Hi SDLers-

Like many of you, I have found myself involved in our firm’s nascent Social & Racial Justice working group. Our group is laser focused on advancing BIPOC and is seeking to understand more about approaches our firm can take on advocacy, transparency, and training. They are interested in hearing about specific approaches... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Choosing Insulation: Health and Environmental Considerations – Unit 1.

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


 

1. Discuss how insulation works.
2. Summarize how insulation performance is measured and reported.
3. Recount the wide... Read more

Hello,

We have a mass timber purpose-built rental project specifying flooring at the moment and are trying to find a healthy flooring option while managing acoustics with CLT floorslabs. We don't typically spec vinyl flooring due to the health concerns around PVC, but the project is budget-conscious, and our flooring supplier is... Read more

Hey there SDLs!

We're having a debate in our firm about whether we're at a tipping point to hire an in-house energy modeler - someone capable of doing an MEP-caliber energy model inside a design firm. I know some you have in-house energy modelers on staff and I'd love to hear your experiences:

- How did you know your firm was at a... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of An Advocate’s Guide to Resilience Regulations!

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


1. Explain how U.S. municipalities are using codes to improve the resilience of the built environment in the face of worsening climate change.

2. Delineate five... Read more

Hi all,

I'm trying to figure out how to use this CLF MEP calculator tool that is downloadable from the CLF website. Please see screenshot attached - does anybody know what they are asking for as an input?

"Custom quantities input: The user can enter custom quantities on this tab and produce numerical results. For data input fill '... Read more

Nice brief article on how to talk to clients about materials transparency. It was the right level of information to send out to the office at large. Kudos to Lona and Ralph for your contribution.

https://www.aia.org/articles/210821-how-to-talk-to-clients-about-materials-tran

Hi folks,

Registration is now open for the SDL Summer Summit. We expect this one to fill up, so if you plan on coming don't wait too long to register.

As usual, those of you who are coming will help set the agenda. We reviewed some ideas yesterday with the Steering Committee and agreed that some topics from January's Winter Summit... Read more

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Hi all,

I am on the planning committee for the National Adaptation Forum, which is an excellent conference (this will be the 6th annual) that has relatively little representation from architecture and engineering audiences. Our municipal and agency clients, as well as private sector, tend to attend this conference for climate adaptation... Read more

Dear SDL,

After almost 12 years at Sasaki, I have finally decided to leave for a path slightly-less-traveled. My own development project in Boston (passive house, ZNE condos) is in construction and I will be focusing my attention on that over the course of this year, and then hoping to continue doing similar integrated... Read more

Using energy for cooling during peak hours places a large demand on utilities, is expensive, and can be less efficient than off-peak energy production.

BuildingGreen-Approved Thermal Energy Storage

BuildingGreen lists a variety of  thermal energy storage systems.

About

Off-peak cooling, or thermal energy storage (TES... 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 Fellow SDLers: I'm writing to share intel about two recent climate change articles that provide links to some great new resources:

1. From the AIA Trust: An excellent article in this month's AIA Trust Newsletter on "Climate Impact on Professional Liability." This includes links to some useful resources including the new AIA Hazard and... Read more

Hi all,

We've had a number of clients in the states surrounding Texas that have been hit with really high natural gas bills for February. Some as high as $2.00+/therm. Many are healthcare facilities.  Has anyone seen any federal, state, or utility relief programs that are assisting customers with these bills?

Thanks, 

Adam... Read more

Friends, 

Might anyone be aware of research studies on the beneficial mental health effects of green buildings that you could point me to?

Thanks in advance. 

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

Welcome to the quiz portion of BuildingGreen’s Top 10 Green Building Products for 2018.

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


1.  Explain the transparency and optimization criteria in the LEED v4 (applicable to  Building Product Disclosure and Optimization credits in LEED v4 BD+C and... Read more