Does anyone have a "healthy material" exterior bleacher benchtop (beyond natural wood or metal) recommendation for a public high school track and field? 

How do we discern between fiberglass, recycled plastic or HPDE?  Is there a rule of thumb on how to advocate for specifying a "not as bad" material? 

The project is in a coastal... Read more

How interested are you in a Sustainable MEP Leaders Summit this summer? 

Please respond to this poll ASAP, as we need to gauge interest before we finalize any details.

When: Wed. July 26 at noon to Thurs. July 27 at 1:30. 
Where: At a conference facility near Boston
Cost: $1200, which includes lodging, meals, and... Read more

Happy Earth Day! I'm sharing the results of our office Earth Day Mind Map, a collaborative event lead by our Green Team with office-wide participation. https://mm.tt/1471242441?t=4c76rJLKXz 

We are celebrating with a virtual happy hour later today and will use the Mind Map to generate conversation and sharing.

I would love to hear... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Getting Flame Retardants Out of Foam Insulation.

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


1. Summarize why and how flame retardants are used in foam insulation.
2. Elucidate the case for taking the chemicals out of foam insulation.
3.... Read more

THIS WEBINAR PURCHASE AND REGISTRATION IS CLOSED.

The new “Contractor’s Commitment to Sustainable Building Practices" calls on firms to practice green building on the jobsite and beyond. But what has really been accomplished during the program's... Read more

Hi folks,

We often hear from you with a suggestion of someone who would be great for the network, and a question about how to refer them. We've now made that easy, with three steps laid out in an Outreach Toolkit that's posted in the left margin of the Member Directory.

So, if you're thinking of someone to invite or come across... Read more

Folks, it is with a heavy heart that I write this: Lance Hosey passed away unexpectedly on Friday. 

Many of you know him from the early days of the SDL group, or as an outsized presence at any of the many conferences where we overlap. He's been a list-maker, poll-taker and all around troublemaker in my life for over 20 years; I know I am... Read more

Board insulation has good thermal performance ranging from about R-4 to R-8 and is used as an integral part of a building envelope’s continuous insulation system.

Because board insulation is used on the building exterior, it is not always subject to the same material health and emissions requirements as batt insulation used inside the... Read more

Hello!

I am working with a state agency who is interested in exploring performance contracting (primarily energy focus, but not necessarily limited to...) and it's been a while since I had heard of others implementing this (GSA, some universities).

Do any of you out there know of current/recent owners executing performance... Read more

Hi all, 

I'm posting this on behalf of Wyck Knox of our office. He can be reached at knox@vmdo.com: 

"I’m on the editorial board of the Green Schools Catalyst Quarterly, the only peer reviewed journal dedicated to sustainable K-12 schools. (http://catalyst.greenschoolsnationalnetwork.org/gscatalyst)

One of my tasks in that... Read more

Hi folks,

We've arranged a room where we can gather for an hour and check in during the Thursday afternoon reception time at Living Future. If you'll be there, come join us!

Thursday, May 2 at 5:30, Skykomish Room (#604, 6th floor)

The group will be mostly Sustainable Design Leaders, as that's by far our largest group, but... Read more

Hello everyone - 

I'm writing today to let you all know that as of this month, I am retiring from SERA, and that I'm going to be beginning a new journey as a consultant/volunteer!

I'm going to continue dedicating my time to policy and advocacy work (focused on decarbonizing the built environment) but now I'll be doing it as a free... Read more

Hello Green Gurus,

Here is the information for December's Peer Networks Webinar, Architects in the Blue Zone: The AIA at COP26. We hope you will join us!

Register HERE

Architects in the Blue Zone: The AIA at COP26
Wednesday, December 15th, 2021
4pm - 5pm ET (1pm - 2pm PT)

Description

The American... Read more

Hello Sustainable MEP Leaders!

BuildingGreen is already hard at work planning next year's MEP Summit. We are looking at venues in Denver, CO and dates in late May or early June.

In order to book a venue, we need to nail down dates soon. Please fill out this Doodle poll to let us know which of these would work for you. All of the... Read more

We have a client who is asking us to design a roughly 10 ksf Wellness Center for PHIUS 2021 certification.  The program includes several high density assembly type spaces - roughly 300 person peak occupant load for the building.  The Criteria Calculator that the architect showed us puts the building peak cooling load at 4 BTUH/sf (3000 sf/ton... Read more