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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
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
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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
Forum topic
is anyone aware of some guidance about citation protocols for when a person/team/org uses an AI tool to generate some base components for a report (which is then heavily edited by humans)?
I'm inclined to disclose in detail which tools were used and how ... but would love to know if there are some industry protocols shaping up about this... Read more
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Hello all,
Thank you so much for your work on the Contractor Commitment. In preparation for the Summit, we've pulled all of the sections together into one cohesive document. We would like to invite everyone in the SCL network to review and comment on this latest draft so that we can compile comments before Wednesday and make the most of... Read more
Forum topic
Hey all,
Question for those of you who do in-house daylight analysis about modeling translucent glazing.
We use ClimateStudio for our modeling. It has plenty of material options for clear glazing but nothing for translucent glazing, and we are trying to understand the impacts of a translucent interlayer at some skylights. We can... Read more
Quiz
Welcome to the quiz portion of Certified Wood: How SFI Compares to FSC.
Learning Objectives
Upon completing this course, participants will be able to:
1. Describe how forestry standards engage with pesticide use, protection of old growth forests and forest biota, and prevention of deforestation.
2. Discuss... Read more
Forum topic
Hello Green Gurus, here's a reminder that this webinar is happening one week from today!
Register here.
Sustainable Community Design Leaders: Who we are, What we do
Tuesday, February 16th, 2021
3 - 4pm ET (12 - 1pm PT)
Description: Join this live webinar to learn about the brand-new Sustainable Community Design... Read more
Basic page
The page you're looking for is no longer available. There may be several reasons:
We made a mistake when upgrading our website, and the page was lost. Your browser session expired (e.g. you were interrupted while making a purchase and then came back to it hours later). The content is so out-of-date that our editors decided it was... Read moreForum topic
Question for you all: there is this wonderful graph showing how we can shift mechanical and electrical dollars into envelope investments to make deep energy savings cost-neutral. Have you experienced this on a project?
1-minute or less survey! (two questions, more detail if you want)
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/... Read more
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Dear SDL: I'm writing to urge you to promote project submittals in your firm and region to the 2018 AIA COTE Top Ten (TT) Award. The submittal deadline is 5PM EST January 17, 2018 - coming right up! The TT awards are one of the most recognized design awards for the general public and receive wide circulation through mainstream media. AIA... Read more
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(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
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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
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Hello all,
My name is Stephen Messinger. Thanks for including me in the group. I am excited to get involved. Glad to see some familiar and amazing names on this list.
A little about me: I am born and raised in Massachusetts. I live in Jamaica Plain (Boston) with my wife Lauren and two amazing daughters (Penelope, 4.... Read more

