I am getting started on a research project to evaluate the feasibility, costs, and benefits of using phase change material (PCM) to passively regulate temperature in Minnesota buildings. If anyone has experience designing with PCM, installing PCM, or occupying buildings with PCM, can you share any lessons learned that would be relevant as... Read more

ASHRAE 209 in all its glory has been uploaded. This will impact our architectural process, for better or worse, so we should embrace it and learn from it. The revised AIA Energy Modeling Design Guide (due out next year) has been timed to correspond roughly to 209 coming out and will include references to it. The first few energy modeling '... Read more

Hi SDL: Please see attached letter to USGBC about the urgent need to address climate change in the next iteration of LEED v4. It's based on the realization that in the last few years it has become clear that climate change has become the dominant global threat to humans and our fellow species. And it has also become clear that the steep... Read more

If you have been wondering about the Contractor Commitment, we have an update for you!

Several weeks ago, the subgroup leaders and the Steering Committee members gathered to agree on a basic structure for the Commitment. The idea was to align the basic expectations around issues like how many tiers there would be, what would be disclosed... Read more

Pat U. Mellona

It was great to see everyone who was able to join in the peer networks webinar and to be able to share a brief update on what the Defining and Measuring Resilient Outcomes working group has accomplished over the last year... and what we are looking forward to tackling in the coming year. 

I've both attached a copy of the deck here and... Read more

Ventilation fans, kitchen range hoods, and laboratory fume hoods can use significant amounts of energy from both the fan motor and from venting heated/cooled air out of the building—air that then has to be replaced and conditioned by energy-intensive HVAC systems.

BuildingGreen-Approved Ventilation Fans

BuildingGreen ventilation... Read more

I'm happy to announce the Call for Presenters for this year's Gulf Coast Green, taking place in Houston May 17th.  Our theme is Crossroads: Inclusive Exchange.  We are especially seeking presentations that focus on how design can engage the community and foster social bonds and social justice.  I’m sure many of you have work that is relevant,... 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

Anyone know what stages does CARE include? Does it include B1-5, C1-4 or D?

Thank you!

A building project brings brothers back together, but a fast-moving storm challenges the project and the family.
Of storms & chins »

Whistleblowers alert state health agencies to possible foot fungus scourge... Read more

EDITED LINK

Hello, below is a link to our newly uploaded research report, Embodied Carbon in Commercial Furniture. This new research report introduces a case study and some new baselines for measuring the carbon footprint of commercial furniture, to add to a growing body of work on this topic among our peers:
Embodied Carbon in... Read more

Hi gang,

Following up on the recent Air Quality Design Jam at the summit, I’d like to round up the folks interested in supporting an Air Quality Working Group.

Didn’t attend the summit? No worries – everyone is welcome! We had a good group the other week and several of us want to continue the conversation.

The design jam... Read more

Hi Gurus!

I'm desperately seeking any case studies (past/currently on the boards) of labs that have been designed without natural gas infrastructure (the topic I have to debate is about commercial spec labs but any lab case study, wet or dry, is welcomed). This is for a development authority that will be setting guidelines for new... Read more

Curious if folks know of any resources on hempcrete, specific to durability.  We have a one-story carbon-neutral operational energy project where the design team and client have bought into the aesthetics and carbon-sequestering potential of hempcrete, and amazingly it is looking to be no more expensive than a more typical concrete wall... Read more