Although energy efficient homes have a higher upfront cost, they are worth the investment in the long-run.

Buildings in Toronto may soon be rated for their bird-friendliness. Lights from buildings are a dangerous attraction to birds at night. Such a rating system will help alleviate bird injuries and energy demands.

The Independent

Winnie Brimacombe-Nelissen may have a home dating back to 1598 but it is made from a building material that is enjoying a distinctly 21st-century revival: mud. Her six-bedroom farmhouse near Crediton in Devon is built from cob, a mud-based mix first used for construction in north Africa in the 11th century. Some 300 years later it had become the standard building material in the UK and remained so until industrialisation made manufacturing bricks cheap.

The Seattle Times

Since the first curbside recycling program was initiated in 1987, Seattleites have become accustomed to recycling paper, glass, metals and yard waste. Many see it as their civic duty and a way to help the environment.

Still, the city of Seattle sends by truck and train more than 50 percent — 440,000 tons per year — of its municipal waste to landfills, much of it to Bend, Ore. A large percentage of municipal landfill waste is from construction and demolition debris, estimated to be between 20 and 30 percent nationally.

Fast Company Magazine

Forward-thinking architects and real-estate developers are already envisioning the post-bust cycle of home building. And smaller is better.

Ed. note: a great, in depth article on housing, and its relevance to any strategies involving climate change.

Fifteen potential sites have been short-listed for the UK eco-town programme, which aims to provide additional housing to tackle a national shortage, and to help the environment with zero-carbon homes. However, local residents are strongly opposed to the idea.

The Globe and Mail

British Columbia is escalating its war on greenhouse gases, examining a measure that will require some new buildings to be carbon neutral as early as 2016 – and every new building to have no carbon footprint by 2020.

The New York Times

To set an example in the effort to curb energy use that contributes to global warming, the secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, has approved a one-month pilot project to raise the thermostat throughout much of the landmark building to 77 degrees from 72 degrees.

Ottawa Citizen

Statistics Canada is operating in a leaking building prone to power failures and facing “severe” new challenges due to climate change, an engineering report warns.

The warnings were included as part of the first national climate change assessment of Canada’s public infrastructure—a joint research project co-sponsored by a national association of engineers and the federal government.

Dr. Dave Worsley from Swansea University’s School of Engineering is researching ways to create solar cells by painting on “flexible steel surfaces commonly used for cladding buildings.”