Remember 2013? LEED version 4 had just been released to the public. Hardly anyone was using it, though—not only because they didn’t have to, but also because there just wasn’t a pathway to achieve many of the new credits in the rating systems. Especially the product-related credits in the Materials & Resources category, along with the Low-... Read more

I opened IE11 (Internet Explorer 11) today, and saw a message indicating IE11 will be retired June 15th, 2022. While I have no personal attachment to IE11, it was the only internet browser I could consistantly get to open LEED Online credit templates on the actual website. 

Has anyone found another way to be able to fill out LEED credit... Read more

Exterior doors often have poor insulation and seals that allow air through.

BuildingGreen-Approved Exterior Doors

BuildingGreen has different criteria for commercial and residential exterior doors.

Commercial swing (hinged) doors must be NFRC-rated, certified, and labeled for U-factor. They have a maximum air leakage of 0.... Read more

Hello Sustainable MEP Leaders!

Over the weekend BuildingGreen received an inquiry about connecting with this peer network regarding a project. Please review David Cohan's email below to see if it is something of interest for this group.

We would invite you to reach out directly to David Cohan and let us here at BuildingGreen know... Read more

Hi all,

We are about to start a affordable housing passive house project in Boston and in a few presentations I've seen great signs that builders use to try to get the point across to subs as to how important air sealing is. Some are even quite funny! The builder we are working with does not have a sign like this, but is open to ideas.... Read more

I'm loving the winning projects this year--congratulations to everyone who participated in making them so great! 

(In case you missed the announcement, here's our slideshow on BuildingGreen, and here are the winners with all the details on AIA.org)

Nadav

With an urgent climate justice mission, AIA has the call open for volunteers to help shape our industry's action. COTE, the Codes + Standard Committee (one of the most important committees anywhere!), Board Committees (including the Committee on CLimate Action and Design Excellence - CCADE)  and the Strategic Council have openings. Consider how... Read more

Has anyone pursued the schools Mold Prevention IEQc10 successfully and have format for the documentation created they would be comfortable sharing? Our contractor is excited about pursuing this credit but no on our team has pursued it before.

thanks in advance!

Hi Shane and Dennis,

What return address should we use for BIT User forum notification emails?  Ben suggests something like no-reply@bit-user.org but whatever you like is fine.

Once you decide, please let us know who controls the domain name (e.g. bit-user.org or bitbuilding.org).  Ben will send them instructions for editing the... Read more

Hello, what acceptable levels of air quality are you using to evaluate natural ventilation strategies for your projects?  In our Living Building we only open windows when PM10, PM2.5, etc. are within LBC and WELL limits.  In a seasonally smoggy urban environment, this limits how often we can utilize natural ventilation even if the outside... Read more

Hi Green Gurus (esp. Sustainable MEP leaders...)

I'm looking for suggestions of contacts for MEP consultants, especially in the Chicagoland region, ideally with sustainability highly integrated into the work, specialization in geothermal systems, and indoor agriculture. (doesn't necessarily have to be all-in-one)

For context, we... Read more

I was wondering if any design or contractor friend here can kindly share the carbon emission factor of excavation during construction. 

I found a paper that provides energy use rate per cubic meter and associated carbon emission in kgCO2 for different phase of construction such as excavation earth work, pouring and lifting concrete,... Read more

The EC3 Tool has come up quite a few times in the Green Guru's conversations.  We're hosting an online review with Stacy Smedley and Mark Chen from Skanska.

Wednesday September 29th at 3pm PST

The tickets are free and this will be a Teams meeting.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/using-the-ec3-tool-the-why-and-how-tickets-...... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of How to Spot Greenwash--A BuildingGreen Webinar.

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


1. Understand the characteristics of quality standards and certifications to help screen out greenwash.
2. Recognize strengths and weaknesses of... Read more

Has anyone had any success with achieving the LEED Building Envelope commissioning points with an alternative compliance path using the requirements of the PHIUS verifier? It seems like an unnecessary duplication to ask the client to pay for a BECx agent and a Passive House verifier. Or am I missing something? I can't find any LEED... Read more

Successfully managing the LEED documentation process requires specific knowledge, tools, and skills that are not covered in the LEED Reference Manual. This CEU course is based on the LEED Project Management course that GreenStep developed and teaches through UC–Berkeley Extension. It is designed for professionals who are somewhat familiar... Read more