Green Building

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has urged U.S. builders to prioritize wood in green buildings. He made the recommendation after the Forest Service concluded in a new report that using wood in building products yields fewer greenhouse gases than using common materials. 

Home Star may be dead, but that's not the end of home improvement companies' interest in weatherization. Far from abandoning the idea, an increasing number of companies are remaking themselves as “energycontractors.”

While such events are thought to be rare, concerns in Massachusetts about several recent structure fires involving spray foam has brought the issue of heat caused by exothermic chemical reactions during the application process into the spotlight.

Some builders get as good performance from 2x4s as from competing systems–and for less cost–by doubling up the frame.