It's inevitable: at some point in the future, building information modeling (BIM) will be embedded into green buildings, making "green BIM" standard, a BuildingSmart Alliance (BSA) official informed attendees of a webinar that Green Building Insider parent WPL Publishing sponsored late last month.

"Ultimately, we'll get to a position where we really don't see BIM as a separate issue [from green buildings]; it's going to be embedded [into] things like high-performance buildings and sustainability and pre-fabrication in modularization, all those kinds of things," Smith said when asked what future trends he foresees occurring in green BIM. More of what he said is included in this edition of GBI.

Also in this issue, there are several new developments involving the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program to report, federal environmental officials have earmarked $2.4 million for projects to improve indoor air quality, and the National Electrical Manufacturers Association has launched an initiative to promote energy-efficient light-emitting-diode technology. In addition, University of Pittsburgh researchers have embarked on a $2-million sustainable-construction project, several buildings are being made greener through photovoltaic technology, and Green Globe International has disclosed its plans for carbon-credit projects in Brazil and the United States.