Salt Lake City has long walked its environmental talk. But to be a truly green city, Mayor Ralph Becker's team is using its black pen to cut the red tape. Marking the first major overhaul since the mid-90s, capital planners are rewriting the city's code book to help ensure sustainability for generations to come.

Doraville and Chamblee, suburbs of Atlanta, Geo., are the first towns in their state to pass ordinances requiring LEED certification on new development.

The National Association of Counties' (NACo) Green Government initiative has been compiling information about the ways in which counties across the United States are putting sustainable practices into place. Their fact sheets cover a range of topics, from solar and geothermal energy in county facilities to choosing a "green team".

This guidebook describes the characteristics and benefits of high-performance school buildings and details the process to help school planners ask the right questions of their design professionals to ensure the best school design possible. Written primarily for those who make decisions about the design and construction of K-12 schools, it is useful anyone advocating for school buildings that are cost-effective, sustainable, and healthy and productive for students, teachers, and staff.

In his work as a land planner in North Carolina, Aaron Newton works to create sustainable places. But it's not just his job: awareness of peak oil has led him to promote relocalization close to home, and led to coauthoring a new book that expands the definition of agricultural land.

Green building is on the rise - but one of the barriers to its development can be codes that don't anticipate the kinds of changes that these designs require. How can creativity and collaboration help both sides achieve what they're both after - public health and welfare?

A basic guide for taking a more sustainable approach to rehabbing multifamily rental properties, focused on important changes that can be made while rehabilitating multifamily units. While this is not as exciting on the surface as new zero-energy buildings, efficiencies can be one of our greatest tools in reducing energy use, and encouraging efficiencies at the time of rehab may be the best time to capture those opportunities in rental buildings.

A Southeast Portland (Ore.) proposed district heating system could be a proof of concept for retrofitting neighborhoods with more efficient locally generated heat and power systems. It just needs some help from the city to move forward.

The World Sustainable Building (SB) Conference series, which has been held every three years, is the peak gathering of the world’s leading technical experts and researchers on sustainable built environments.

Last week, the California Building Standards Commission unanimously approved the nation’s first statewide green building code. The new rules will mandate that all new construction reduce energy use by 15%, water use by 20% and water for landscaping by 50%.