Team,

See this paper regarding outside air vs. filtration.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360132313002515

MERV-13 is a good way to get most benefits without a huge cost.

Best,
Luke Leung

Hi- Happy Monday!  

Does anyone know if there is an open-source list of manufacturers that have take-back programs? Looking for a summary/spreadsheet with details (costs, qty, etc). I have a small list but I'm guessing there is already one out there...

Also, Doesn't stage D in LCA account for take-back programs? Could this be... Read more

I would be interested to hear which parties in our group have participated in the CDP Program and how you are reporting your efforts.  I have talked to several contractors that just submit the data for their offices. I always feel like it is asking about our operations including the jobsites, and wonder how you get there.  I am very much... Read more

Our firm is looking into our hiring process with JEDI objectives and looking for examples that have been successful. Just like any other firms, we utilize career fair opportunities from local Universities, we have scholarship & endowment programs for several institutions, which became a major pipeline. We are working on evaluating all... Read more

Something we seem to be seeing a lot in our market recently are projects split into multiple packages - footing / foundation, C&S, and then later a TI package of CD's... mostly in an effort to speed up permitting and construction schedules. (Oftentimes with a contractor on board for a design / build approach). 

My question to the... Read more

Hello Sustainable Community Design Leaders!

Let’s take a moment, introduce ourselves, and get to know each other and our work! Don’t forget to fill out your BG.com profile with your headshot and bio; this is how everyone across Green Gurus can see you in the Member Directory. 

I’ll kick us off! I'm RoseAnn, I also go by Rose, Peer... Read more

Hey there Hive Mind,

I'm tossing a question out here as I know various compositions of us have had pieces of this conversation about how operational and embodied decarbonization has been incentivizes at state and local levels through various regulatory frameworks. I meant to do research on this topic for a project team of mine and time... Read more

Our building scientist has been using Insight 360 to model daylight and document it for LEED certifications.  However, it appears that Autodesk is no longer fully supporting the tool and may eventually stop all together.  (we have not been able to run simulations for weeks due to a change to how "cloud credits" work on their end that they... Read more

Ben Hewitt works behind the scenes to build and maintain BuildingGreen.com and LEEDuser. He brings with him over two decades of experience in his field. As an efficient problem-solver, his goal is to make the websites more user-friendly for his coworkers and designers and project teams using BuildingGreen’s resources.

Ben has proficiency... Read more

Hi all,

AGC is the biggest umbrella organization for general contractors in the states. To date, there has been practically no interaction between the SCL and AGC. In my mind, the SCL group is the most knowledgeable group of dedicated sustainability professionals out there; so is there a way that we can partner with AGC to collaborate ... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Protect Your Spec: 14 Strategies. 

Learning Objectives
Upon completing this course, participants will be able to:


Identify ways to ensure continuity between the environmentally preferable materials in a project specification, and the less-than-ideal materials that end up used in the final... Read more

Hi everyone,

As designers who sometimes work in the field of healthcare, we occasionally like to gather data about both current attitudes and future possibilities. Steffian Bradley Architects would greatly appreciate your participation in our 2018 survey by completing the questionnaire linked below.

All responses are anonymous to... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Wood: What’s Good?

Learning Objectives
Upon completing this course, participants will be able to:


Stone was one of humanity’s first building materials and continues to play an important role in today’s green building industry. There are many stones used in the building industry, but the most common ones used for exterior cladding are limestone, granite, marble, slate, and sandstone.

BuildingGreen-Approved Stone and Masonry Cladding... Read more

Hi All:  We are in the design phase for a 5,700 SF project in NH. The team is taking care to drive down embodied carbon where possible. It will be NZE.

A1-A3 emissions are coming in at 67.15 kgCO2e/sf, of which 11.97 kgCO2e/sf is a hot spot attributed to permeable paving and concrete pavers (a little skewed, since lot and patio sizes... Read more

Would anyone have an example LEED Homes v4 specification they would be willing to share?  We are working on our first LEED Homes project, a midrise low income housing development here in Houston.  We have a LEED Homes provider, but she will not provide the specifications, which seem to be quite different in requirements and submittals from our... Read more

All - 

We have corporate clients that are starting to request antimicrobials in response to Covid-19. I assume we are not the only ones seeing an increase in these requests. Knowing that the evidence supporting antimicrobials has limited to no efficacy, how are you approaching these conversations? We want to continue to advise based on... Read more