The AIA New Orleans 2030 Committee is running RISING21 this week, November 11th and 12th from 1:30-5:30pm ET. This is the second year of these sessions that aspire to advance awareness and knowledge around climate and access to affordable energy among practitioners from the AEC industry. We invite architects, MEP professionals, interior... Read more

Hi everyone,

I am writing to let you know about a change we are making here at BuildingGreen. We will be changing the name of this all-Peer Networks forum “Green Gurus” to “Green Commons.” 

We’ve made this decision after learning that using the term “guru” outside of its cultural context is appropriative. In an effort to center... Read more

Exterior paints, stains, and primers—particularly alkyds—can have very high volatile organic compound (VOC) levels and can contain numerous chemicals of concern.

BuildingGreen-Approved Coatings

BuildingGreen lists exterior coatings that meet the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s (SCAQMD) VOC requirements of 50 grams... Read more

As we begin to look into Scope 3 emissions reduction strategies, it's important to understand ways to reduce tranportation emissions to project sites. Is anyone aware of best practices or programs for contractor carpooling to jobsites? I know many of my colleagues travel to work together in one vehicle because of parking limitations, however,... Read more

Hi everyone! The CLF Boston | NE Hub and BSA are holding an embodied carbon summit and we'd LOVE to see people from this group there. 

The first version of this summit was held in 2019, and since then we've made huge strides. Through our advocacy work, state and city regulations are addressing embodied carbon in procurement and materials... Read more

The Sustainable Design Leaders network and Summit events started over 10 years ago, when a group of sustainable designers realized that the struggles they faced and the goals they strove toward were shared by many... Read more

Hi Everyone!

I am now in my last week in the Bay Area, and in my last three weeks at (my first 15 years at) SERA, as I will be leaving on my extended sabbatical at the end of April!

I will miss following this group's dialogue, and will especially miss attending the summits for the next couple of years! 

My colleagues Mark... Read more

Posting at the request of Sara Bayer of Magnusson Architecture and Planning, who will soon join this group:

"In our quest to achieve Passive House EUI levels in all of our multifamily projects in a healthy manner, we are encountering pushback on the one item that is not really code min just yet (in NYC) and adds real cost:  ERV’s.  Our... Read more

I’m working on a hospitality project with a large scale farm to table operation, and I am concern about land space and agricultural practices. I'm looking for someone that can advise us on how to establish good agricultural planning and practices. The project is in Utah.

Has anyone work with consultants or academic group focus on this?... Read more

Hi: Great to see so many of you at AIA COTE Top Ten last week.  I'm forwarding the message below for those of you who know Marsha Maytum and can contribute to this important effort. Deadline is next Friday June 23rd!Thanks.

Mary Ann

Hello, friends,

During A'23, Je’Nen and I discussed our desire to send Marsha photos we have... Read more

Has anyone documented the Food Alternatives credit as part of WELL or as an innovation credit in LEED?

Greenbuild 2018 has a new feature – the People’s choice.  This is where you can vote for sessions that sound interesting.  I have been scrolling through this list and I am seeing a lot of great sessions, and familiar names.

So let’s crowd source this one.

Go here https://www.greenbuildexpo.com/en/education/peoplesvoice.html to... Read more

Hi everyone - in doing a carbon footprint for our firm, does anyone know if buildings that we design as Architects considered scope 3 emissions, or are they beyond the boundary of emissions? LMN's buildings, despite best efforts, are cumulatively multiple orders of magnitude above our scope 1 and 2 emissions. We have never included these... Read more

Happy Friday Everyone!

Hoping to add a bit of excitement to the end of your week: 

Here is the Sustainable Construction Leaders 2020 Summit Report.

Enjoy!

RoseAnn for Candace, Nadav, and the BuildingGreen team

Hi all,

I'm curious if anyone has insight as to the "New Federal Building Performance Standards" that were announced in May of 2021 and then referenced again when E.O. 14057 came out. The memorandum for heads of agencies that was sent out with E.O. 14057 said that the CEQ would issue these standards, but I can't find a commitment to when... Read more