A Period of Partnerships
After quickly outgrowing its starter office space, the company moved into its current location in 1998. That same year, the firm developed the Green Building Advisor CD-ROM, which became the model for the company’s website. By entering a building’s type, location, topography, climate, and solar load, the CD would generate green building strategies.
Also in the mid-90s, Wilson and Malin began publishing the EBNProduct Catalog with literature from manufacturers. Now called GreenSpec, it is a highly respected, industry-leading source of commercial products organized in the CSI MasterFormat.
And, because of its staff expertise, BuildingGreen also has produced a steady stream of contract work, including studies and reports for the DOE, HUD, and private utility companies. Recent examples include ongoing research, literature, field-testing, and information resources for Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory on window attachments, and work with the USGBC on the USGBC/ASID ReGreen program and LEED for Homes.
Almost five years ago, BuildingGreen entered into a relationship with McGraw-Hill to provide content for GreenSource, a bi-monthly magazine focused primarily on green commercial construction. Malin serves as the executive editor.
EBN has always covered both commercial and residential markets, although it’s probably known more for commercial, which had Wilson searching for a way to deliver a more residential-oriented product. This led to a partnership in 2008 between BuildingGreen and the Taunton Press, publisher of Fine Homebuilding and other magazines, to create Green Building Advisor, a Web-based resource for building professionals.
The Taunton partnership afforded Wilson welcome time to think more about the big picture, expand his vision, and explore other opportunities to move his company’s mission forward. One result is LEEDuser.com, an online tool for working through the LEED certification process developed by the USGBC with significant involvement by BuildingGreen.
And although the partnership with Taunton came to an amicable end recently, Wilson has his sights set on much more than individual projects and programs, because at heart is his lifelong mission to protect the environment and his career-long commitment to inform and inspire our industry.