Last week I took a tour of NEXUS, Boston’s Green Building Resource Center. An very knowledgeable employee of NEXUS, Shoshana Friedman, showed me around their new space on 38 Chauncy Street in Boston.

NEXUS is more or less the epicenter of green building resources for Boston, MA. It has a product showroom, a material and resource library, space for events, and provide a place for people studying for LEED certification. You can also take a tour of the building from their friendly staff!

I was curious if other similar green building centers exist. They’re a little hard to find—a quick search I did turned up one in Atlanta and one in Santa Monica (which is actually co-sponsored by Global Green USA). Let us know if your searches turn up other green building centers in different parts of the country.

In addition to serving as an educational resource to the building community, NEXUS is a working example of green products in use. They are currently in the process of being LEED certified under the Commercial Interior (CI) bracket. Here are a few “green” features that I found interesting:

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New products such as, bamboo flooring or structural insulated panels are making it possible to build healthier, greener homes.

Impact resistant windows are just one of the advances that can make a significant difference in protecting our homes.

Leaving your home vulnerable to hurricane force winds and other damaging conditions can affect the health and life span of your home.

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Green homes can look modern and sleek, but what if you want a more traditional looking home? Like a craftsmen or a cape. Holistic Homes is building four green and energy efficient craftsman style homes in Woodstown, New Jersey that are big on style and luxury and small on cost and energy.

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Love that new car smell?

That smell actually comes from the upholstery and plastics in your brand new car. Many new materials and everyday products contain VOCs (volatile organic compounds) which enter the atmosphere and can affect our health and the environment.

So what exactly are VOCs, where can they be found and what can we do to avoid them? VOCs stands for volatile organic compounds and are typically human-made chemicals. According to the USGS, the word organic, though typically associated with healthy and natural products, actually means that the compound contains carbon.

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Almost 20 million people in America suffer from asthma according to the Environmental Protection Agency . Indoor air pollutants are a large part of the problem for asthma sufferers. What does building a green home have to do with the fight against asthma?

The amount of time we spend indoors might have something to do with it: most of us spend as much as 90% of our time indoors. With various indoor-air pollutants lingering in our homes, indoor-air quality can become a major factor for people with asthma. The impact can be reduced by taking a few simple steps, many of which are practiced in healthy green homes already.

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Planning to build a green home can be confusing.What makes a green home green?What factors are most important and why? 

Factors such as, building envelope, energy efficiency, indoor air quality, renewable energy, local conditions and green materials have significant effects on the health and efficiency of our homes. Deciding what matters the most to you and your family is up to you.

Protecting your home from the elements is one of the most important considerations. The building envelope is the separation between the interior and exterior of a home (essentially, it is the outer shell). This separation is usually made up of walls, a roof, and a foundation and is an important factor in the home’s efficiency.

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