Hi everyone,

I'm excited to share this report from the 2024 Sustainable Design Leaders Summer Summit.

As usual, this report contains no revealing information that would counter our "safe space" rule so that it can be shared publicly. Feel free to pass it along to anyone interested.

It's hard to capture such a rich event in... Read more

Wondering if anyone has a contact for good [sustainable] interactive water feature designer? A client is looking for a designer to add to our team and I figured this network would certainly have some insights. Project will be located in Omaha, NE. 

Folks -anyone know if the 179D Commercial Buildings Energy Efficiency Tax Credit will be renewed for this year? The DOE website only references renewal on Jan 1, 2017... I am not holding my breath, but curious if anyone else has heard one way or the other. Thanks!

Greetings friends.

Many of you have heard about the CARE Tool, (formerly the 2Build or not 2Build Carbon Calculator.) We are now in the final stages of bringing it online as a free, open access tool hosted by Architecture 2030. We are finalizing and aligning data and working with a web developer (the same one that brought us... Read more

Concrete and other cementitious materials have both environmental advantages and disadvantages. As builders and designers, should we be looking for alternatives or embracing concrete over competing materials?

This special report takes a look at how these materials are made, presents the key environmental considerations relating to their... Read more

Our high performance consulting team is frustrated by project teams that regularly fall back on outdated rules of thumb in their system and equipment sizing. 

What challenges do you face in your work flow to limit oversizing and promote right-sizing?

By the way, Roger Chang, our literature search on the subject turned up an eleven... Read more

We broke up into 5 discussion groups by market sector:

Commercial office Education Healthcare & Labs Multifamily Civic/institutional/sports

Here are the proposed "guiding questions":

How do other firms define 'design thinking'? Do they have a standard process used across projects and, if so, how they have made that take hold... Read more

Hello!

I'm curious what other firms like to use to run site-specific sun path and wind path analysises that is relatively intuitive to use and generates good graphics. We have used the climate consultant software for wind roses which is free and simple. We've also used sefaira but we're hoping to crowd source more resources. We purchased... Read more

Hello everyone,

Over the past couple of years the Climate Smart Wood Group has met monthly to discuss all things related to the use of timber in building design and construction.  From forestry practices, to supply chain and sourcing information, to design experiences and examples, the group has operated as an open forum for advancing... Read more

Glazing connects occupants to the outdoors, but with so many opportunities for air leakage, poor insulation, and thermal bridging, glazing is the primary weak link in building energy performance.

BuildingGreen-Approved Glazing Systems

BuildingGreen approves glazing that offers strong energy performance properties for a variety of... Read more

How can an Editor delete, hide or updated posts that others create.  We need to take down some of the test posts but there may be cases where something posted is incorrect or not appropriate.   When a BIT Expert is assigned to a Best Practice, is there a setting that will send them an email any time a new question is added to their BP.  During... Read more

Faucets with high flow rates waste water—not to mention the energy used to treat and deliver it to our buildings—and the additional water stresses our wastewater treatment systems.

Warnings Low-flow faucets may not be appropriate for every application. Where there are long pipe runs or large-diameter supply pipes, it can take longer for... Read more

Good morning SDL,

I have a request for all of the supply chain labor folks out there… I would welcome hearing about your experience/stories/pointers you have based on your project work applying the DfF toolkit or other comparable supply chain labor efforts.

We have a socially minded client that is interested in Design for Freedom... Read more

ICYMI, this washington post piece reminded me of our summit conversation last Friday about architecture's/SDL's role in reimagining the world post-covid through innovating our practice. 

The article contains some compelling quotes from several visionary architects (fascinated that it's mostly big-A architects, largely bypassing input... Read more

asdfasdf

Welcome to the quiz portion of Know Thy Client: 9 Un-Green Strategies for Delivering Better Buildings

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


 

1. Focus on a client’s values to drive sustainability solutions.
2. Define the quality of the work being delivered to underscore... Read more