Hello friends,

We are embarking on calculations to quantify avoided embodied carbon from converting an old school building into a multifamily project and I wanted to vet our methodology with you.

Our idea is to first establish a benchmark for a new replacement multifamily building based on published studies. We have found a few... 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

I am diving back into Sefaira for the first time in a while, and the program still seems to be missing the ability to account for automatic daylight dimming in energy savings. Previously I had used an LPD reduction equivalent to emulate the savings automatic dimming would provide. Has anyone done a similar work-around? 

Dear SDL community,

I am supporting one of our health authorities in developing a business case for regenerating healthcare infrastructure as part of the indicative design for a new hospital and cancer centre. While I will be deepening this inquiry through the lens of a PhD over the next few (hopefully 4 or less!) years, I - and we - are... Read more

Hey SDL,

I'm curious if anybody out there has developed specification language requiring a certain level of airtightness (as assessed via one or a series of blower door tests) for a commercial project when it is not going for a Passive House certification and a blower door test is not required by code--basically, something in the... Read more

We have an MEP engineer that is calculating peak loads at about 6 times passive house levels on a large commercial building that is at or near passive house levels of insulation and air infiltration. We suspect one reason is that he is figuring a 50% efficiency level for the ERV. We are showing him ERV systems with 80-90% efficiency, but they... Read more

Hello - 

I am looking for the recording and the PDF/ slides that were shared 3/6 for the project process share-out/ 5 min presentations. It was super inspiring and I would like to refresh my memory of some of what was shared. Thank you!

–
Alison Nash 
AIA, LEED AP ID+C, CPHC, WELL AP
Associate | Sustainability... Read more

To piggyback off Nathan's introduction where he mentions construction waste management, who is doing anything innovative or different in managing construction waste?  Construction waste has not historically been a passion of mine, but now working in sustainability and construction, I feel like it has to be by default.  

We have a... Read more

Hi All,

Attached is the DRAFT of our ZNE Data Report.  It is just the beginning. We have a lot more data to gather.  We didn't want to wait for it to be perfect to get it out. Hopefully this gives you all an idea of where we are headed.  Please continue to send us your projects in the Northeast.  I've also attached the excel doc for you... Read more

I'm sure if I hop in the way back machine I could look in the forums and find old threads on LEED GA and LEED AP study resources, but I also know that material comes in and out of date. Has anyone found a good, current solution for firmwide LEED study materials?

We used to have some GBES resources, but those are intended to be person-... Read more

All,

I think there may be more than a few people interested in an article I co-authored titled Comparative whole building life cycle assessment of renovation and new construction. It is now available in the journal Building and Environment. Fortunately we have a link that gets you past the paywall that is good for 50 days. If you have... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of What Makes a Product Green Today?

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


Welcome to the quiz portion of Verifying Performance with Building Enclosure Commissioning.

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


1. Reason why the enclosure is fundamental to a sustainable building.
2. Explain why energy goals are less likely to be achieved without... Read more

The site license permits the purchaser to share the PDF Guide file within their company/organization and post it on their intranet. Site licenses do not include the CEU quiz.​ If multiple individuals in your organization would like to access the CEU accredited quiz, please purchase individual copies.

The sheer number of... Read more

I understand the AIA 2030 team is hoping for as many firms (and projects) to submit some form of LCA data in the new DDx website this week, in order to learn how the industry is tracking embodied carbon.  We have four projects that dabbled with Tally last year, which we'd like to report this week.

Has anyone run into a hurdle where you... Read more

Hi! Please see this query from our Products Editor, Brent Ehrlich. Feel free to reply here on the forum with any leads or insights. AND, if you will to go "on the record" for this article, please contact Brent directly to set up a phone or email interview. (He's on a tight deadline with this.) Thank you!

I am looking for some feedback on... Read more