News
Green Building & Eco Friendly News
We are excited to share green building industry developments, news about our Member Companies, and of course current Rate It Green information. Please feel welcome to submit interesting news you have found. Note that Rate It Green does include news announcements as a part of some sponsorship offerings.
You can also learn more by following Rate It Green on social media. We greatly appreciate your likes, follows, and general votes of support.
All Electric Summer: Opportunities to "amp up" your electrification expertise
Rate It Green Members and Friends -
It’s a great time to learn about electrification! Whether you are just learning about today’s energy efficient electric equipment and appliances, or you’re already somewhat expert, there’s really something for everyone to learn or contribute this summer, as several leading green building organizations are hosting some terrific educational offerings. And most are free! Check out Rate It Green's open green building calendar for these and more green bu… Show more
All About Heat Pumps
Rate It Green Members and Friends -
If you feel that recent news has been all about heat pumps, I agree! It seems there's a growing push to educate consumers and increase demand, as part of support for wider electrification and decarbonization efforts. Why are heat pumps so exciting? As you may already know, heat pumps are 300-400% efficient, as they move energy instead of generating it, and without onsite fossil fuel combustion. The numbers seem almost unreal. Heat pumps a… Show more
What Happens In Vegas... (Will We See You There?) Let's Create Some Great Green Building Content!
Rate It Green Members and Friends -
I know, the leading image for this email shows some serious wattage and doesn't really make me think first about green building. And yet, suddenly it seems like everyone I know is heading to Vegas next week for the International Builders' Show. That includes Green Builder and Rate It Green Content Partner Matt Hoots of Sawhorse, Inc.! I encourage you to connect with Matt to say hello, or to share your expertise or to introduce your company and what y… Show more
Looking Forward - Engaging Together as a Green Building Community
Rate It Green Members and Friends -
Thank you for being a part of our green building community, and welcome to our first newsletter of 2024! With this email, we bring you so much positive energy and a reaffirmation of the spirit of what we do. As Green Builder and Rate It Green Content Partner Matt Hoots said the other day, "The only way we are going to keep progressing toward solutions is to continue the conversation and share.” I wholeheartedly agree!
I am excited to report that I am&n… Show more
Happy New Year, 2024!! Looking back at Top 2023 News, and Some Sneak Previews for 2024!
Rate It Green Members and Friends -
Happy New Year! Thanks for all you do, and here's to an AMAZING 2024!
We expect great things from this new year! Whether you celebrate recent COP28 Results or feel anxious about insufficient progress, perhaps we can agree that 2023 was a year of foundation building and stage setting. We can then think of 2024 then as a year of great framing, where the structure and promising opportunities really come together more rapidly, where we can see tangible gains… Show more
Reframing Perspective: What Can "Positive" (Nature Positive) Look Like?
Rate It Green Members and Friends -
There are so many pressing crises, it can be overwhelming to decide what to do first or next. At a time when we need to take immediate and drastic action to mitigate the worst climate change consequences, some of which have already arrived, how is it possible that there are ongoing and disastrous wars and famine, extreme weather crises, raging fires, disease, and areas that are literally becoming uninhabitable for human life, among other global challenges which are hard to fully i… Show more
Making Smart Window Choices for Meeting Comfort, Health, Energy & Sustainability Goals
Rate It Green Members and Friends -
Do you have window questions? We've got some information and answers! Green Builder Matt Hoots of Sawhorse, Inc. has been busy answering Rate It Green Member questions and also interviewing manufacturers to learn about their energy efficient window and doors as well as the latest technological advances.
Matt recently recorded a series of conversations to answer key window questions, including:
How do you decide when and whether to replace windows? &n… Show more
Understanding The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) - Introduction and Update
Rate It Green Members and Friends -
Hello to everyone gathering at Greenbuild this week! I had hoped to attend in person but had some schedule complications. As much as I think we absolutely need to connect and share information online when we can’t be together, I of course believe it’s meaningful and impactful to gather and build community in person. I’ll be attending as I can online, and I’ll hope to ”see you” there!
I have spent a good deal of time in the past weeks &ldq… Show more
Strategies for Staying Cool: Air Sealing and Insulation
Rate It Green Members and Friends -
It’s quite an understatement to say it’s been hot this summer. Playfully, and yet deadly seriously, Vox declared that this scorching summer might just "be one the coolest summers of the rest of your life." Scientists at the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service estimate current summer temperatures as not only the hottest since modern record keeping began, but possibly in the last 120,000 years. And summer&rsqu… Show more
The Perfect Wall - Explained
It feels a bit funny to describe a product or practice as "Perfect," but that's our task as we explore "The Perfect Wall." In a recent video, Matt Hoots of Sawhorse, Inc. explains this important concept and also shows how he and his team are applying theory to practice at the #1920sMakeoverATL deep energy retrofit project in Ansley Park in Atlanta, Georgia.
As Matt explains, along with fellow Rate It Green Membe… Show more
Stephanie Horowitz of ZeroEnergy Design Featured in Forbes Interview
ZeroEnergy Design's award-winning Lincoln Farmhouse
"We envision a status quo of healthy, comfortable, energy-positive, carbon-neutral buildings made of biodegradable and recyclable materials. Not only will they entirely avoid fossil fuels onsite and sequester carbon in their construction materials, but they will also produce enough clean renewable energy to offset the energy consumed in their construction, operation, and by the owners’ vehicles.” - Stephanie Horowitz, ZeroEnergy Design
ZeroEnergy Design continues… Show more
Challenges to the 2021 Energy Code - Opportunity to Speak up for Energy Efficiency (Act Fast - Comments Due by 8/17!)
We at Rate It Green were already celebrating the Changes voted in for the 2021 Energy Code, voted on by over 1,000 representatives from US cities and states, but not so fast.
Apparently three main appeals have been filed, and the National Buildings Institute (NBI) has shared excellent information:
https://newbuildings.org/2021-energy-code-progress-challenged-climate-and-affordability-stand-to-lose-unless-we-speak-up/
In brief:
The eligibility of some voters to overturn items not approved earlier in the process has … Show more
Global GreenTag's Product Health Declaration™ (the Global GreenTag PHD™) Formally Recognized by LEED® Versions 4.0 and 4.1
Global GreenTag International, the green product certification scheme from ‘Downunder,’ has just increased it benefits to building industries globally, receiving news that leading green building certification and rating system LEED® Versions 4.0 and 4.1 now formally recognizes its ground-breaking Product Health Declaration™ (the Global GreenTag PHD™) in the USA and in over 167 countries worldwide. With this recognition, Global GreenTag’s PHD is the only ingredient hazard transparency report to b… Show more
USGBC Introduces 4 Safety Pilot Credits
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and in line with rising healthy building awareness generally, the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) has announced 4 new LEED Safety Pilot Credits:
Cleaning and Disinfecting Your Space
Re-Entering Your Workspace
Building Water System Recommissioning
Managing Indoor Air Quality During COVID-19
The credits are part of a set of actions the USGBC plans after presented a reinvisioned Healthy Economy Strategy this spring. According to the organization, "U… Show more
Greenbuild Goes Virtual for November, 2020 with 3 Pre-Conference Summits, and the Main Conference/Expo November 10-12
USGBC's Greenbuild Expo and Conference made a decision to go virtual for 2020, with three pre-conference online summits planned for September and October and the Conference & Expo taking place November 10-12. This year's summit topics are: Green Business, Global Health & Wellness and Resilience. While there are clearly great benefits to connecting in person, this seems like a wise, conservartive decision given the current global health crisis and uncertainty. The Greenbuild team can work to both expand and focus… Show more
IWBI Lowers 2020 WELL AP Exam Registration Fees and Plans to Donate 20% of all 2020 WELL AP Registration Fees
The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) announced today that through 2020, it is lowering the cost of registration to pursue its WELL AP credential by over 50 percent, to $299US. Students as well as individuals who are out of work or who have lost their jobs due to the current health crisis, will be charged only $99US, with IWBI covering the difference.
According to Rick Fedrizzi, chairman and CEO, IWBI, “These weeks when so many of us are responding to the stay-at-home edicts that are part of the virus defense present a … Show more
Stephanie Horowitz of ZeroEnergy Design, Interviewed by Architectural Digest on Architecture and Climate Change
ZeroEnergy Design's net-positive farmhouse in Lincoln, Massachusetts.
Stephanie Horowitz, Managing Director at ZeroEnergy Design, a Rate It Green Member, was recently interviewed for an article by Elizabeth Stamp of Architectural Digest: “How the Architecture Industry Is Reacting to Climate Change.” The article discusses the energy use and CO2 emissions that building construction contributes, and the opportunity and responsibility the field has to make an impact.
… Show more
IWBI Announces Three Impressive Initiatives to Support the Green & Healthy Building and Wider Communities in this Time of Crisis
The International Well Building Institute (IWBI) has announced a number of initiatives designed to help and support the green and healthy building and wider communities in the time of crisis surrounding the coronavirus.
First, IWBI will be setting up a Task Force to help bring together experts and further inform WELL Building Standard improvements, but also general prevention and preparedness, and recovery efforts.
Existing task force members:
Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., MBA, former president and CEO of t… Show more
Green Builders, Let's Gather! IFLI Hosts a Happy Hour, Fridays at 3 - 5 pm EST
The International Living Future Institute has issued an offer and a call to gather!
"Talk Living Buildings, sustainability, and regenerative design with other advanced practitioners - without leaving your couch!"
The International Living Future Institute (ILFI) is hosting a global "It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere" Happy Hour* every Friday, from 3 PM - 5 PM EST, until everyone can gather again in person. Join IFLI for 30 minutes, or the full two hours. It's casual and up to you… Show more
3-Part Webinar Series: Quarantine and Responses to COVID-19: What We Know, What You Can Do (Recorded 3/19, Available free, no registration required)
Healthy Indoors, The Building Performance Workshop, and the Maine Indoor Air Quality Council offered a series of three webinars on Friday, March 19. The webinars are now available as recordings, with no registration required.
These are comfortable, fairly approachable conversations, definitely by experts. When they get too technical, someone on the panel usually brings the conversation back to what everyone might need to know for living in our homes in a way we didn't initially plan for them, and what to… Show more
All Electric Summer: Opportunities to "amp up" your electrification expertise
Rate It Green Members and Friends -
It’s a great time to learn about electrification! Whether you are just learning about today’s energy efficient electric equipment and appliances, or you’re already somewhat expert, there’s really something for everyone to learn or contribute this summer, as several leading green building organizations are hosting some terrific educational offerings. And most are free! Check out Rate It Green's open green building calendar for these and more green bu… Show more
All About Heat Pumps
Rate It Green Members and Friends -
If you feel that recent news has been all about heat pumps, I agree! It seems there's a growing push to educate consumers and increase demand, as part of support for wider electrification and decarbonization efforts. Why are heat pumps so exciting? As you may already know, heat pumps are 300-400% efficient, as they move energy instead of generating it, and without onsite fossil fuel combustion. The numbers seem almost unreal. Heat pumps a… Show more
What Happens In Vegas... (Will We See You There?) Let's Create Some Great Green Building Content!
Rate It Green Members and Friends -
I know, the leading image for this email shows some serious wattage and doesn't really make me think first about green building. And yet, suddenly it seems like everyone I know is heading to Vegas next week for the International Builders' Show. That includes Green Builder and Rate It Green Content Partner Matt Hoots of Sawhorse, Inc.! I encourage you to connect with Matt to say hello, or to share your expertise or to introduce your company and what y… Show more
Looking Forward - Engaging Together as a Green Building Community
Rate It Green Members and Friends -
Thank you for being a part of our green building community, and welcome to our first newsletter of 2024! With this email, we bring you so much positive energy and a reaffirmation of the spirit of what we do. As Green Builder and Rate It Green Content Partner Matt Hoots said the other day, "The only way we are going to keep progressing toward solutions is to continue the conversation and share.” I wholeheartedly agree!
I am excited to report that I am&n… Show more
Happy New Year, 2024!! Looking back at Top 2023 News, and Some Sneak Previews for 2024!
Rate It Green Members and Friends -
Happy New Year! Thanks for all you do, and here's to an AMAZING 2024!
We expect great things from this new year! Whether you celebrate recent COP28 Results or feel anxious about insufficient progress, perhaps we can agree that 2023 was a year of foundation building and stage setting. We can then think of 2024 then as a year of great framing, where the structure and promising opportunities really come together more rapidly, where we can see tangible gains… Show more
Reframing Perspective: What Can "Positive" (Nature Positive) Look Like?
Rate It Green Members and Friends -
There are so many pressing crises, it can be overwhelming to decide what to do first or next. At a time when we need to take immediate and drastic action to mitigate the worst climate change consequences, some of which have already arrived, how is it possible that there are ongoing and disastrous wars and famine, extreme weather crises, raging fires, disease, and areas that are literally becoming uninhabitable for human life, among other global challenges which are hard to fully i… Show more
Making Smart Window Choices for Meeting Comfort, Health, Energy & Sustainability Goals
Rate It Green Members and Friends -
Do you have window questions? We've got some information and answers! Green Builder Matt Hoots of Sawhorse, Inc. has been busy answering Rate It Green Member questions and also interviewing manufacturers to learn about their energy efficient window and doors as well as the latest technological advances.
Matt recently recorded a series of conversations to answer key window questions, including:
How do you decide when and whether to replace windows? &n… Show more
Understanding The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) - Introduction and Update
Rate It Green Members and Friends -
Hello to everyone gathering at Greenbuild this week! I had hoped to attend in person but had some schedule complications. As much as I think we absolutely need to connect and share information online when we can’t be together, I of course believe it’s meaningful and impactful to gather and build community in person. I’ll be attending as I can online, and I’ll hope to ”see you” there!
I have spent a good deal of time in the past weeks &ldq… Show more
Strategies for Staying Cool: Air Sealing and Insulation
Rate It Green Members and Friends -
It’s quite an understatement to say it’s been hot this summer. Playfully, and yet deadly seriously, Vox declared that this scorching summer might just "be one the coolest summers of the rest of your life." Scientists at the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service estimate current summer temperatures as not only the hottest since modern record keeping began, but possibly in the last 120,000 years. And summer&rsqu… Show more
The Perfect Wall - Explained
It feels a bit funny to describe a product or practice as "Perfect," but that's our task as we explore "The Perfect Wall." In a recent video, Matt Hoots of Sawhorse, Inc. explains this important concept and also shows how he and his team are applying theory to practice at the #1920sMakeoverATL deep energy retrofit project in Ansley Park in Atlanta, Georgia.
As Matt explains, along with fellow Rate It Green Membe… Show more