Products & Materials Specialist Brent Ehrlich excels at deep, unbiased, and nuanced technical research on the health and environmental impacts of green building products and materials. Some areas of focus include:

product and material constituents, including their risks

product certifications

third-party product... Read more

Hi all -

I got this yesterday from Renew Oregon, a credible environmental NGO here in the state.

"A secretive special interest group has filed a petition at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to take “net metering” rules away from states and make it a federal issue.  Net metering is the program that allows homes and... Read more

Hi everyone, 

The winning date for our Waste Management call is 3/24/2020 from 12pm-1pm PST.

Here is a link to the Google hangouts meet as well as a call in number for those without gmail accounts:

meet.google.com/cae-gdxd-qpp

(‪US‬)‪+1 240-224-0800‬

PIN: ‪996 308#‬

I am working on putting together an... Read more

Hello everyone,

Wondering if anyone has evaluated/considered/specified wood fiber insulation for use in lieu of mineral wool as the exterior wall insulation?  Am mostly looking to better understand domestic availability, r-value and fire/combustibility.

We have a multi-family building in DC where the client is interested in using... Read more

I have a colleague (lawyer) who is trying to assemble a list of precedent projects that used penalties or incentives for achieving energy targets. The topic she is addressing is how contracts may be changed to address growing climate change concerns.

At the moment, the only concrete example she has is a project in Washington by the US... Read more

I know we have talked about this on various calls, so I wanted to post in case anyone hasn't seen that the IRS has provided an update with rules on how to access the direct pay option.

https://www.usgbc.org/articles/irs-issues-ira-tax-credit-rules-tax-exemp...

test

In order to successfully contribute to a LEED project, it is important to have an understanding of how the LEED process integrates within a typical design and construction schedule. Every new construction or renovation project, whether large or small, moves through certain project phases beginning with design development, design completion (... Read more

We are working on a Core & Shell project with a developer that we work with frequently. I'm looking for advice on best approaches to achieving the Whole Building Life Cycle Assessment credit- we haven't used TALLY and done this type of analysis before. What are some approaches to achieving this credit that others have found successful? I... Read more

Wall and corner guards increase durability, but these products are typically made of PVC.

BuildingGreen-Approved Guards

BuildingGreen approves products that avoid the use of PVC and are made with recycled content, FSC-certified wood, other biobased materials, or less-problematic plastics. 

Health and Environmental... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Biobased Materials: Not Always Greener.

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


1. Explain why "biobased" is too general a term.
2. List the primary concerns associated with biobased building materials, finishes and furnishings, and wet-... Read more

Hi folks,

There was a lot of interest on the call yesterday in the article that Kim showed from a host of leading IAQ experts. I was not able to find a legal way to get a copy that we can share, so if you want it I think it would be appropriate to either pay the $30 for the article (one-day access ??) or $79 for a one-year AAAS... Read more

Hello SD Leaders!

I recently joined and looking forward to all the amazing dialog. I was told that for membership to be official, I must reveal my unsustainable secret. As much as I preach environmental protection in architecture, I’m a bit of a motorhead with a 1967 HP 289 Mustang that I resurrected from a junk yard when I was 16 — that... Read more

Hi! We received this email a few days ago from Brad Kahn. The International Living Future Institute is looking for volunteers to serve on technical advisory groups. Just thought I'd pass it along! Follow the link to learn more:

I wanted to let you know that ILFI opened a call for volunteers today: https://living-future.org/volunteer/... Read more

Hello, 

All my experience with sustainability has been at the building-level. We are currently being asked within an RFP to list our firm's ESG score and certifying organization. Our firm is about 300-employees and is owned soley by the employees. 

When do A/E firms obtain an ESG score?

is it based on company size? or... Read more