WASHINGTON - The National Building Museum created a new exhibit, The Green House: New Directions in Sustainable Architecture and Design. It will remain on view from May 20, 2006, to June 3, 2007, and offers tours, talks, workshops, special family programming, and a Website focusing on the marketplace, methods, principles, and history of sustainable design.

One section of the exhibition is devoted to five green principles: wisely using the land; working with the sun; creating high-performance and energy-efficient houses; improving indoor air quality; and wisely using the earth's material resources. Graphic panels illustrating the principles help lead to broad topics, such as how urban planning strategies, like building near mass transit, can cut dependence on fossil fuel, as well as to specific recommendations about how to choose ventilation and cooling/heating systems; select materials with minimal toxic properties; and eliminate fumes.

Publication date: 03/20/2006