Are you getting questions, advice, and dubious sales pitches from all comers about how to design and run an HVAC system to combat infectious disease? You’re not alone. Engineers, facility managers, architects, and other building professionals are all... Read more

Hey all,

Question for those of you who do in-house daylight analysis about modeling translucent glazing.

We use ClimateStudio for our modeling. It has plenty of material options for clear glazing but nothing for translucent glazing, and we are trying to understand the impacts of a translucent interlayer at some skylights. We can... Read more

Who else is playing in this year’s #SustainabilityScavengerHunt by BE+!?

Meredith Elbaum and team at Built Environment Plus are launching the second annual hunt this Friday. Teams of up to four people compete over a couple of weeks to complete missions and bring awareness to environmental topics.

It was a lot of fun last year - we... Read more

I read a very misleading article on the AIA's website today regarding antimicrobials and the benefit of microbicidals in paint. It was written by a manufacturer, not a healthcare professional, and was not obviously labeled as sponsored content on the website. (I received the link in an email, which did label it as such).

https://www.aia.... Read more

CEUs are available for reading all the building-envelope product guides and primer. Click here to learn more and take the quiz.

Water and air that penetrate building assemblies can damage materials, cause energy loss, and lead to mold, mildew, or other problems. The products used to address these may contain materials that are... Read more

Anyone using the USG EcoSmart drywall? I'm writing a short product review and am looking for some quick feedback. I'm particularly curious about reduced greenhouse gas emissions and overall cost. Thanks! Brent

ASHRAE posted this year's list of honors and right there at the top of the list is our SMEPL colleague, Cindy Cogil - now able to add FASHRAE to her signature block!  Well done, Cindy and congratulations to ASHRAE for recognizing your accomplishments.

Hello Green Gurus,

Here’s one more exclusive webinar for you! Coming up next week:

Behind the Scenes: COTE Top Ten 2021
Tuesday, May 4th, 2021
2pm - 3pm ET (11am - 12pm PT)

Register here.

Description:
Eight of this year’s Top Ten winners are from firms in this network. We also have a member on the... Read more

Lauren Shumaker (Turner Construction) and I are starting a group to focus on improving the submittal process, currently focused specifically on healthy & sustainable materials and the use of the mindful Materials library. The purpose of this working group would be to align project management and LEED project software (ex: Procore, CMiC,... Read more

Hi all,

As follow-up to the summit, I’m attaching a draft letter on MEP embodied carbon written by our group (Luke, Kristy, Adam).  The goal is to start a dialogue with manufacturers to include embodied carbon info for major equipment.  Will explain more on the call.  Please read in advance if you get the chance!

Thanks!

I'm hoping for some help answering the question of whether buildings/communities should pursue net-zero energy on site versus investing in new renewable energy (i.e. through the electric utility) that can be built at a more efficient scale elsewhere in the state. Our utility is asking us this question as we are working through how to get the... Read more

Hi all!

I'm working on my first energy positive / passive house multifamily building and trying to figure out the trash/recycling chute. I am curious what solutions you have employed to make the trash chute air tight? We have excluded the whole chute from the envelope. Do you use airtight doors (and which ones?) at each floor trash/... Read more

Is anyone else working on a project doing Living Building Challenge v4.0 Energy Petal? We're working through the Imperative 08 Net Positive Carbon Resiliency Strategy requirements that ask for the project to be habitable for a week in the event of an emergency. We're curious how others are defining "habitable" and what systems assumptions... Read more

Curious what people's 'best' experiences or recommendations are for load calculations and energy modeling regarding electrochromic glazing... hoping I can lean on others as it's just now becoming more of a talking point in our market here in Omaha. 

Specific questions including whether load and energy modeling software are separate (... Read more