Paula Melton

Brattleboro

Editorial Director at BuildingGreen

opinionated mom, writer, and a lot of other stuff, including editorial director at BuildingGreen, Inc.

Featured in: Favicon

buildinggreen.com

Articles

Building Decarbonization: Learn the Lingo

Jul 28, 2024 | buildinggreen.com | Paula Melton

Explainer Here are the terms and metrics you’ll need to know as you cut greenhouse gas emissions from building materials and operations. The stakes are high, the mission clear: we must eliminate the carbon emissions associated with our buildings. Taking these three steps will get us most of the way there: First, improve the energy performance of buildings to reduce the fuel and electricity required to operate them. Next, electrify buildings and optimize their energy profiles to prevent strain...
Energy Performance: Learn the Lingo

Jul 15, 2024 | buildinggreen.com | Paula Melton |Nadav Malin

Explainer Designing a building or reporting on performance for the AIA 2030 Commitment?
Circular Economy: Better Design from Start to … Start

Jul 15, 2024 | buildinggreen.com | Paula Melton |Elizabeth Waters

Explainer “Circularity” is about more than just recycling. It means building and buying things only when necessary—and without wasting anything. Ever since the invention of plastics, the global economy has become more and more linear, meaning that building products, and even whole buildings, follow a one-way trajectory: resource extraction, then use, then disposal. This model boosts short-term profits, but it relies on fast and cheap manufacturing to do so, which can directly harm people and...
Energy Performance: Common Metrics and Their Meanings

May 6, 2024 | buildinggreen.com | Paula Melton |Nadav Malin

Explainer Designing a building or reporting on performance for the AIA 2030 Commitment?
LEED v5: Catching up on Decarbonization, Equity, and Resilience

Apr 3, 2024 | buildinggreen.com | Nadav Malin |Paula Melton

Blog Post Now is your chance to comment on LEED version 5, a pivotal update and the first major change since 2013. We give you the highlights below. It’s here. So what’s new?
3 First Steps to Break the Chains of Slavery in the Supply Chain

Feb 1, 2024 | buildinggreen.com | Paula Melton

News Analysis Forced labor and other inhumane practices are embedded in many common building materials.
AEC Was Left Out of a Key Decarbonization Pilot. What’s Next?

Jan 17, 2024 | buildinggreen.com | Elizabeth Waters |Paula Melton

Feature Article Science-based targets for the building sector no longer apply to design firms and most construction companies, but AEC must continue leading the industry toward net zero, experts say. It’s 2024.
Wood: Is It Still Good? Part One: Embodied Carbon

Jan 9, 2024 | buildinggreen.com | Paula Melton

Editor’s note: Stephanie Carlisle, senior researcher at the University of Washington’s Carbon Leadership Forum, generously provided a technical review. This is Part One of a two-part series on wood products. It delves into the climate impacts—positive, negative, and otherwise—of managed forests. Part Two considers more climate implications along with ecological and socioeconomic impacts, illuminating surprisingly diverse forestry practices throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Portfolio Program Targets the “Brown” Assets LEED Left Behind

Nov 5, 2023 | buildinggreen.com | Paula Melton

News Analysis Lofty net-zero commitments and fledgling ESG programs typically lack realistic implementation plans. USGBC wants to fill the gap—but not with LEED.
LEED v5 Preview #4: IEQ for Equitable Health and Wellness

Oct 18, 2023 | leeduser.buildinggreen.com | Paula Melton

New IEQ credits and prereqs would target inclusive design, biophilia, and a climate-change-adaptive approach to indoor air quality. This is the fourth post in a series on LEED v5; it focuses on new construction. Part One provides an overview of the philosophy and underlying structure of all the LEED v5 rating systems. Part Two discusses what’s new in the already drafted O+M rating system. Part Three looks at operational energy and carbon in design and construction.