, And Other New Forms Of Housing With Shared Facilities 
Van Nostrand Reinhold, ISBN 0-442-23785-5. 
Reviews and evaluates a diversity of housing Reviews and evaluates a diversity of housing types that provide the advantages of community while ensuring the privacy of individual homes. The author focuses on housing where residents take the initiative to plan and manage their neighborhoods and address the issues in and obstacles to developing living communities. The book offers information about developments specially designed for families, working parents, singles, and the elderly, many of which feature the sharing of common facilities such as dining, child care, workshops, and libraries. It also profiles case studies of successful Dutch, Danish, and Swedish cohousing models. 

Energy Design Update 
A monthly journal covering a variety of topics related to residential energy-efficient construction and rehab projects. In addition, several special reports are published, including "Residential Building Design & Construction Workbook," a how-to workbook that will help you build comfortable, energy-efficient homes; and "Moisture Control for Homes," a two-volume set that serves as a resource for preventing, diagnosing, and correcting moisture problems in homes.

Environmental Building News  
A bimonthly newsletter on environmentally sustainable design and construction. A special issue titled "Selected Readings" identifies books, periodicals, and directories that focus on green buildings and related topics.

Environmental Design & Construction  
A magazine that provides the building industry with timely information to incorporate green building techniques into their projects. Includes product reviews, case studies and news.

GreenBuilt Tours: How to Organize a Successful Tour of Sustainable Architecture
This step-by-step manual on creating and conducting a green home tour was prepared under a U.S. Department of Energy Grant. The manual contains complete instructions, including sample signage, agreements and promotional materials.

Guide to Resource Efficient Building Elements
A searchable, online E-Guide directory of more than 600 recycled and other resource efficient building materials, produced by the NCAT Center for Resourceful Building Technology.

Guidelines for Creating High-Performance Green Buildings
1999, [Pennsylvania] Governor's Green Government Council.
Provides guidelines for achieving sustainable buildings, as well as examples of construction projects throughout Pennsylvania that have successfully used the principles of sustainable design and development to align commercial interests with stewardship of the natural environment.

High Performance Building Guidelines
Available from the New York City Department of Design and Construction online. This document serves as the basis for implementing sustainability into municipal design and construction activities. (Note: this is a .pdf document.)

Joiners' Quarterly 
A timber framing magazine that regularly publishes articles pertaining to sustainable building.  Some articles are available on-line, as is a large list of links, a news/information section, and workshop information. 

The Last Straw 
A quarterly publication on straw-bale building projects across the United States, including special topic issues on various aspects of strawbale and other natural building technologies.  

A Primer on Sustainable Building 
Published by the Rocky Mountain Institute.  This 135-page publication offers useful discussion on sustainable building, including chapters on green building design, site selection, site development, building placement and configuration, the building envelope, energy use inside the building, conserving water, and building ecology.

Residential Energy: Cost Savings and Comfort for Existing Buildings 
1994, Discusses energy principles, air leakage, insulation, windows, heating and cooling, water heating, lighting and appliances. Available from: Saturn Resources Management, 324 Fuller Avenue S-8, Helena, MT 59601. Phone: (800) 735-0577; fax: (406) 442-1316. 

Sustainable Design Resource Guide
An online directory of sustainable building materials arranged in CSI format, assembled by the AIA Committee on the Environment, Denver Chapter and the Colorado Chapter of ADPSR.

Software 

DOE-2
An hourly, whole-building energy analysis program that calculates energy performance and life-cycle cost of operation. Can be used to analyze the energy efficiency of given designs or the efficiency or new technologies. Other uses include utility demand-side management/rebate programs, compliance certification, and training of energy-conscious design professionals.

Energy-10
A DOE-supported  computer design tool for small commercial and residential buildings, developed by DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory. This package helps architects and designers assess how a building will use energy and identify which energy-efficiency strategies are the most effective.  It's at the forefront of the new generation of easy-to-use programs that help architects and engineers evaluate the details of building energy use at every step in the design process.  

EnergyGuage
This computer tool developed by the Florida Solar Energy Center allows users to determine Energy Code compliance and Home Energy Rating System (HERS) calculations. Both professional and standard versions are available.

EnergyPlus
A "new generation" building energy simulation program that builds on the best features and capabilities of BLAST and DOE-2. EnergyPlus allows users to calculate the impacts of different heating, cooling and ventilating equipment and various types of lighting and windows, maximizing building energy efficiency and occupant comfort. Package includes innovative simulation capabilities including time steps of less than an hour, built-in template and external modular systems, simulation modules integrated with heat balance-based zone simulation, and input and output data structures tailored to facilitate third-party interface development.

DOE Building Energy Tools Directory
Provides information on 135 software tools related to building energy use, including information on how to acquire them.

REM Software Series
The REM Software Series, home energy analysis software, is designed to help homebuilders, home designers, energy consultants, home improvement contractors, utilities, and home energy rating organizations with critical energy analysis for residential structures. AEC features two powerful evaluation tools in the series: REM/Rate™ and REM/Design™.

Last updated: November 4, 2004

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