Search Results for: energy efficiency
Housewrap Quick Facts
Plastics’ energy and greenhouse gas savings using housewrap applied to the exterior of single family residential housing.
Thermal Doors
Doors are the passageway to our homes. In addition to welcoming friends and family, doors also serve as barriers to the outside environment. As such, a door should provide a family with security, durability, energy-efficiency, as...
Life Cycle Assessment
Smart from the Start With all the “green” products or materials on the market, how do you navigate the claims and confidently pick the best green-building materials? A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) can help. LCAs are one of the...
What is Green Building?
Green Building – Sustainable – Resilient Success Sustainable Design What is green building? Sustainable design, or “green construction,” is a method of wisely using resources to create high-quality,...
Advanced Engineered Pipe Materials & Infrastructure Improvements
Maintaining and improving infrastructure—roads, bridges, tunnels, sewers, water supply, etc.—is a fundamental charge of states, cities, and localities. Whether it’s replacing leaky pipes or repairing roads, choosing the...
Code Green, Part 2: Understanding Compliance Pathways In The IgCC
In our last post, we talked about the current state of green building solutions in the International Green Construction Code (IgCC). We explained how the existing materials and resources pathway for compliance in the IgCC code...
Material Review: One to Watch
Now that the show is over, here’s a question: Who got the gold—in architecture—at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing? Was it PTW Architects for their luminescent, bubble-clad Watercube, also one of the world’s most...
Forms and Function
No matter the region of the United States, inclement weather and extreme temperatures can play havoc with energy bills—as any homeowner will quickly confirm. Without proper insulation, these heating and cooling costs can rise...
Extruded polystyrene (XPS) Extended Flight at DFW Airport
When the time came to replace membranes in insulated and ballasted roofing assemblies on four terminal buildings at the Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) International Airport, everything old was new again. The project team looked for...
Site Development
Since design, construction, and maintenance practices can have a significant effect on their environmental surroundings, measures can be taken to either lessen negative impacts or improve previously contaminated sites (i.e....
Deeper Shades of Green
In previous editions of Modern Materials, we have brought you extensive information about the role plastics can play in the built environment, showcasing products made from various polymers and resins. That said, this issue of...
The Cool Roof Phenomenon
For several years, a trend toward energy-efficient roof technology has been emerging in design and construction circles.Cool roofing evolved as a means to help keep buildings cooler and make them more energy efficient. When...
Product Life Cycles, And Sustainability
The Plastics Division of American Chemistry Council (ACC) is on the cusp of providing unprecedented cradle-to-polymer information about many of its plastic resin products. This life cycle assessment inventory (LCI) data, culled...
Other Sustainable Features
Not every environmental benefit of a design/construction product or practice fits neatly into the categories of various green building rating systems. For example, the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC’s) Leadership in...
Flexing Your PEX: Plumbing the possibilities of cross-linked polyethylene pipes
PEX pipes, also known as cross-linked polyethylene pipes, rely on plastics structurally modified for impact/tensile strengths, decreased shrinkage, high temperature/pressure performance, and resistance against creep, chemicals,...
Warming Up to PEX Pipe Radiant Heating
Since the time of the Roman Empire, radiant systems have been used to deliver heat to buildings. One of the more recent modern examples involves Frank Lloyd Wright, who incorporated hydronic radiant heat into his designs in the...
Don’t Put All Your (Green) Eggs in One Basket
A look at BEES and LEED Over the last several years, environmental advocates have successfully raised the awareness of green building design and construction benefits among architects/engineers (A/Es) and designers, as well as...
PVC Piping: The Ultimate Underground Solution
One of the world’s most versatile plastics started as an accident in a rubber scientist’s laboratory some 80 years ago. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) was first created by a German chemist in 1872, but never patented until 1913. It...