A review of the three major red lists used to help architects and users identify safe building materials: the Living Building Challenge Red List, The Perkins & Will Precautionary List, and the Cradle to Cradle material certification.

Health Product Declarations (HPDs) help owners, architects, and contractors understand what ingredients are in the materials and products that make up our buildings. While they don't declare whether a product is healthy, they provide the transparency for people to evaluate the health safety of our built environment.

Frosted or translucent glass is frequently used in architecture to provide privacy, block light, or add decoration. There are a number of ways to achieve the effect, which will explore in this article.

There are various types of grouts that can be used with wall and floor tiles. Selection of the proper grout depends on where it is installed and what kinds of activities are occurring on or around the tile. This article will help you choose the proper type of tile grout.

Pipe sizes are standardized in North America through Nominal Pipe Size (NPS). This article provides charts of pipe sizes (inside diameter, outside diameter, wall thickness, and weight) for steel, stainless steel, and PVC pipes.

Learn how to calculate slopes in degrees, percentage, and gradient. We also provide a table of slopes commonly used in architecture and construction.

Architectural and engineering scale factors for use in Computer Aided Design.

A table of lumber sizes that includes the actual lumber dimensions as well as the nominal sizes. This includes softwood, hardwood, and glue laminated lumber.

Concrete masonry Unit (CMU) sizes for standard CMUs - includes both nominal and actual dimensions. Also covers the various CMU shapes and finishes as well as the common ASTM manufacturing standards.

Covers insulation R-values and R-factors for other common building materials. We also discuss U-Factors.