Components, Equipment, Systems, and Other Applications | Site Planning | Roofing
General
- Advanced Buildings offers a building professional's guide to more than 90 environmentally-appropriate technologies and practices. The Canadian website includes fact sheets that address indoor air quality, water conservation, waste management, electricity production, non-toxic materials, and recycled materials.
- Bay Area Build It Green provides a searchable Bay Area green building materials database which is searchable by product category, by product name, or by which specific elements of the Alameda County Green Building Guidelines and GreenPoints Checklists (for either new home, remodeling or multi-family) that it fulfills.
- Builder's Guide to Residential HVAC Systems NAHB Reserach Center. This guide provides small- and medium-volume builders and superintendents with the information they need to effectively evaluate and specify heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems
- BuildingGreen publishes Environmental Building News and the GreenSpec directory.
- Building Concerns compiles extensive regional green building resource directories for both Northern California and Southern California as well as one for UT, WY, ID, MO, GA, and FL.
- Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability (National Institute of Standards and Technology) provides BEES 3.0 software, Technical Manual and User's Guide, and BEES Publications. BEES is a powerful tool for balancing the environmental and economic performance of building products.
- Building Materials: What Makes a Product Green? From Environmental Building News
- CIWMB provides an overview of green building materials and links to green product directories such as EPA's Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Guide and their Comprehensive Procurement Guideline, San Mateo County's Green Building Materials Resource Guide, Environmental Building News' Green Spec™ Directory, the oikos® Green Product Directory, and CIWMB's own Recycled-Content Products and Recycled-Content Construction Products Manufacturers.
- Center for Resourceful Building Technology is a project of the National Center for Appropriate Technology in Missoula, Montana. CRBT identifies and promotes building products and methods that provide building materials from reused salvaged, currently underutilized, or waste materials; that provide sufficient housing with reduced resource use; and that produce less pollution and waste than conventional building materials and technologies.
- ebuild search for building products, company profiles, and articles, links, and resources, related to professional home construction projects.
- Environmental Home Center a national distributor of Green Building supplies and household products
- Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Program (EPP), EPA offers extensive database and tools on product purchasing.
- GreenSpec contains detailed listings for more than 1,650 green building products with environmental data, manufacturer information, and links to additional resources. It also provides sample Guideline Specifications by CSI Division to incorporate into your project specs.
- Green Building Material and Professional Databases maintained by San Mateo County’s RecycleWorks program.
- Green Building Concepts provides reports and guides for the home-owner who wants to build an energy and resource efficient home. The site also features basic information about sustainable building, green architecture, and their importance to greenhouse gas emission issues.
- Green Building Databases & Design Resources is Austin Energy’s compendium of resources to help find sustainable products, materials, and design assistance.
- Green Seal is an independent, non-profit organization that strives to achieve a healthier and cleaner environment by identifying and promoting products and services that cause less toxic pollution and waste, conserve resources and habitats, and minimize global warming and ozone depletion.
- Oikos - Green Building Source is a web site dedicated to sustainable and energy-efficient construction: Green Building News, Products Database, Product Gallery, Energy Source Builder Newsletter, and More. Oikos features a searchable database of companies manufacturing energy efficient, recycled, and low toxicity building products.
- Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing Excellent repository of building materials, case studies, and innovative techniques. The site contains an extensive "ToolBase" toolkit.
- Sustainable Building Sourcebook This site contains the entire contents of the Sustainable Building Sourcebook produced by the city of Austin, Texas Green Building Program. Provides concise, practical reviews of materials and pertinent life cycle issues (attributes and concerns). Also provides lists of product manufacturers and trade organizations.
- Sustainable Design Resource Guide , compiled by the Denver AIA Committee on the Environment, the SDRG provides materials guidelines by CSI division, along with suppliers in the Rocky Mountain Region.
- Sustainable Products Corporation provides environmental product communication or labeling language to increase sales and market share, and necessary legal opinions and warranties. SPC provides advice to federal, state, and local governments and Fortune 500 companies on sustainable product purchasing, specifying, marketing, designing, and manufacturing.
- The Materials Handbook: Guidelines for Sustainable Affordable Housing has been created and published by the San Francisco Mayor's Office of Housing and Asian Neighborhood Design. The purpose of the Handbook is to share knowledge about building materials and design strategies that have been used to create healthy, high-quality, and sustainable affordable housing in San Francisco and the Bay Area.
Recycled Materials
- Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines (CPG) EPA provides information, specification criteria, and manufacturer's lists for a wide range of recycled content products.
- Construction Materials Recycling Association is a non-profit trade association incorporated for the benefit of the C&D debris industry, including generators and haulers of waste materials, processors, and final end-users.
- Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Program (EPP), EPA
- Recycle.net provides an on-line exchange of used building materials.
- Recycled-Content Product Database sponsored by the California Integrated Waste Management Board, includes products for an extensive list of construction categories and business types. Users can search by product, brand name, company, or recycled content.
- Used Building Materials Association (UBMA) maintains a membership and a materials exchange list.
Certified Wood
- Certified Forest Products Council (www.certifiedwood.org)
- Forest World - Sustainable Forest Products Resource (www.forestworld.com)
- The FSC promotes responsible forest management by evaluating and accrediting certifiers, encouraging the development of national and regional forest management standards, and strengthening national certification capacity through the development of certification initiatives worldwide.
- SmartWood (SW) is a program of the Rainforest Alliance, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation of tropical forests, develops and promotes economically viable and socially desirable alternatives to the destruction of this endangered natural resource. The organization provides certification protocols for sustainably harvested wood
Energy Efficient Products
- Efficient Windows provides unbiased information on the benefits of energy-efficient windows, descriptions of how they work, and recommendations for their selection and use.
- EPA's Energy Star® program offers high quality unbiased, information on energy efficient buildings, appliances and equipment.
- Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) by U.S. Department of Energy. Buying energy efficient products, energy efficiency recommendations and energy cost calculators.
Components, Equipment, Systems and Other Applications
The links below provide Building Energy Software on related topics provided by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
- Atmospheric Pollution
- Energy Economics
- Envelope Systems
- HVAC Equipment and Systems
- Indoor Air Quality
- Lighting Systems
- Multibuilding Facilities
- Solar/Climate Analysis
- Training
- Utility Evaluation
- Validation Tools
- Ventilation/Airflow
- Water Conservation
Site Planning
- Bay Area Irrigation from the Urban Farmer Store, offers information for drip and sprinkler irrigation, and other water-saving landscaping techniques
- Environmentally Sensitive Design Practices Database offered by the Chesapeake Bay Program, the information focuses on protecting water quality through better site design, land use planning, stormwater management, and more
- Estimating Irrigation Water Needs of Landscape Plantings in California (.pdf file) from the
- Graywater Guide (.pdf file) designed to help homeowners and professionals understand and design graywater systems
- Healthy Lawn and Maintenance from UC IPM, learn how to care for your turf using little to no pesticides
- PAN Alternatives to Pesticides Database provides links to other organizations that provide information on non-toxic and less-toxic approaches to pest management
- Pesticides and Water Quality from UC IPM, learn how using pesticides affects your nearby creeks and rivers
- Start at the Source Bay Area Stormwater Management Agencies Association’s (BASMAA) latest document on the topic of development standards and stormwater quality. This manual comprehensively guides you through the design process.
- Texas Guide to Rainwater Harvesting provides the essential information to enable you to design a system that suits your needs if you are considering rainwater harvesting as a partial or total source of your water supply
- UC Davis Statewide Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Program provides extensive information on IPM
Roofing
- Ecoroofs (.pdf file) provides a concise overview of green roofs from