I was recently asked about potentially specifying concrete with wood nanoparticles and concrete with biochar as a way to further lower the embodied carbon and to increase concrete strength.  These approaches are something I know nothing about, and wondering if anyone in this group has any experience and/or observations that might be relevant to... Read more

Hello, All!

Looking for some quick insight from the braintrust into how to best approach project goal-setting.

We’ve been taking a critical look at goal-setting practices to better understand what drives the gap between projects that meet ambitious high-performance targets and those that don’t. Recognizing that goal setting is a... Read more

The AIA is NOT announcing the COTE Top Ten award winners this Wednesday.  Both the firm and student juries were held last month and winners were chosen.  But the AIA is focused on COVID-19 info only now, restricting other communications.  That is why the COTE newsletter has disappeared from your mailboxes.

Maybe i am the only one who... Read more

Hi All,

As you know from the SCL Summit last year, I have been organizing a task group to create a draft of our SCL Contractor Commitment. We have come up with a short Tiered commitment draft as well as some best practices and challenges that led us to the commitment. I encourage everyone to take a look at the draft and please send any... Read more

Show & Tell Breakout. Presentations:

Welcome to the quiz portion of Sustainability Literacy: A Foundation For Transformed Practice!

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


Hi Leaders,

If your experience was anything like mine, it was a stressful night. I'm feeling a hunger for talking with smart, passionate people about what this all means.

I'm not interested in making this into a political forum--we can all get plenty of that elsewhere. But if you'd like to hang out and just process how you're... Read more

Seems to be a trend! We're looking to fill a Sustainability Specialist position at Perkins Eastman: 

http://perkinseastman.hrmdirect.com/employment/job-opening.php?req=89745...

Please let me know if you have any potential candidates who might be a good fit! 

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

Our firm was asked by a government client in Canada to update their specifications for concrete to capture low embodied carbon as a performance metric. From the SDL group's knowledge of concrete procurement:

Jason F. McLennan

Related to some recent questions on site-specific sun/wind analysis and early energy modeling tools, are there any tools that account for nearby topography (like bluffs) or large buildings/vegetation in energy calculations? Or favorite methods to estimate its impact particularly during early massing studies?

Thanks,

Rachel

Chillers are part of larger systems that provide cooling in large commercial buildings.

BuildingGreen-Approved Water Chillers

Because there isn't a single relevant efficiency standard for chillers, approved products use innovations such as magnetic bearings, variable frequency drives, or other technologies that significantly... Read more

You’ve probably heard that wood products are carbon neutral. You might also have heard that timber harvesting causes immense carbon emissions.

Which is it?

Could it be both?

Hi: I'm writing to share a unique opportunity to make a difference at SCALE as a Sustainability Manager at Amazon Global Services.

This comes from Lisa Matthiessen, FAIA, LEED Fellow who some of you may know. Lisa just joined Amazon's Worldwide Sustainability Team who is charged with making real their Net Zero for all operations by 2040... Read more

Hi all!

I'm working on my first energy positive / passive house multifamily building and trying to figure out the trash/recycling chute. I am curious what solutions you have employed to make the trash chute air tight? We have excluded the whole chute from the envelope. Do you use airtight doors (and which ones?) at each floor trash/... Read more

Hello Green Gurus,

Here is the information for November's Peer Networks Webinar, Learning and Applying Evidence, Rosetta Stone: A Translational Tool for Research-Informed Practice. We hope you will join us!

Register HERE

Learning and Applying Evidence, Rosetta Stone: A Translational Tool for Research-Informed Practice... Read more