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The following are information links and organizations that work in building science activities that are very helpful and useful.
ACI - Affordable Comfort Inc. is working to advance the performance of residential buildings through unbiased education so that every family has a green home that is energy efficient, durable, comfortable, healthy, and safe, and every community has access to and values skilled home performance services. ACI offers some of the best building science training programs and conferences both nationally and regionally, with courses taught by the best building science educators.
BCAP - Building Codes Assistance Project was established in 1994, as a joint initiative of the Alliance to Save Energy, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, and the Natural Resources Defense Council. Major funding for this website and for BCAP's advocacy and technical assistance work comes from the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the Energy Foundation. BCAP provides custom-tailored assistance on building energy code adoption and implementation. We assist state and local regulatory and legislative bodies and help coordinate others representing environmental interests, consumers, labor, and industry. BCAP provides states with code advocacy assistance on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy, and coordinates with DOE techncial assistance.
 Good quality housing design can improve social wellbeing and quality of life by reducing crime, improving public health, easing transport problems and increasing property values. Building for Life promotes design excellence and celebrates best practice in the house building industry. Building for Life is a partnership between the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment and the British Homebuilders Federation.
Their 20 Building for Life criteria embody the vision of functional, attractive and sustainable housing. New housing developments are scored against the criteria to assess the quality of their design.
CMHC Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) is Canada’s national housing agency. Established as a government-owned corporation in 1946 to address Canada’s post-war housing shortage, the agency has grown into a major national institution. CMHC is Canada’s premier provider of mortgage loan insurance, mortgage-backed securities, housing policy and programs, and housing research. The Canadians have done excellent research in building science and have tons of information and data on approaches that work and some that aren't quite so successful.
The Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada (HRAI), the national HVACR industry association. HRAI is a partnership of industry sector organizations that represents Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration (HVACR) manufacturers, wholesalers and contractors who provide the Canadian public with products and services for indoor comfort and essential refrigeration processes.
 The National Center for Healthy Housing (NCHH - formerly the National Center for Lead-Safe Housing) was founded as a nonprofit organization in October 1992, to bring the public health, housing, and environmental communities together to combat our nation's epidemic of childhood lead poisoning. As the National Center for Healthy Housing it continues its important role in reducing children's risk of lead poisoning and has expanded its mission to help to decrease children's exposure to other hazards in the home including biological, physical, and chemical contaminants in and around the home. The NCHH has done one of the most comprehensive comparative studies on green building programs "Comparing Green Building Guidelines".
Oikos - Oikos is a World Wide Web site devoted to serving professionals whose work promotes sustainable design and construction. That's a broad goal, but then environmental sustainability touches virtually every aspect of a building. The website provides lots of information on weatherization and products.
Oikos is a greek word meaning house. Oikos serves as the root for two english words: ecology and economy. That may seem contradictory at first, but it makes perfect sense.
 With a longstanding reputation for providing sound environmental education and outreach programs, Southface has been recognized for excellence by the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, American Institute of Architects, American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers, Georgia Environmental Council, Earth Share of Georgia and numerous other industry and community organizations. Southface has some of the best building sciece training programs. They established one of the first Green Building Conferences, Greenprints. |
