Has anyone come across any (embodied) carbon emissions calculator for water?  Perhaps per region/state?  

Thanks in advance!

This message came in earlier today and is something of which we should all be aware.  I took the extra step, in this world of uncertain facts, of checking the veracity of the message with Jason Grant who confirmed it.  From William Bucholtz:

Dear Green Building Colleagues,

No one likes being fooled, but it’s... Read more

I'm curious who in this group has used ASHRAE Standard 209-2018, Energy Simulation Aided Design for Buildings except Low Rise Residential Buildings?

We've used it internally (minimally) as a reference to help better communicate the goals and activities involved with energy modeling at various phases of design. But it seems like there's... Read more

Hi! Just saw this White House press release stating that federal suppliers will need to report on scope 1 & 2, and relevant scope 3 emissions and climate-related financial risks as well as set science-based emission reduction targets. The cutoff for disclosure requirements is $50m in federal contracts. Curious whether this affects any... Read more

Tamela Olp Jun

Concrete and other cementitious materials have both environmental advantages and disadvantages. As builders and designers, should we be looking for alternatives or embracing concrete over competing materials?

This special report takes a look at how these materials are made, presents the key environmental considerations relating to their... Read more

Hi folks,

I’m excited to be welcoming Meredith Elbaum and Nellie Reid into this forum! Meredith and Nellie were the duo that originally conceived of the Sustainable Design Leaders network back in 2008, and led the effort (with BuildingGreen’s support) through it’s early years. 

They later left their SDL roles, so they haven’t been... Read more

The Minnesota CLF chapter’s Specification Subgroup (myself, Andy Marolt/Ryan Companies, Laura Eder/ESG, Java Nyamjav/MSR Design, with input from Annie Perkins/SFI) recently collaborated on a draft set of specification templates incorporating embodied carbon requirements into product performance and action submittals. This work builds on sample... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of How Buildings Fail Their Users!

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


Explain the importance of finding common ground between a client’s project goals and the project team’s sustainability building goals for successful projects that incorporate... Read more

We just wrapped up an awesome Winter Summit at Gulf State Park in Alabama. I'll be posting flip chart pages and notes here--we can use this forum to continue the conversations. 

Apologies for the flurry of emails, but it seems best to start separate threads for each topic. If you'd rather limit the flow, you can switch to daily digest... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Retrocommissioning: Big Savings for Big Buildings.

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


1. Define the term retrocommissioning.
2. Explain how whole-systems RCx differs from energy-focused RCx.
3. Describe several examples of how... Read more

Hi everyone,

Join us for the webinar, "IRA Funding with a Tax Expert Part 2: Updates and  Clarifications" on Tuesday April 2nd at 3pm ET!

Register here and please feel free to invite anyone from your firms to join.

The great presenter from Energy Tax Savers, Jacob Goldman, is returning for a follow-up session for our... Read more

Has anyone worked on a WELL project? I have heard that you can expect about 1.5 to twice the effort of LEED coordination but wasn't sure how accurate that was. Any suggestions for determining the possible time commitment of WELL coordination?

Thanks in advance!

Hello Fellow Green Guru Members:  I am pleased to be a new member of the Sustainable Community Design Leaders (SCDL) forum, and look forward to learning and contributing here.  Also, in case you missed it, this week there were two important steps forward towards an eventual standardized Environmental-Social-Governance (ESG) reporting system... Read more

I would like to invite you to come see the progress of the Oakland EcoBlock on 4/21! Page is co-presenting at the ULI event and we have been pulling together the latest material. It would be great if you can join!

Hello - I wanted to see if others have been having any of the same Windows security issues with a host of public software (Radiance, Window, DAYSIM, Open Studio) that we regularly use for performance analysis.

My IT team has let me know that they see serious security conflicts with THERM, as well as lot of the LBNL software (Radiance,... Read more

Please share your thoughts in preparation for our monthly call this Thursday (call info below). 

Given these items that are changing at AIA, are any of them motivating changes within your firm? If so, how? If not, why?

1. Awards criteria now includes COTE Measures of Design Excellence

2. Code of Ethics now includes rule on... Read more

Hi folks,

Registration is now open for the SDL Summer Summit. We expect this one to fill up, so if you plan on coming don't wait too long to register.

As usual, those of you who are coming will help set the agenda. We reviewed some ideas yesterday with the Steering Committee and agreed that some topics from January's Winter Summit... Read more