I'm guessing this is the most impactful thing any of us could do over the next couple of years. Energy Codes are far and away the biggest lever that our industry has in fighting climate change. I'm up to my eyeballs in commitments at the moment but heartily encourage you (yes, YOU!) to sign up.

...

Hi all – if any of you are... 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 Sages,

As you may have seen in my message, the Peer Networks Member List is not very helpful to us (yet), because a person can only show up in one network. Many of us are also in SDL or other networks; there are many more of us than show up when you filter that list for "Sages."

Until we can get that fixed, we'll share the... Read more

Hi,

We have a market-rate housing highrise project that is going through VE right now: we need cheaper/lighter rainscreen claddings than precast concrete or GFRC.

If you've gone through this similar exercise, I would greatly appreciate recommendations for cladding manufacturers/products with EPDs available. We are open to metal... 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

Welcome to the quiz portion of What Makes the Building Envelope Green? BuildingGreen’s Guide to Thermal & Moisture Protection Products.

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


1. Describe attributes of the greenest building envelope products.
2. Explain how to... Read more

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

Office furniture’s materials and components can come from unsustainable sources, and use adhesives that emit formaldehyde or other volatile compounds.

BuildingGreen-Approved Furniture

BuildingGreen approves tables, desks, and other office furnishings certified to BIFMA’s multi-attribute level 3 standard, which requires low... Read more

(posting here for Kira)

Sustainable Design Leaders:

Is your firm using the AIA COTE Top Ten Toolkit in some fashion? COTE would like to hear from you, especially if you are willing to share your story. 

Specifically, we'd like to share best practices and lessons about how it is working (with certain types of projects, at... Read more

Hello Green Gurus,

Here are all the details about our two Peer Network events in Chicago on Tuesday, June 21st. If you'll be in town, we hope to see you!

From 1-5pm we'll have the Chicago/Midwest Region Mini-Summit, open to members of any of the five Peer Networks (Sustainability Consultants, Community Design Leaders, Contractors... Read more

Reaching out to the collective knowledge here.  With interest in circular economy and building reuse growing, is anyone leading the charge for the concept of building reuse as a tool for maintaining community identity?  Has anyone seen successful projects with this concept in mind?  I was just in a discussion with a bunch of SDLers, and while... Read more