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
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
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
Reports, Courses, Study Guides, Live Webinars
This webinar occurred Thursday, December 15.
Attendance confirmation closed Friday, December 30.
Whether it’s the flooding in Pakistan, the devastation caused by Hurricane Ian in Florida, or the record-breaking wildfire season in Europe, climate change is in the news daily. Just as there’s an urgent need to reduce... Read more
Forum topic
Check out this new executive order. It is broad and includes a lot of items, but of interest to this group, there are some things in here that we pointed towards in our letter back from the beginning of the year, including 24/7 carbon-free electrical energy, a net-zero emissions portfolio by 2045 and net zero emissions from procurement... Read more
Forum topic
Hello everyone,
Wondering if anyone has evaluated/considered/specified wood fiber insulation for use in lieu of mineral wool as the exterior wall insulation? Am mostly looking to better understand domestic availability, r-value and fire/combustibility.
We have a multi-family building in DC where the client is interested in using... Read more
Forum topic
Hi All,
I am looking for a lifecycle analysis consultant to work on a feasibility study in New York. They should have capacity to analyze and compare various architectural, structural and mechanical components for environmental impacts, primarily GHG emissions. Any recommendations are greatly appreciated.
_Ilana
Author
Ben Hewitt works behind the scenes to build and maintain BuildingGreen.com and LEEDuser. He brings with him over two decades of experience in his field. As an efficient problem-solver, his goal is to make the websites more user-friendly for his coworkers and designers and project teams using BuildingGreen’s resources.
Ben has proficiency... Read more
Basic page
Go to your profile, where you will find the TEAM MANAGEMENT section in the left side bar. Click on Team Members.
TO ADD MEMBERS:You can invite up to 9 more colleagues for a 10-person team to start their Premium Subscriber access through the Team.... Read more
Forum topic
Greetings, all SDL members who will be attending the AIA Minnesota conference November 8-11, including some who may be attending Nadav and Gwen's workshop on Tuesday November 8th! I'm organizing a meetup in downtown Minneapolis for SDL/Green Gurus folks. It will take place Monday, November 7th at around 6pm. Let me know if you are interested by... Read more
Product Guide
Water treatment systems often rely on harsh chemicals to treat bacteria, and on high water use from drawdown of water to reduce build-up of concentrates—a process called blowdown.
BuildingGreen-Approved Water Treatment
BuildingGreen approves systems that:
work on proven scientific principles and are supported by strong track... Read moreForum topic
Hello Green Gurus,
We have an exciting cross-network opportunity coming up next week! Members of the SDL (Design Leaders) and SCL (Construction Leaders) networks will share about their experience at the recent SDL/SCL Summits. We will also preview the Reports for each Summit, and share some news about other events coming up this year.... Read more
Forum topic
I am still basking in the afterglow of this week's summit, and getting ready to share nuggets of wisdom with my colleagues at our all-staff next week. I was so immersed in the moment that documenting the outlines and choices presented for breakouts slipped my mind. Is there somewhere to access these slides to refresh my memory?
Thanks... Read more
Forum topic
As many of you may already be aware, Greenbuild 2020 is scheduled for the week of the Presidential Election, Nov. 3rd, 2020.
The partners organizing Greenbuild 2020 are USGSBC and Informa Exhibitions. If you have concerns regarding Greenbuild happening during that week, you may want to consider reaching out to whoever you have contact... Read more
Forum topic
All,
I am on the Board of an Environmental organization in the Catskills (The Catskill Center for Conservation and Development https://catskillcenter.org/). We are trying to develop a policy on siting of clean energy projects. For example, we know of one town that bans PV's that can be seen from the road, another is a proposal to... Read more
Forum topic
Hello Green Gurus,
Here is an exciting event we're planning for the end of the month!
Innovative Projects Showcase - “The Power of Collaboration”
A selection of your fellow sustainability leaders will showcase a few recent projects that exemplify integrative process and cross-disciplinary collaboration. Each presentation... Read more
Quiz
Welcome to the quiz portion of Choosing Insulation: High-Performance Foundation & Basement Assemblies – Unit 2.
Learning Objectives
Upon completing this course, participants will be able to:
1. Explain the insulating performance and durability of different insulation materials.
2. Provide examples of... Read more
Forum topic
We are working on a Core & Shell project with a developer that we work with frequently. I'm looking for advice on best approaches to achieving the Whole Building Life Cycle Assessment credit- we haven't used TALLY and done this type of analysis before. What are some approaches to achieving this credit that others have found successful? I... Read more
