This site offers a collection of informative articles, case studies, and product reviews that relate to sustainable architecture, certification and standards, and green building in general. The content touches on every part of the design process, from initial client relations and communication, to evidence-based design research, to current issues and reviews of recent projects.
Environmental Design + Construction
This bimonthly online magazine is dedicated to efficient and sustainable construction, covering topics such as resource and energy efficiency, alternative and renewable energy sources, indoor air quality, and life-cycle assessment.
The USGBC is the industry leader, working to promote environmentally responsible and profitable buildings. On their site you will find among other things design resources, lists of green building organizations, building code standards, and case studies..
The International EPD System's Environmental Product Declaration Library
Based in Sweden, the International EPD System is a global program compiling environmental declarations. Before you specify, search this database for published EPDs of a range of construction materials, products and more.
"14 Patterns of Biophilic Design: improving health and well-being in the built environment"
This is a white paper/report published in conjunction with Terrapin Bright Green. Chapters include "Biophilia in Context", "Design Considerations" and "The Patterns".
Precautionary List of Chemicals
Created by the firm Perkins + Will to promote transparency in the field, this database lists chemicals to look out for and avoid in materials and products. The database can be searched by substance, project area, product, and environmental hazards, among other filters.
Living Building Challenge Red List
Similar to the resource above, this database (published by International Living Future Institute) lists the "'worst in class' materials, chemicals and elements known to pose serious risks to human health and the greater ecosystem that are prevalent in the building products industry."
National Resources Defense Council
Focusing on issues surrounding climate change, communities, energy, food, health, water, oceans and the wild, the NRDC "works to safeguard the earth". They have published solid investigative research about issues such as illegal logging, farming using solar panels, and crypto-currency emissions, just to name a few examples.
The Wood Database was created by Eric Meier to be an online encyclopedia of wood species, a handy reference for woodworkers, designers, and anyone specifying or working with wood products. His article "Restricted and Endangered Wood Species" is excellent, and explains resources like the IUCN Red List (below) and the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) appendices as they relate to wood.
International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species
IUCN was the first global network founded to address environmental issues, in 1948, and is also the largest. Their Red List of Threatened Species includes wood, and categorizes each species as critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable based on the latest data and reports.
This resource features an interactive map that shows how global forests have changed over time, offering data and analysis of land use, climate change, and diversity as well. You can interact with the map to read profiles and details of forests across the world.
For fifty years, Greenpeace has been working "to change the way we humans relate to nature and each other." Their organization publishes articles and materials about clean energy (and exposes on fossil and other dirty fuels), climate change, forests and ecosystems, and local communities,
