In a recent e-mail to BuildingGreen subscribers, Paula Melton pointed out that USGBC has opened the call for suggestions for LEED v5.

Every day, I encounter dripping skepticism from building owners about LEED for New Construction, because of the many many times that the fanciful outcomes of energy, water, and daylight models bear little ... Read more

Hello Sustainable Design Leaders,

I am thrilled to be joining such an esteemed collective of driven thinkers and doers. I look forward to meeting some new faces and reconnecting with some familiar ones in an effort to advance sustainable design in the built environment.

Thanks,

Jonce

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

Hi all, 

You all know how much the Living Building Challenge and other ILFI programs have transformed the aspirations of our industry, right? This year ILFI has the privilege of being included in Washington's GiveBig campaign! For the next two days, you can help bring attention to the site, raise support and draw people to the page where... Read more

Hello, All!  We haven't run WBLCA on a project that may include electrochromic glazing before, and it's embodied carbon footprint is really high in comparison to a more traditional double or triple pane IGU (we thought it would be higher, but this is 3-4x higher).  The EPD we have from Sage Glass for their triple pane electrochromic lists a GWP... Read more

Hi all,

We are designing a mass timber building and are closing in on selecting our mass timber supplier.  One supplier is offering FSC wood and the other is offering PEFC.  I don't know enough about PEFC to make a clear recommendation to the client about how it compares to FSC.  I understand that PEFC endorsed SFI, so that concerns me... Read more

Looking for the Top 10 on the 10th! webinar?  Click here.

IRA NUTS & BOLTS WEBINAR PURCHASE AND REGISTRATION IS CLOSED.

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) offers us a once-in-a-generation chance to equitably decarbonize the built... Read more

Hi All,

Jacob Knowles from BR+A reached out with a request and I’m passing it on to you all.  Jacob’s contact info is at the bottom of this so you can respond to him directly or respond here and I’ll forward it on:

We are working on assembling examples of large wet lab buildings that employ strategies to greatly reduce fossil... Read more

I'm hoping that some of you know someone with strong energy modeling skills who is looking for a job!  Moseley Architects is recruiting for a full time energy modeler (ideally either in our Richmond, VA or Raleigh NC office) to help us continue to press forward with understanding and reducing the energy impacts of our designs.  The job... Read more

Hi all, has anyone come across a comprehensive (and recent) study looking at how long buildings actually last (beyond Stewart Brand)? I know of plenty that look at the benefits of reuse, but none that look at existing building stock and how much has been reused vs. demolished. 

As we start looking at embodied carbon metrics, I can't help... Read more

Hi all! During our Contractor’s Commitment call last week Amanda made a great point about sharing of waste data to gain some realistic, current metrics. Just like I assume many of you, we have both seen a decline in successful diversion these last few years and our companies’ overall percentages have taken a hit. In an effort to gain a full... Read more

Hi all,

For your planning purposes for next year, here’s info on in-person events coming up in 2024:

As you may remember, our Summer 2024 SDL Summit will be July 15-17, 2024 at IslandWood on Bainbridge Island! Tickets will be $1800, which includes the cost of meals and lodging.

We are excited to announce we will also be... Read more

Jason F. McLennan

Hi all,

We are taking a deep look at green accreditations within our firm. Gone are the days when we could say: "our staff is XX% LEED APs!" as a metric of firm progress. Here are a few questions we are asking ourselves, and I'm wondering how you approach this in your firms:

This is a bit off the thread of sustainable design leadership, but how much design and/or leadership can you get done without an adequate amount of caffeination?

We are looking for recommendations and advice on improving the sustainability of our breakrooms, particularly on the subject of beverage (mostly coffee, but also a fair amount... Read more

As if you weren't worrying enough already, here's a little something that I ran across through monitoring activity on the American Society of Healthcare Engineers discussion boards:  https://www.id-hub.com/2018/10/17/hospital-plumbing-reservoir-resistance-interview-amy-mathers/, "Hospital Plumbing as a Reservoir for Resistance".  This is both a... Read more

Following up on the Decarbonizing Existing Building: Envelope + MEP Solutions Integrative Design Jam, a cohort of us determined a "Decision Making Tree Toolkit" that begins to classify decisions into and "if/then" framework using region, market, climate, scale of intervention, and other factors would be useful in helping us collectively move... Read more

Hi folks,

On today's call James Peterson will be introducing a conversation about how COVID might have changed our ways of working.

If there's time afterwards, we can take a look at this draft article from the USGBC research team. They're interested in our input on how we might want to analyze the info on electrification rates in... Read more