Environmental sustainability is a growing theme in boardrooms across the U.S. while consumers and investors demand that businesses do more to assess and improve their impact on the environment. This growth in environmentally conscious business is...

President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) into law in August of last year. While it is under the header of inflation, the act does much more than just target the rising inflation the U.S. has seen throughout 2022. In...

Let us first state the obvious: Yes, it costs money to achieve LEED certification for a building - just like it costs money to achieve any other sustainable building certification. We often hear blanket statements such as it will cost just 10% more...

What does the future hold for our kids (and their kids) in a world where the planet's health is at risk? Across all facets of life, sustainability is coming to the forefront of the public consciousness as we consider the danger climate change brings...

In a building’s quest for reduced energy consumption and lower emissions profile, design teams are often tasked with evaluating system options for building owners. One such option is district energy. District energy systems utilize a central plant...

Emerald’s core value, Eye of the Tiger, often affords us the opportunity to challenge third-party verifiers about the factual basis or efficacy of rules and regulations. As advocates for our clients, if a sustainable rating system has not yet...

Awareness of PACE – property assessed clean energy – and its utilization have grown significantly since its first adoption more than a decade ago. More than $1.5 billion was invested nationally in 2021 through this public-private partnership that...

When it comes to designing new builds or renovations, energy planning is a real challenge — and is often deprioritized in the early design stages, with the focus being on design, engineering, and construction. However, if the planning of energy is...

The push to decarbonize buildings falls into the category of tactics toward the outcome of electrification. Since 39% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are generated from the built environment, decarbonizing buildings by reducing their reliance on...