We are T-minus two days from the ILFI unconference and I am looking forward to seeing a bunch of you there.  I have a vague memory about there being a meet up scheduled - can somebody remind me of where/when.

Also, can folks that are speaking post a reply about when their session is and what the topic is please.

Thanks in advance... Read more

Related to some recent questions on site-specific sun/wind analysis and early energy modeling tools, are there any tools that account for nearby topography (like bluffs) or large buildings/vegetation in energy calculations? Or favorite methods to estimate its impact particularly during early massing studies?

Thanks,

Rachel

Welcome to the quiz portion of Solar Thermal Hot Water, Heating, and Cooling.

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


1. Explain active and passive; direct and indirect; and low-, medium-, and high-temperature solar thermal systems.
2. Distinguish between the three most... 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

Commonly used for interior partitioning of commercial buildings, light-gauge steel framing is increasingly being used in residential construction. Compared to solid wood, steel studs are lightweight, dimensionally stable, resistant to insect damage, and of consistent quality. 

BuildingGreen-Approved Structural Steel

Products... Read more

Is there a way for southface staff or guest experts to "pin" or "tag" the "right" answer in a forum question? It might be useful to designate the right answer and pin it to the top of a forum thread. I don't want the answer selected via crowd source but by staff or volunteers. Thanks.

This month on our Sustainable MEP Leaders call we were asked what resources would be suggested for advancing integrative design.

Two books immediately came to mind for me:

How Building Learn, by Stewart Brand

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_Buildings_Learn

It was many years ago but reading Stewart Brand’s How... Read more

I'm going way outside of my skillset and comfort zone...venturing into HR territory to do an analysis of my company's benefits package to see if it meets exceeds or falls short of the requirements of Fitwel and WELL. Has anyone else done this within their organization? How was this received by your company's executive team?

When... Read more

Does adding solar panels reduce a building's EUI?

Existing operational use of a building is 80 kBtu/sf/year. When we add solar, it will change the source of energy but does not change the usage.

My understanding is that the EUI does not change, but it would be good to hear from others.

It's energy consumption at the point... Read more

Keith Hempel, Julie Hiromoto, and Billie Faircloth have been elevated to the AIA College of Fellows - I'm sure I'm missing others but congratulations! Can't wait to celebrate in person - I still rememer Lance Hosey in his tux and Beth Heider in a full ball gown at the AIA Fellows dinner in Chicago (the only one I ever attended. . .) 

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

Hi,

I have a colleague doing research on PCM in several projects. For context in their report, they were wondering if this group has seen any recent increase in application of PCMs in recent years. Is it just in ceilings or other applications? If so, what products are being used? They were having difficulty finding manufacturers other... Read more

This is specifically to Chris but also to anybody who is interested in the topic - which Chris raised on our SAL call today, regarding how to influence change:

From this article, which i thought was good but had a great paragraph pulled below.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/12/business/Steve-Mollenkopf-Qualcomm-corner-office.html... Read more

For my first test post I'm going to be completely boring and ask about logistics.

If we know of someone that should be part of this forum, how do we invite them? There were a couple of people that I thought were on the Wiggio who I recently found out were not. There may also be folks from our regional groups who may not have been part... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of "How to Access the Full Power of Biophilia."

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


Phase one of the website will not include e-commerce (i.e. paid membership) but the BIT team wants to restrict access to some parts of the site, including the full Best Practices documents and the forum. This means we'll need a rudimentary paywall, directing users to register for full access.  Current registered users of BuildingGreen and... Read more

Hi folks,

Has your firm:

- hired a consultant to conduct firmwide bias training?

- revamped its hiring process using an antiracist lens?

- developed coaching circles / reading groups around racism/anti-racism? 

- instituted new support structures for staff development around inclusivity?

- some other... Read more