Meeting the Passive House airtightness standard is more a matter of art than of software. It takes top-notch materials for taping and sealing and great diligence in applying them.

The ranks of LEED certified homes would grow faster if builders appealed more to homeowner’s desire to save money on utilities, says Paul Fisette, a sustainable building expert at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

The folks at Boral Bricks have known that brick is green for a long time. They’re demonstrating its attributes in three sustainable projects.

The first group of Passive House-certified homes called the Stables will be ready for occupancy in spring 2013. The row of Passive House single-family townhomes is being developed by Onion Flats group with Domani Developers.

“The first dozen or so attempts to build net-zero [homes] in Oregon fell short because they missed the mark on efficiency and performance,” says Sam Hagerman, co-owner of Hammer & Hand and president of the Passive House Alliance US.

The New Mexico State Court of Appeals struck down an attempt to repeal energy-efficient building codes. The original decision to roll back the building codes came from a suggestion by Gov. Susana Martinez’s small business task force.

On April 11, the Manufacturers Alliance honored Uponor as the 2013 Manufacturer of the Year in the large-company category.

A training program supported by the International Code Council teaches high school students the importance of building codes and provides graduates with an advantage in the job market.