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A new report from the General Services Administration (GSA) concludes that the Green Building Initiative’s (GBI) Green Globes rating system continues to meet federal requirements for green buildings. The assessment comes after a study, High-Performance Building Certification Ratings Systems, that looked at over 100 building...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) agreed to reconsider emissions limits of the PVC MACT industry regulation in September 2012. The EPA has begun to review data and other materials provided by VI members and anticipates issuing a notice or proposed rulemaking on the Reconsideration...

Alexandra Dunn, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, told vinyl industry advocates on May 14 that the Environmental Protection Agency is working to ensure smooth implementation of key laws under its domain. She then turned her attention to the implementation...

Plastic pipe manufacturers are calling for an update to the U.S. flue gas codes to help improve the safety of gas-fired appliances.  The issue stems from concerns over the use of plumbing grade pipe in flue gas applications.  U.S. codes currently permit the use of...

There are two major certifications that have been garnering a lot of buzz lately in the health and wellness design space: WELL Building Standard® (now WELL v2) and Fitwel. As a designer, you’ve probably heard about both. But what are they and which one might...

Codes, standards, and guidelines are critical elements in construction and design. And while the three terms are often used interchangeably, they are not the same. As a designer, it’s important to distinguish between the three and understand what each is and how these different elements...

WELL Building Standard, a newly introduced rating system, shares some of the same attributes with the Green Building Intiative's Green Globes, including assessors.

There are many questions in the “land of green codes,” and being close to the development of sustainable guidelines, standards and codes, it occurred to me that a “primer” outline may be of assistance for those that are trying to understand the different organizations and related documents in relationship to green building.