In 2003, the Building Research Laboratory at the University of Oregon instituted a challenge: design a classroom that incorporates all the known benefits of natural daylight, that cuts energy use by 85%, and that costs no more than an average classroom. The result was a cutting edge classroom for the Mt. Angel Abbey School in Eugene.

The merging of economy and environmentalism is an ambition realized by Catalonia in northeastern Spain. Here 17.9% of the population is unemployed; the highest rate in Europe, but as an alternative to polluting the environment in the name of industry and occupation, they’ve opted for an aggressive plan to create jobs in sustainable industry.

After dozens of trades and sub-contractors have contributed to a building, there is no guarantee that the building envelope functions according to its original design; building envelope commissioning can help to co-ordinate this multitude of design influences.