The most recent blogs at Green Building Advisor

Now that you’ve finally learned the (model) code, it’s all different!

At long last, after three years of proposed code changes, code hearings, floor votes, public comment period and final action hearings, a new International Residential Code (IRC) is developed and published. You’ve purchased it from the International Code Council and read through it in anticipation of a green-home building project.

A Sustainable Journey Ignited by Passionate, Engaging Greatness

Sitting in my home office, with a radiant view of the Boulder Flatirons, my emotions fluctuate between profound feelings of appreciation and deep sadness for the loss of one of my mentors. Over the years I have been blessed with teachers who have inspired and guided me, challenged and informed me, moved me to tears of laughter and sadness, and freely offered "ah ha!" moments.

I picked up my weekly box of locally grown organic food today — not exactly a farm co-op, commonly knows as a CSA, but a small, farm-based business that distributes these fine products to individuals and restaurants in the region. I’ve been doing this for a few weeks, and it is interesting that what's in the box — the contents of which are unknown to me until I open it — dictates my diet now, rather than what looks good to me in the market. Right now cabbage, root vegetables, and lettuce are in season, so I’m eating more of those. I also got some nice strawberries and some peppers.

A recent article in The Atlantic magazine by Richard Florida, "How the Crash Will Reshape America," has some very interesting observations about home ownership and the damage that our society has done to itself by creating artificial incentives for people to own homes. Home ownership has been subsidized in America for many years through mortgage-interest tax deductions and artificially low interest rates.

“Hi, my name is Rob and I’m a recovering public school teacher.” Before I was a green builder, I taught high school for seven years. I loved it for six and three quarters. One of the biggest forces that convinced me to leave education was the constrictive state testing system. I recognize that it is absolutely necessary to have standards, indicators and tests, however that can limit creativity and energy in the classroom.

After Henry Ford perfected the automobile assembly line, U.S. industry experienced several decades of explosive growth. Although industrial expansion was interrupted for a decade during the 1930s, it roared back during the ’40s, ’50s, and ’60s. Historians have proposed several explanations for these decades of growing productivity, including the country’s high rate of immigration and access to cheap energy and natural resources.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been looking at wood burning—a popular and affordable heating option in rural New England. Ten or 15 years ago, a new option started showing up. Driving along country roads, we began to see shed-like structures with smoke billowing from smokestacks. These are outdoor wood boilers (sometimes called outdoor wood furnaces), and they have been the focus of considerable attention and debate in recent years, mostly over the pollution they generate.

Code requirements for wood-concrete contact treat the symptoms of rot, not the cause

Last week we talked about moisture meters, and I asked readers why the wood in the picture was wet. As it turns out, that photo was taken in the same house on the same day as the two pictures at right.

Recycling is becoming firmly entrenched in society. Kids in school are taught the merits of recycling paper, plastics, and the like, and are successfully shaming their parents into changing their behavior.

What Is "Green"? What Is "Design"?

I’ll admit it, I have issues with the term “green.” While it encompasses the values I think are important in building, like any label, it can turn some people away. That’s unfortunate because the factors that go into green design should have universal appeal. So what is green design?

In the building world, "green" means: