To the best of our knowledge, this product is now being marketed under the name Rauhsaser by Better Wall System of Kenora, ON.

The recent ruling to allow logging on several thousand acres of old-growth forest in western Oregon was portrayed in the national media as a blow to environmentalists, but the action may not prove so damaging in the end. While the ruling permits logging on 13 of the 44 sites that were under consideration by the so-... Read more

Energy Source™ Directory

Energy Source Directory arrived. Assembled and published by Iris Communications, this is the most complete and most useful guide to specialized products and materials used in energy-efficient construction that we've seen. The 500-page directory is... Read more

A study published in the June 5, 1992, issue of

Science by researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the University of Arizona suggests that smoke emitted into the atmosphere from human activities may be having a significant effect in counteracting... Read more

Carol Venolia, Publisher/Editor

Ozone depletion and global warming are two of our most serious environmental problems—and foam insulation materials containing CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) contribute significantly to both of these problems. The environmentally concerned builder or designer should make it a highest priority to avoid them. Even many of the non-CFC alternatives... Read more

Q.Where would you say architects as a group stand on environmental issues?

A.Architects tend to be reactive rather than proactive. It is important that we take the lead on these environmental issues. The architecture schools in particular tend to be conservative. They just aren’t... Read more

The American Institute of Architects convention in Boston this past June was the setting for a changing of the guard in the American architectural establishment. The Institute’s first woman president took the reins, the Committee on the Environment became its largest and fastest growing committee, and the first installments of the Environmental... Read more

Buildings have a tremendous impact on the environment. In North America, buildings and the building industry account for about 30% of carbon dioxide emissions, 35-40% of ozone depletion, 20-30% of municipal solid waste, vast quantities of natural resource consumption, and dramatic loss of open space each... Read more

Protecting trees and the local ecosystem when building on previously unbuilt land is a vitally important—yet often overlooked—part of environmentally responsible construction. Healthy trees and shrubs can reduce a home’s environmental impact and directly benefit homeowners in a number of ways:

•Enhancing comfort by shielding the house... Read more

At our SAL call today, folks were talking about how there was just too much to read about DEI. This is the best short summary I have read about the problems of incorporating it into the organizations where we work. It's much easier to talk the talk than to walk the walk because it takes time and accountability.

Sustainability leadership has requested that you take this quiz to help assess sustainability literacy across the firm. Your own results will be presented to you at the end of the quiz but will not be shared with anyone else. Only aggregated, anonymized results will be available to others.

Please don’t do research to inform your answers... Read more

Hi Folks ,

Two fun and useful events to help us all do more in less time!!

1. DeCon Hackathon 4/12

These are sessions where the community comes together to 'crowdsource' standard construction details that are disassembly-friendly for a public detail library so that everyone can use it and start adapting those details in... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of The Cost of Comfort: Climate Change and Refrigerants!

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


Explain how refrigerants work, the energy challenges they present for design teams, and the opportunities for efficiency and building performance.

... Read more

Hi folks - update here for our FUN saturday night "show"!! What a great way to start the year and celebrate new beginnings!

The Lighter Side of Green will air THIS coming Sat night at 7pm with Anne Hicks Harney MC'ing - check out the link to see the roster of amazing talent and log on for great tunes, humor, camraderie and community! ... Read more

Amanda is BuildingGreen's Peer Networks Manager, working behind the scenes to support the Peer Networks team and members. They are passionate about sustainable design and love helping people find tangible ways to help the planet.

Prior to joining BuildingGreen in 2023, Amanda was a campaigns coordinator at a food justice... Read more

Hello SDL Leaders,

Over the past month, I have been working with ILFI to navigate the question of residuals in LBC compliant products vs. products reporting for a Declare label.

Through our conversations, it came to light that ILFI considers the LBC Red List threshold to be 10,000 ppm, rather than the 100 ppm written into the... Read more

Happy new year everyone!

My name is Vandita Mudgal, I am the first ever 'Sustainability Engineer (district)' for Hensel Phelps N. California district (covers Nor Cal and Pacific NW). As mentioned, this is the first ever sustainability position at Hensel Phelps, therefore I am developing a lot of processes and systems for our district... Read more

Hi, curious if anyone in the group has considered using Fitwel in an existing (built) school project (K-12). 

Would be interested in hearing your experiences and if this tool is a good fit for this type of project.