Google Groups (http://groups.google.com/) is a web-based source for Usenet newsgroups. It contains the entire archive of Usenet discussion groups dating back to 1993. Newsgroups bring people with common interests together online to hold ongoing discussions, recommend favorite web sites, collaborate on projects, and conduct research.

Within each group, Google lists the date, the subject line of each thread, and the name of the most recent poster. To read messages in a particular thread, click on the link for that thread. To post a new message, click on the "Post a New Message to [Group Name]" link in the upper right corner of the page. Some of the groups that deal with green building and sustainable building are:

• alt.architecture.alternative
• alt.building.environment
• alt.building.research
• alt.building.engineering
• alt.building.architecture
• alt.building.construction
• alt.construction
• alt.energy.renewable
• sci.energy
• sci.environment

To locate individual messages on green building, search the archive from the main page. Google Groups has expanded from its originial Usenet archive function. To locate groups, search "green building" using the Explore Groups search box on the Google Groups main page.

Yahoo! Groups (http://groups.yahoo.com) also has quite a few groups devoted to green/sustainable building. To locate a comprehensive list, search using the Find a Yahoo! Group box at the top of the Yahoo! Groups page.

E-mail discussion lists (sometimes called listservs) allow users to contribute to named mailing lists that distribute messages to all subscribed members. Below are several mailing lists that deal with green building.

Big Green List
Forum for discussing and promoting green building principles and practices on projects larger than single family homes. To subscribe, visit http://www.biggreen.org/.

Energy Efficient Building List
To subscribe, send a message to ee-building-request@eeba.org. In the body (not subject line) of the message, type "subscribe". For list information, see http://www.eeba.org/lists/default.htm.

Green Building List
Forum for discussion all aspects of green building principles and practices. To subscribe, send a message to majordomo@crest.org. Leave the subject line blank (or use a " . " if required). In the body of the message, type subscribe greenbuilding your e-mail address. The Green Building List archives are located at http://listserv.repp.org/archives/greenbuilding.html. For more information, see http://www.buildinggreen.com/elists/gb_signup.cfm.