Reference Library

Table of Contents

• General
• Passive House
• LEED
• Living Future
• Green Homes
• Green Building Basics
• Energy Efficiency and Zero Energy
• Electrification and Decarbonization
• Embodied Carbon
• Building Science
• Sustainable and Healthy Building Products and Materials
• Healthy Habitat (Biophilic Design)
• Building Performance and Evaluation Tools
• Connecticut State and Local Policies, Codes, and Initiatives
• Building Sector Policy and Research
• Journals, Magazines, and Podcasts
• Global Networks

Dew Point Calculator 
Use the sliders to explore combinations of temperature (T), relative humidity (RH), and dew point (DP) to compare the preservation quality of your environment. Knowing the dew point can help achieve long-term preservation of collection materials for libraries, museums, and archives.

Apogee Passive House Products Marketplace
Current, Comprehensive, and Carefully Considered ™ high-performance building products directory.

Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency® (DSIRE)
Find Policies & Incentives by State

“DSIRE is the most comprehensive source of information on incentives and policies that support renewables and energy efficiency in the United States. Established in 1995, DSIRE is operated by the N.C. Clean Energy Technology Center at N.C. State University and receives support from EnergySage.”

Robinson+Cole Green Tax Incentive Compendium 2021
Federal and State Tax Incentives for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency

Polsinelli Green Tax Incentive Compendium, August 2022
Federal and State Tax Incentives for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency

Passive House

Energize Connecticut Passive House and All-Electric Homes Initiative

Training Center 

Certification Training FAQ 

What is Passive House?

Passive House incorporates strategies based on building science to minimize the use of energy while maximizing comfort and quality of life.

“A building standard that is truly energy efficient, comfortable, affordable and ecological at the same time.  Passive House is not a brand name, but a construction concept that can be applied by anyone and that has stood the test of practice.”

– Passipedia 

Passive House Explained in 90 Seconds

Passive House Explained in Under Four Minutes

Passive House = 90% Home Energy Reduction!

The Drama of Passive House

Passive House Realities vs. Myths

Passive House Realities:

• Comfort: Even temperature, draft-free, quiet.
• Health: Continuous fresh, filtered air, no CO2 build-up.
• Resiliency: Habitable interior without power.
• Energy Efficiency: Up to 90% reduction in heating and cooling demand over average existing building stock.
• Energy Security: Minimal utility costs, reducing burden on low-income households.
• Affordable: Cost off-set by reduced mechanical requirements, short payback.
• Best path to Net Zero
• Best path to goals of Paris Accord, Architecture 2030, and Connecticut 80 x 50 targets for carbon reduction.

Common Passive House Myths:

• Only houses.
• Can’t open the windows.
• Airtight building must be stuffy.
• Boxy and ugly.
• Too expensive.
• Too complicated.
• Only temperate climates

LEED

Training Center

Living Future

Living Future Resources

Living Future Research Library

Living Future Red List

Green Homes

Green Building Basics

Green and Healthy Homes Initiative
A nonprofit that promotes healthier home environments for low-income residents.

BuildingClean.org
An initiative by Bluegreen Alliance Foundation that provides resources for selecting non-toxic building materials.

Green Building Advisor
One-stop source for builders, remodelers, architects & homeowners looking for expert advice on green products.

CT Passive House
Dedicated to transforming Connecticut’s built environment by fostering low energy use and the sustainable impact of implementing Passive House principles and practices.

Green Home NYC
A community-oriented, volunteer-run organization to promote an energy efficient and sustainable built environment and to support green professional development in New York City.

Green Building Alliance
An organization that advances innovation in the built environment by empowering people to create environmentally, economically, and socially vibrant places.

EPA Indoor Air Quality Science and Technology
Webinars that provide guidance and programs to help build the capacity of communities to understand and avoid indoor and outdoor health impacts.

An Intro to Sustainable Design for Residential Projects
Webber + Studio explain each aspect of green building and its importance.

EPA Green Building Basic
EPA provides basic Information on green building.

Introductions to Sustainable Building Concepts
Penn State provides an overview of green building concepts.

Energy Efficiency and Zero Energy

BuildingGreen
A Certified B-Corp that focuses on sustainable architecture, green building materials, and design practices.

New Buildings Institute
A nonprofit organization working to improve the energy performance of commercial buildings.

Rocky Mountain Institute
A nonprofit organization that works to accelerate the clean energy transition.

American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE)
A nonprofit research organization that develops policies to reduce energy waste and combat climate change.

Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships (NEEP)
A nonprofit that works to accelerate energy efficiency and electrification in the building sector across 12 states comprising the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic region.

Green and Healthy Homes Initiative
A nonprofit that promotes healthier home environments for low-income residents.

Acadia Center
A nonprofit organization that focuses on clean energy and climate change mitigation, including in buildings.

E4 The Future
An organization that supports policies and initiatives for energy efficiency and clean energy.

Building Decarbonization Coalition
A team that aligns critical stakeholders on a path to transform the nation’s buildings through clean energy, using policy, research, and public engagement.

Zero Energy Project
The project connects homebuyers, builders, designers and real estate professionals with resources for advancing the net zero energy home.

USGBC
An organization that aims to accelerate and scale transformation of the built environment to minimize climate impacts and enhance the well-being of people, the environment and communities worldwide.

Green Built Alliance
An organization to advance sustainable living, green building and climate justice through community education, inspired action and collaborative partnerships.

Green Building United
An organization that advances an equitable transition to a climate-friendly and healthy built environment through education, advocacy, and strategic initiatives.

Electrification and Decarbonization

BuildingGreen
A Certified B-Corp that focuses on sustainable architecture, green building materials, and design practices.

Rocky Mountain Institute
A nonprofit organization that works to accelerate the clean energy transition.

American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE)
A nonprofit research organization that develops policies to reduce energy waste and combat climate change.

Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships (NEEP)
A nonprofit that works to accelerate energy efficiency and electrification in the building sector across 12 states comprising the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic region.

Rewiring America
A nonprofit working to electrify homes, businesses, and communities.

Institute for Market Transformation (IMT)
A nonprofit organization that designs and implements public policy and business practices that enable rapid decarbonization throughout the building’s lifecycle.

Acadia Center
A nonprofit organization that focuses on clean energy and climate change mitigation, including in buildings.

Building Decarbonization Coalition
A team that aligns critical stakeholders on a path to transform the nation’s buildings through clean energy, using policy, research, and public engagement.

The Switch is On
A campaign providing tools and support for homeowners to electrify their homes and begin a cleaner, healthier way of powering their lives.

Urban Green Council
A nonprofit dedicated to decarbonizing buildings for healthy and resilient communities.

Carbon Leadership Forum
A nonprofit organization that focuses on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the built environment.

Architecture 2030
A nonprofit organization that works to transform the built environment to achieve zero-carbon emissions.

Institute for Market Transformation (IMT)
A nonprofit organization that designs and implements public policy and business practices that enable rapid decarbonization throughout the building’s lifecycle.

Embodied Carbon

Carbon Leadership Forum
A nonprofit organization that focuses on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the built environment.

Architecture 2030
A nonprofit organization that works to transform the built environment to achieve zero-carbon emissions.

Building Science

Building Science Corporation
A consulting firm that provides resources and research on building science.

National Institute of Building Sciences
A nonprofit, non-governmental organization that supports advances in building science and technology.

Green Science Policy Institute
An institute that provides research on chemicals and materials in buildings.

Sustainable and Healthy Building Products and Materials

BuildingGreen
A Certified B-Corp that focuses on sustainable architecture, green building materials, and design practices.

Green Science Policy Institute
An institute that provides research on chemicals and materials in buildings.

Green and Healthy Homes Initiative
A nonprofit that promotes healthier home environments for low-income residents.

BuildingClean.org
An initiative by Bluegreen Alliance Foundation that provides resources for selecting non-toxic building materials.

Ace Lab
A cloud-based collaboration platform that offers a range of tools and resources to help architecture professionals research, compare, and select building products for their projects.

The Switch is On
A campaign providing tools and support for homeowners to electrify their homes and begin a cleaner, healthier way of powering their lives.

Rate It Green
A directory and network for the green building industry that helps individuals and companies find green building products and services, while also helping product manufacturers and service providers build their reputations and reach new clients.

Green Built Alliance
A group to advance sustainable living, green building and climate justice through community education, inspired action and collaborative partnerships.

Mindful Materials
An organization that is convening people, building a common language, sending a clear market signal, and working to connect and contextualize materials data.

Ecomedeslee
Search products based on impact, rating system, category, or brand.

Energy and Environmental Building Alliance (EEBA)
Search products based on impact, category, and brand.

Green Seal
Search for certified Green Seal products based on the product, facility, or company.

Energy Star Energy Efficient Products
Search for certified Energy Star products with efficiency standards set by the EPA.

The Home Depot
Engage with an interactive house to see recommendations for internal and external products.

Habitable
An organization to reimagine the materials economy in service of human and planetary health.

Declare
A transparency platform and product database that is changing the materials marketplace.

Apogee Passive House Products Marketplace
A high-performance building products directory including Passive Houses, Energy Star, and Zero energy ready homes. 

Healthy Habitat (Biophilic Design)

Green Infrastructure Foundation
The Foundation partners with communities to shape healthy, resilient and sustainable places through living green infrastructure.

International Living Future Institute
The Institute aims to cultivate a society that is socially just, culturally rich, and ecologically restorative.

Building Performance and Evaluation Tools

Institute for Market Transformation (IMT)
A nonprofit organization that designs and implements public policy and business practices that enable rapid decarbonization throughout the building’s lifecycle.

Acadia Center
A nonprofit organization that focuses on clean energy and climate change mitigation, including in buildings.

Green Home Initiative
A nonprofit organization that empowers people to make healthier and more sustainable choices in the renovation and construction of the places we live.

Green Building Initiative
A nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve the built environment’s impact on climate and society.

USGBC
An organization to accelerate and scale transformation of the built environment to minimize climate impacts and enhance the well-being of people, the environment and communities worldwide.

Green Built Alliance
An organization advance sustainable living, green building and climate justice through community education, inspired action and collaborative partnerships.

National Institute of Building Sciences
A nonprofit, non-governmental organization that supports advances in building science and technology.

Built Environment Plus
We drive sustainable and regenerative design, construction, and operation of the built environment!

DOE Home Energy Scoring Tool
A tool that allows a user to enter basic facts for a home and view an unofficial score.

DOE Cold Climate Heat Pump Decision Tool
A tool to help guide contractors and installers through the decision-making process for heat pump (HP) sizing and selection, with a focus on retrofit applications in cold climates.

DOE Heat Pump Water Heater Installation Tool
A tool to help installers and homeowners through the decision-making process for heat pump water heater (HPWH) product selection and installation.

DOE RED Calc Ventilation Calculator
A calculator for ventilation, insulation, air flow, moisture, and more.

EPA Water Budget Tool
A tool to help ensure a measure of efficiency and regional suitability for water applied to a landscape based on local climate data.

Daylighting Pattern Guide
An interactive tool that helps design teams incorporate proven daylighting strategies into commercial building projects for substantial reductions in lighting power consumption and overall building energy use.

IRA Incentives Calculator
A calculator to save time and estimate your household savings using IRA funding with the electrification calculator.

Hygrothermal Building Assessment
A guide used as a cue or checklist to make sure you have done a complete assessment.

Building America Solutions Center – Existing Homes Tool
An assessment to find installation guidance by topic for making existing homes more energy efficient, comfortable, and less expensive to operate.

EPIC Early Phase Integrated Carbon Assessment
A whole life carbon tool built by EHDD to support climate-positive design decisions in early projects.

CARE Carbon Avoided: Retrofit Estimator
A tool that allows users to compare the total carbon impacts of renovating an existing building vs. replacing it with a new one.

Whole Building Design Guide
A web-based portal with up-to-date information on integrated ‘whole building’ design techniques and technologies.

Dew Point Calculator
A calculator to explore combinations of temperature (T), relative humidity (RH), and dew point (DP) to compare the preservation quality of your environment.

LEED Calculators
A range of calculators for low energy use, low emitting materials, acoustics performance, and more.

EPA Water Quality Scorecard
The scorecard helps local governments identify opportunities to remove barriers, and revise and create codes, ordinances, and incentives for better water quality protection.

Green Roof Energy Calculator
The calculator allows you to compare the annual energy performance of a building with a vegetative green roof to the same building with either a dark roof or a white roof.

Connecticut State and Local Policies, Codes, and Initiatives

CT Statewide Building Code
The 2022 Connecticut State Building Code is based on the International Code Council’s widely adopted 2021 International Codes and references the ICC A117.1-2017 standard for accessibility and applies to projects with permit applications filed from October 1, 2022.

High Performance (Green) Building Standards for State Agency and School Buildings
The Connecticut General Assembly passed Public Act 19-35, which amended the state building construction statute (CGS §16a-38k). Now, DEEP is required to adopt high performance building regulations that incorporate by reference a national sustainable construction code.

Stamford Corporate Sustainability Challenge
The goal of the Challenge is to help owners and managers of commercial properties of all sizes make their buildings more energy-efficient, sustainable and environmentally healthy for its occupants.

New Haven Green Building Policies
A state and local policy database that provides an overview of policies, plans, and operations.

New Haven 2021 Community Electrification Resolution
A resolution to commit to electrifying the city’s building stock and transportation fleet by 2030.

Fairfield Clean Energy Communities Program
Clean energy and conservation are paramount issues to the Town of Fairfield which has championed and supported dozens of initiatives to promote environmental health in a fiscally responsible manner.

Bridgeport Energy, Efficiency and Conservation
The Sustainability Office hosts a number of resources offered by a wide variety of organizations to help lower usage and electric bills and help make sure the lights stay on!

Hartford Energy Improvement District
The City of Hartford established an energy improvement district (EID) in 2017 to enter contracts, buy or lease energy facilities, increase energy efficiency, and make it easier and cheaper to do business in Hartford.

Building Sector Policy and Research

New Buildings Institute
A nonprofit organization working to improve the energy performance of commercial buildings.

Carbon Leadership Forum
A nonprofit organization that focuses on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the built environment.

Rocky Mountain Institute
A nonprofit organization that works to accelerate the clean energy transition.

American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE)
A nonprofit research organization that develops policies to reduce energy waste and combat climate change.

Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships (NEEP)
A nonprofit that works to accelerate energy efficiency and electrification in the building sector across 12 states comprising the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic region.

Green Science Policy Institute
An institute that provides research on chemicals and materials in buildings.

Green and Healthy Homes Initiative
A nonprofit that promotes healthier home environments for low-income residents.

Institute for Market Transformation (IMT)
A non-profit organization that designs and implements public policy and business practices that enable rapid decarbonization throughout the building’s lifecycle.

Acadia Center
A nonprofit organization that focuses on clean energy and climate change mitigation, including in buildings.

Building Decarbonization Coalition
A team that aligns critical stakeholders on a path to transform the nation’s buildings through clean energy, using policy, research, and public engagement.

Building Science Corporation
A consulting firm that provides resources and research on building science.

Urban Green Council
A nonprofit dedicated to decarbonizing buildings for healthy and resilient communities.

Built Environment Plus
An organization to drive sustainable and regenerative design, construction, and operation of the built environment.

Center for the Built Environment
A research center at the University of California, Berkeley, focusing on occupant comfort and building performance.

Harvard T. H. Chan School for Public Health Healthy Buildings
A program that focuses on the impact of buildings on public health.

Building America Solutions Center
A center that provides access to expert information on hundreds of high-performance construction topics, including air sealing and insulation, HVAC components, windows, indoor air quality, and much more.

Energize CT Evaluation Studies
Evaluation reports focusing on energy efficiency evaluation in Connecticut.

EPA Indoor Air Quality Science and Technology
Webinars that provide guidance and programs to help build the capacity of communities to understand and avoid indoor and outdoor health impacts.

DOE Better Buildings
An initiative of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) designed to improve the lives of the American people by driving leadership in energy innovation.

Harvard Center for Green Buildings and Cities
Hosts a number of research and educational efforts related to the built environment.

Rutgers Center for Urban Policy Research
Develops and implements research, education and training initiatives that promote environmental, economic, and social improvements for buildings and their occupants.

Center for Sustainable Building Research
A Center working to transform the built environment in ways that provide for the ecological, economic, and social needs of the present—without compromising those of the future.

NYU Database for Green Building
A Real Estate library with a list of links to various government agencies, non-profit groups, and other organizations producing reports and data on sustainability.

Berkeley Center for Environmental Design Research
A Center to foster research in environmental planning and design. Its goal is to increase the factual content of these disciplines and to promote systematic approaches to decision-making within them.

Syracuse Architecture and Sustainability
A library with resources to books, journals, websites, research and other resources.

Journals, Magazines, and Podcasts

Journal of Green Building
A journal that publishes research on green building and sustainable design.

Green Home and Living Guide Magazine
A collective effort from professionals across the region, providing information and news for both building professionals and the general public.

SAB Magazine
A magazine that covers sustainable, high-performance building and renovations of all types in Canada.

Journal of Sustainable Development
An international, double-blind peer-reviewed, open-access journal with articles that reflect the latest research and developments in both theoretical and practical aspects of Environment, Economic and Society with Sustainability.

Building Sustainably
A podcast with Jeffrey Hart to talk to designers, builders, makers, dreamers and doers.

Green Building Matters
A podcast hosting conversation with professionals on interior design, greening construction sites, solar, and more.

Building Green
A podcast with pioneering architects, urbanists, tech innovators, sociologists, etc. we explore the details of green architectural planning and its impacts across diverse sectors.

USGBC
Recently added tracks focused on supporting your green building journey, including playlists featuring advocacy updates and industry priority topics.

Urban Green
A podcast with industry experts and practitioners discussing various topics in the building sectors including energy, legislation, and retrofitting.

Better Homes Better Future
Aaron Smith, CEO of EEBA, hosts conversations with key players in the industry to break down the principles, issues, technologies and history of the sustainable building movement.