News Brief
At first glance,
An Environmental Handbook for Florida Contractors looks like it deals only with the environmental regulations that Florida contractors must contend with. And, indeed, the Handbook describes in detail the requirements for complying with regulations at the federal, state, and local levels. But the book goes much further,... Read more
Explainer
Product Review
Builders concerned about out-gassing of formaldehyde from medium-density fiberboard (MDF) have long used Medex in cabinets. This exterior-grade product, originally developed for highway signs, is considerably more expensive than conventional MDF or particleboard, however. Now Medite II fills the need for a... Read more
News Analysis
The City of Austin’s Green Builder Program was one of 12 award recipients in the United National Local Government Honours Programme at the Earth Summit in Rio, and the only winner from the United States. “The purpose of the Honours Programme is to recognize innovative local approaches to... Read more
Product Review
To the best of our knowledge, this product is now being marketed under the name Rauhsaser by Better Wall System of Kenora, ON.
CoverAge is a tacky name for a great product that all remodelers should know about. It is a paintable, textured wallpaper that’s made entirely of recycled paper (at... Read moreNews Brief
Energy Source™ Directory
Life has been a whole lot easier around the office since theEnergy Source Directory arrived. Assembled and published by Iris Communications, this is the most complete and most useful guide to specialized products and materials used in energy-efficient construction that we've seen. The 500-page directory is... Read more
Op-Ed
Introducing the first issue of our newsletter.
Buildings have a tremendous impact on the environment. In North America, buildings and the building industry account for about 30% of carbon dioxide emissions, 35-40% of ozone depletion, 20-30% of municipal solid waste, vast quantities of natural resource consumption, and dramatic loss of open space each... Read more
Feature
Ozone depletion and global warming are two of our most serious environmental problems—and foam insulation materials containing CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) contribute significantly to both of these problems. The environmentally concerned builder or designer should make it a highest priority to avoid them. Even many of the non-CFC alternatives... Read more
Feature
Susan Maxman is the first AIA president to make sustainable design a priority.
Q.Where would you say architects as a group stand on environmental issues?
A.Architects tend to be reactive rather than proactive. It is important that we take the lead on these environmental issues. The architecture schools in particular tend to be conservative. They just aren’t... Read more
News Brief
The American Institute of Architects convention in Boston this past June was the setting for a changing of the guard in the American architectural establishment. The Institute’s first woman president took the reins, the Committee on the Environment became its largest and fastest growing committee, and the first installments of the Environmental... Read more
Feature
Carefully stake the building site and driveway, remove trees that are within the excavation area or too close, then erect a fence to keep heavy equipment off fragile soils and away from nearby trees.
Protecting trees and the local ecosystem when building on previously unbuilt land is a vitally important—yet often overlooked—part of environmentally responsible construction. Healthy trees and shrubs can reduce a home’s environmental impact and directly benefit homeowners in a number of ways:
•Enhancing comfort by shielding the house... Read more
Forum topic
Hello Green Gurus,
Here is the information for this month's Peer Networks Webinar, Jobsite Sustainability Tracking Tools. We hope you will join us!
Register HERE.
Jobsite Sustainability Tracking Tools
Tuesday, May 18th, 2021
2pm - 3pm ET (11am - 12pm PT)
Description
‘You can’t improve what you don’... Read more
Forum topic
Hi everyone,
It was so wonderful to meet some of you last month and experience the whirlwind of a summit! I hope you've enjoyed looking over the Summit Report and the flip chart notes, and they've helped bring some order to the vast amount of material we covered. Here's one more piece for you - slides from the 5-minute presentations.... Read more
Forum topic
Hello SCLers,
We have heard from many of you who are in the midst of budgeting for conferences and travel for 2024. Although we aren’t quite ready to open registration for our 2024 events, we hope providing some details will help you reserve funds to join us.
Next year, we are planning two in-person events open to SCL:
... Read more
Forum topic
I am looking for anyone that specializes in this area, see the principles below.
http://universaldesign.ie/What-is-Universal-Design/
We have looked at HOK's Neurodiveristy document which is great. Are there other resources like this, or other designers/consultants you have worked with?
TIA
Kristen
Kristen... Read more
Forum topic
Everyone agreed during last Friday's meeting that we want to call the site BITuser. The question, however, is what domain name should be used.
Whatever domain name is chosen, it will redirect to the actual site URL -- https://bituser.buildinggreen.com (similar to how LEEDuser.com redirects to https://leeduser.buildinggreen.com).
... Read more
Forum topic
Hi SD Leaders!
I'm Nadav, president at BuildingGreen and facilitator of the Sustainability peer networks. I'm really excited to finally have this network for champions from smaller firms up and running!
I do a lot of workshop facilitation, design process support, and consulting and training related to sustainable products. I... Read more
Forum topic
Sujatha Das of Haskell has put together a survey to help define the role of a Construction Company Sustainability Manager--I thought this is something many here might be willing to help with, and benefit from!
Sujatha will share the results of the survey with those that participate assuming they provide the optional contact information... Read more
Forum topic
Join us for the Peer Networks-exclusive version of this Greenbuild presentation!
Register HERE.
A New Standard in Facade Design
November 30th, 2020
1pm - 2pm ET (10am - 11am PT)
Description and Presenters: Current façade design focuses more on operating carbon (or energy), even when embodied carbon is accounted... Read more
Quiz
Welcome to the quiz portion of Circular Economy at Scale: Six International Case Studies.
Learning Objectives
Upon completing this course, participants will be able to:
1. Define circular economy and explain its importance within the built environment.
2. Describe how to leverage long-term value over first... Read more



