Feature
Susan Maxman is the first AIA president to make sustainable design a priority.
Q.Where would you say architects as a group stand on environmental issues?
A.Architects tend to be reactive rather than proactive. It is important that we take the lead on these environmental issues. The architecture schools in particular tend to be conservative. They just aren’t... Read more
Feature
Carefully stake the building site and driveway, remove trees that are within the excavation area or too close, then erect a fence to keep heavy equipment off fragile soils and away from nearby trees.
Protecting trees and the local ecosystem when building on previously unbuilt land is a vitally important—yet often overlooked—part of environmentally responsible construction. Healthy trees and shrubs can reduce a home’s environmental impact and directly benefit homeowners in a number of ways:
•Enhancing comfort by shielding the house... Read more
News Brief
The American Institute of Architects convention in Boston this past June was the setting for a changing of the guard in the American architectural establishment. The Institute’s first woman president took the reins, the Committee on the Environment became its largest and fastest growing committee, and the first installments of the Environmental... Read more
Op-Ed
Introducing the first issue of our newsletter.
Buildings have a tremendous impact on the environment. In North America, buildings and the building industry account for about 30% of carbon dioxide emissions, 35-40% of ozone depletion, 20-30% of municipal solid waste, vast quantities of natural resource consumption, and dramatic loss of open space each... Read more
Product Guide
There are a variety of products and practices that contribute to environmentally friendly landscaping.
BuildingGreen-Approved Landscaping Products
Edging
BuildingGreen approves products with recycled content or other environmental benefits.
Erosion Protection
Natural-fiber erosion protection options include... Read more
Forum topic
Hi all,
Thank you to those of you who attended the Greenbuild Show & Tell! We had an incredible time and learned so much from the presenters -- thanks so much to each of you for sharing.
I am including the slides for some of the presentations below. Please be aware that we have permission from all of the following presenters... Read more
Forum topic
For those of you who have attended the event above, I think you will agree this has been a high quality event. But DFC is changing the forum this year. Instead of holding an annual event in September, this year they are holding 4 half day events around the country. Attendance will be limited to 40 people and it is focused on sustainability... Read more
Forum topic
Wondering if we can have a dialog on HVAC load calculation software... we are currently still using Trane Trace 700, but with the future migration to Trace 3D+ coming are looking into other options. Never used HAP but I haven't heard great things, and we dabbled in IES VE for a while, but went back to Trace since at that time there was no... Read more
Quiz
Welcome to the quiz portion of Ten Strategies for Growth in a Recession.
Learning Objectives
Upon completing this course, participants will be able to:
1. Understand the importance of diversifying.
2. Restate the benefits to doing energy-modeling analysis very early in the design process.
3. Discuss how... Read more
Forum topic
Hello everyone! There hasn’t been much activity on this forum in recent months, so we wanted to give an update about what’s been happening and things coming up.
Firstly, we are very excited for the upcoming inaugural SCL Summit the day before Greenbuild. We currently have about 20 people signed up for the Summit and we are expecting a... Read more
Forum topic
Hive mind,
We recently learned that 3M has discontinued the production of their 3M Daylight Redirecting Film (https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/building-window-solutions-us/solutions/dayli...). This product was selected by an architecture client last year as the optimal daylight/glare control strategy for a school project, and we're assisting... Read more
Forum topic
Happy Friday, SDL!
We're running a Tally WBLCA for an environmental education center, which has a very small floor area but a fairly robust concrete/steel structure. Still, I was surprised to find an intensity of over 1,000 kgCO2/m2 for the building.
This is way higher than the general benchmarks I've found in the CLF's database,... Read more
Forum topic
Hello, All, Is anyone familiar with One Click LCA software and resources? Similarities/differences from a Tally or Athena approach? Many thanks!
Forum topic
Can anyone suggest a recruiter that knows the trick to finding MEP talent that is passionate about sustainability? It would be much appreciated.
