Product Guide
Cabinets are often made from unsustainable wood bound with adhesives that offgas formaldehyde and finishes that have high emissions or contain PVC.
BuildingGreen-Approved Cabinetry
Approved residential cabinetry has:
Sustainably sourced wood or fiber—either salvaged or FSC certified and verification of low... Read moreForum topic
My firm recieved an invitation to this event in March. Wondering if anyone has any insight on Metropolis Mag events or if anyone here plans to attend. Looking forward to connecting!
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Dear Colleagues,
The EPA has released a very impressive proposal for ENERGY STAR specs for residential water heaters that will strongly encourage electrification and decarbonization of these appliances.
ENERGY STAR is a voluntary program for high performance appliances and this is a huge opportunity to begin the decarb transition... Read more
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Hello SCL- as we move closer towards the release of the Contractors Commitment we have realized that we need a donation of graphics/marketing help from one of our member firms.
We are looking for help with a BG SCL Contractors Commitment logo, landing page, document organization, and any graphics we might need to highlight the... Read more
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This just in from Berkeley Earth. The definitive report on 2023 global temperatures. Lots of incredible graphs to peruse but the news is pretty incredible. Actual temperatures far surpassed predictions. "At the start of 2023, we foresaw only a 14% chance that 2023 would become a record warm year, and only a ~1% chance that 2023 would reach 1.5... Read more
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They say that Louisianans are often late to the party but enjoy catching up. The state, which had been stuck on ASHRAE 90.1-2007 (commercial) and IECC 2009 (residential) and has just adopted legislation jumping to IECC 2021 / IRC 2021, and commits to automatic upgrades with each 3-year code cycle. This means we join CA, OR, WA, MA, and VT--... Read more
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consider supporting Varun Kohli for AIA Board At-Large seat
If you are a voting delegate for the AIA, please consider casting a vote for my friend and COTE colleague, Varun Kohli, FAIA; he's running for the At-Large seat on the AIA national Board of Directors.
Varun is a former COTE Leadership Group member and he understands... Read more
Reports, Courses, Study Guides, Live Webinars
Note: This webinar is complete and registration is closed.
Join us for a live sneak preview of our Top 10 Green Building Products for 2021. Our team has selected them from thousands on the market—this year with a focus on carbon and global warming. Products & Materials Specialist Brent Ehrlich will walk you through why we chose... Read more
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Hi Everyone!
I'm Emily, GCI General Contractor's Sustainability Manager in San Francisco. Nice to meet you all.
I started with the company in 2013 and since then we've doubled in employees. I have been handling sustainability solo, until about 8 months ago, when we hired Alejandra Arce Gomez full-time to help manage the... Read more
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This article just came up in my news feed. I thought you’d all like to read it. I will point out that C&D-specific MRFs have told me that they are really good at single-stream C & D waste, as long as the drywall is pulled out. Any drywall in a single-stream C & D dumpster ends up in the landfill. Drywall just breaks apart and gets... Read more
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Hi all, has anyone come across a comprehensive (and recent) study looking at how long buildings actually last (beyond Stewart Brand)? I know of plenty that look at the benefits of reuse, but none that look at existing building stock and how much has been reused vs. demolished.
As we start looking at embodied carbon metrics, I can't help... Read more
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I have a client that is very interested in automated shades for a mid-rise multi-family housing project. Do you have any examples of projects that have attempted this? I assume it would involve occupancy sensors and/or an over-rideable default setting dependant on sun position and temperature. I also have an MEP Engineer team that is having a... Read more
Quiz
Welcome to the quiz portion of Passive Solar Heating.
Learning Objectives
Upon completing this course, participants will be able to:
1. Explain the three classic approaches to passive solar.
2. Understand the relevance of passive solar today.
3. Describe some key elements of passive solar design.
... Read more
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Hi SD Leaders,
As you may be aware, this past April a group of manufacturers calling themselves the Living Product 50 responded to the letters that many of us sent about five years ago advocating for transparency in their product ingredients. A copy of that letter can be reviewed about midway through the page at this link: https://... Read more
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Hi all,
I'm excited to announce that LHB (my 250-person multidisciplinary firm located in Minnesota and Wisconsin) is hiring a full-time Regenerative Design Leader. I thought this might be helpful for those of you looking for example job descriptions for your own postings, or if you are looking to make a move (we do have an office in... Read more
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Following the summer SDL summit - we formed a spinoff user group called "Carbon Sync" to discuss Life Cycle and Carbon Assessment tools like Tally and Athena. We've had three successful calls with folks sharing a couple 5-minute presentations about various studies and explorations. We have a mix of experience levels - but are collaborating... Read more
Product Guide
Producing a ton of cement releases approximately a ton of CO2 into the atmosphere, but accessories like finishes and additives can also be major sources of VOCs, soil contamination, and human health risks.
BuildingGreen-Approved Concrete Accessories
BuildingGreen approves the following concrete accessories:
structural... Read more