The recently enacted Covid-19 relief package titled “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021” has extended the Federal Energy Tax Credit (Section 45L) through December 31, 2021, and made the Energy Efficient Commercial Building Deduction (Section 179D) permanent. While both tax incentives offer significant value and the qualification process is simple, they are often overlooked by developers and homebuilders.

Every three years, the International Code Council (ICC) goes through the process of updating the building codes outlined in the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). The IECC is the model energy code in the U.S., and updates to the 2021 edition were just finalized by the ICC. 

We hear optimistic plans and measures under consideration that go far beyond those energy efficient lightbulbs. Unfortunately, when it comes to pointing fingers and passing blame, the real estate industry is targeted as a chief offender. 

With green building technology entering the mainstream and eco-home concepts spreading their roots faster than ever, the need for designing high-performance building envelopes is repeatedly highlighted. 

Known for award-winning museum designs and architecture, urbanism, campus planning and environmental design work, the firm Studio Ma has announced the completion of three major museums and a national initiative to promote and design “a new generation of net-zero-energy museums” and cultural institutions worldwide.

Kingspan has launched a major 10-year strategy to play its part in reducing the world’s carbon emissions by 45 percent by 2030, as determined in the Paris Agreement, and contribute towards the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

During its annual Greenbuild International Conference and Expo being held in Atlanta, Ga., the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced LEED Positive – a vision statement and LEED development roadmap that will lay the foundation for a future of LEED that is regenerative.

The holiday shopping season is just around the corner, and local homeowners are searching for easy ways to keep costs low and cash in their pockets. 

Once buzzwords within the building industry, phrases such as “zero net energy,” “sustainable energy,” and “energy conservation,” are now commonplace.

On a small peninsula of land, where the Chesapeake Bay meets the West River in Maryland, sits a community of traditional homes that evoke the centuries-old history of American settlement in the area.