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Spray-On Solar Cell Prepares to Make a Debut

Traditional silicon-wafer cells and thin-film solar cells have an upcoming rival—solar cells of the spray-on kind. Spray-on solar cells for glass windows (Image from newenergytechnologies.com) Since 2010, New Energy Technologies based in Columbia, Maryland has been busy developing their breakthrough…

neoli31 May 2013

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Impact of LEED on Asthma in Occupants

A recent study just released by Johns Hopkins University shows that asthma rates are significantly reduced for occupants in buildings that have achieved LEED Certification. This is yet another great example of the qualitative benefits (often overlooked) of green buildings and…

Alessandro28 May 2013

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Let’s Have Bird-Friendly Buildings Once and for All

In the U.S., as many as one billion birds die each year from accidentally colliding into glass windows of buildings. We can’t get our head around this number—one billion—and yet that number apparently is already a conservative estimate. The Aqua…

neoli23 May 2013

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Shanghai Green Building Subsidies

NOTE: If you wish to download a PDF version of this article, please click Shanghai Green Building Subsidies (742 KB). By Olivia Lu-Hill and Jade Chen China has been in the spotlight lately for its exponentially growing number of green buildings. The…

olivia23 May 2013

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Smart Paint, Carbon Dioxide, and the Building Sector

One of the more disheartening news reports we read about last week was the one about carbon dioxide reaching a new record level—400 parts per million, as measured in the atmosphere of Mauna Loa, Hawaii. For scientists and environmentalists, this…

neoli18 May 2013

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Upping Our Cities’ Walk Score | Why Walkability Matters

In Ray Bradbury’s classic novel Fahrenheit 451, there is a teenage girl named Clarisse McClellan who likes to walk while everyone else drives around in their big, important cars. Actually, they don’t just drive around; they zoom, as fast as…

neoli9 May 2013

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LEED Emerges as the Preferred Green Building Certification for All GSA Buildings

It’s a triumphant week for USGBC and the entire green building movement. Three months after the General Services Administration (GSA) sought public input on LEED takes the lead once again for all GSA buildings in the U.S. which green building…

neoli4 May 2013

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Acoustics and Soundproofing in LEED Green Buildings

In film school we were made to watch Apocalypse Now by Francis Ford Coppola (which was adapted from Joseph Conrad's novella Heart of Darkness). I forgot how both the film and book turned out, but I remember one important detail…

neoli27 April 2013

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How to Really Celebrate Earth Day

We’ve been celebrating Earth Day for forty-three years now since its launch in 1970, and yet despite everyone’s efforts, the threat of climate change still looms on us. Does that mean the world’s combined efforts haven’t been enough? Maybe not,…

neoli21 April 2013

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On Algae and Other Plants for Green Building

Arup’s latest foray in incorporating plants for green building involves algae. Yes, algae—that simplest, most basic organism that crosses the fine line between “plant” and “animal”. Plants for green building: Algae is the unlikely hero of this apartment building in…

neoli18 April 2013