The course focuses on strategies and technologies to improve the energy efficiency and performance of buildings, and to reduce the environmental impact of buildings. The course emphasizes technical aspects of building design, materials selection, construction processes, and building operations. The use of objective criteria for assessing building “green-ness”, from meta issues such as building location and site – to operational details such as the selection of cleaning chemicals, is stressed throughout the course. The course will provide detailed information on and a critique of green rating systems and design methodologies. It is open to all majors, graduate and undergraduate students.