Hi everyone, on our SDL Regional Leaders call today we touched on how different offices are engaging with the Youth Climate Strike on Sept 20, and I offered to share a few resources that we've developed:  

1) Here is our public-facing official statement/endorsement: https://www.vmdo.com/architecture-blog/vmdo-youth-climate-strike/?fbclid... Read more

Colleagues:

I "lurk" on the list serve of the American Physical Plant Administrators.  I wanted to share a posting from that forum:

Hi All,

Two questions here: wondering if any Universities in the Pacific Northwest have a thermal comfort standard they adhere to for new building design on campus? UBC is currently undertaking... Read more

Medium-density fiberboard (MDF), particleboard, and interior-grade plywood can emit formaldehyde, a known human carcinogen. Some materials  come from non-sustainable sources.

BuildingGreen-Approved Panels

Products meet California Air Resources Board (CARB) ultra-low emitting formaldehyde (ULEF) or no-added-... Read more

HGA is collaborating with the University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership (MCAP) to research how the AE industry is currently using climate projection data, and what they need in order to grow their use of data. MCAP is currently producing a set of dynamical downscaled climate projections for the state of Minnesota and unlike other... Read more

The current Stantec/BuildingGreen featured topic is Material Health. Read on to learn the essentials, and then dive deep to earn CEUS.

Also see the Resilient Design featured topic, and also a survey of topics trending in Stantec’s regions.... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Choosing Insulation: High-Performance Wall Assemblies – Unit 3.

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


1. Describe key environmental and performance factors for insulation materials.
2. Recount bottom-line insulation material... Read more

"The man with one watch knows what time it is; the man with two is never sure."   --Segal's Law

We recently purchased two indoor air quality meters in the $200-$300 range and find that they never agree, not even close. I would like to find out what other people's experiences have been, and if they have tested affordable models that... Read more

Has anyone here been involved (taken or taught sessions) in the Healthy Materials Lab Online Certificate program for Healthier Materials? 

https://healthymaterialslab.org/learning-hub/e-learning-online-certifica...

I'm thinking about having some of our staff take this course, especially those that don't have a background in... Read more

Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:

Be aware of key dates in the history of the LEED rating system.

Have a clear understanding of the new impact areas present in the updated rating system.

Ascertain which types of new credits belong to which impact areas in the LEED v5 rating system.

Looking for the Top 10 on the 10th! webinar?  Click here.

IRA NUTS & BOLTS WEBINAR PURCHASE AND REGISTRATION IS CLOSED.

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) offers us a once-in-a-generation chance to equitably decarbonize the built... Read more

Hello Everyone,

As the staff here at BuildingGreen prepares for our third peer network summit in two months, we'd like to share out the Summit Report from the first online summit with the Sustainable MEP Leaders. We're a little delayed in sharing this with the wider Green Gurus group, but there is still plenty of time to review before... Read more

Cher Hiblthren

Following up on one of our conversations on the vision vacuum and sustainability beyond certifications, I would like to help facilitate an offline conversation with anyone working within their firm to use the AIA COTE measures as a guiding framework in their firms/projects. Attached are my slides on my first pass at thinking about this at Page... Read more

Our firm has had some clients that object to the term "Master Plan." We have removed "Master Planning" from our letterhead, where we list our capabilities and have replaced it with "Planning." Although we still find ourselves using it, old habits die hard, especially when we receive an RFP from a client asking for "Master Planning." Once we get... Read more

Blast from the past when 179D first hit the scenes.

Are any of you still using this and if so, has it been easy, successful, worthwhile etc

and Happy New Year !

Dear all,

Greetings. I'm presenting virtually to an audience of architecture and engineering faculty in India on the topic 'Introduction to Climate Change and Adaptive Architecture.' What is expected of the presentation is a broad overview of how climate change affects the built environment, challenges faced and some coping mechanisms. I... Read more