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BuildingGreen is the most trusted voice in sustainable design and architecture.
This ad-free, member-supported resource is here to guide designers in using high-performance strategies, and in selecting sustainable and healthy products.
If you haven't already, start by creating your unique user profile to get your log-in, and be... Read more
Quiz
Welcome to the quiz portion of What Makes a Product Green?.
Learning Objectives
Upon completing this course, participants will be able to:
1. List and describe at least three attributes that address each of the following categories: "efficient use of materials"; "responsible sourcing"; "energy and water... Read more
Forum topic
Do any of you have experience with Design For Freedom yet? It came to my attention and I'm trying to investigate. I would love to hear feedback and experiences that you may have at this point. It seems like an opportune moment for this issue of forced labor (yikes! so much I don't know...) to come to the forefront, and I'm curious to hear how... Read more
Forum topic
Know any awesome sustainability leaders within GC or CM firms? They can be at mid-sized or large construction companies—any firm in the ENR top 400 qualifies for sure, others might need some vetting. The key is people who have sustainability as the focus of how they spend their time--either formally by title or otherwise.
We want to... Read more
Reports, Courses, Study Guides, Live Webinars
THIS WEBINAR PURCHASE AND REGISTRATION IS CLOSED.
Wednesday, February 12th, 2020 2-3 pm Eastern (11 am-12 pm Pacific)Whole-building life-cycle assessment (WBLCA) can help project teams reduce embodied carbon as well as many other environmental impacts of building materials. And it’s incentivized in LEED and... Read more
Product Guide
Metal roofs can also provide high solar reflectance, minimizing a building’s contribution to the urban heat island effect.
BuildingGreen-approved
Materials and finishes recognized by Energy Star maintain solar reflectance levels after three years of use of 50% for low-slope and 15% for steep-slope. Some unpainted metals and many... Read more
Forum topic
We are looking for someone early in their career to take over our green building certifications (mostly LEED). They will also be helping our office build expertise in other certifications, keeping up with green building ordinances in our markets, and (hopefully) help me answer all those questions about energy codes.
They do not need... Read more
Forum topic
I'm looking for products that have cradle to cradle documentation, as well as EPD's & HPD's and are red list free. What are your go to websites when you're researching products?
Forum topic
Hello friends. On a current school project, an abuse resistant wall covering has been proposed as an alternative to our typical MDF wainscot. The proposed product has been used successfully in healthcare, and switching to it will save the project almost $1million, which is no small amount when the project is over budget and 7-figure cost... Read more
Forum topic
We just heard from one of our more progressive clients that they are pulling Mohawk from their shelves and are no longer allowing it on their projects. Apparently there are some chemical ingredients they objected to, but more importantly the manufacturer "lied" to the client about the content. Does anyone have an idea what this might be about?... Read more
Forum topic
Does anyone have an opinion of Autocase? https://autocase.com/
I had not heard of this platform before. Their website says that some firms in the group are customers / users. Website does not do a great job of describing exactly what they do. Is there value?
Thanks,
Allen
Forum topic
I am new to the SAL and honored to be included. I'm Summer, managing partner at Ecoimpact Consulting. I manage a small staff of sustainability consultants who focus primarily on LEED project administration and documentation services. Day to day, I am working on implementation of the technical requirements of various LEED rating systems (in the... Read more
Forum topic
Hello Community!
I often get asked about the application cases of annual vs. marginal emissions. Are you aware of an ASHRAE standard or journal article that concisely describes the use case for different CO2 eq. metrics? Has anyone reviewed ASHRAE Standard 240P: Evaluating Greenhouse Gas (GHG) and Carbon Emissions in Building Design,... Read moreForum topic
Since starting at LPA last fall, the number one question I get from people outside the firm is how we are hitting (2018-2019) or getting so close to hitting the 2030 Commitment goals.
Here is a chance to see for yourself! LPA is seeking a Sustainable Design Specialist to join our RED team (Research Education Design) - location open to... Read more
Forum topic
Following my retirement from BuildingGreen, I’m also looking to retire from the nonprofit Resilient Design Institute, which I’ve been leading since 2012. My default plan is to sunset the organization in the fall of 2024, but I wanted to offer the idea of someone (or multiple people) taking over the organization.
RDI is incorporated as a... Read more
Forum topic
Hi Gurus,
We are having a hard time sourcing a baby changing table that is free of anticmicrobial coatings. KoalaKare, the predominate manufacturer, includes Microban in both their plastic and stainless steel product options. Does anyone have any experience with a durable, ADA compliant and readily available baby changing table free of... Read more