Anne Hicks Harney, FAIA, has more than 30 years of experience, focusing on high-quality design imbued with a solid technical and sustainable foundation. At Long Green Specs, she provides sustainability-focused construction specifications and building material expertise to architectural firms across the country. She was chair of the AIA... Read more

Hi folks, 

For those who have already been involved, this is a friendly reminder that our next Sustainable MEP Leaders call is Monday the 29th at 11 a.m. Eastern Time. Here is the Zoom link to join, and here is the agenda for the call.

We have also had a couple of new people join the network – welcome to Cindy Cogil and Sergio... Read more

Hi MEP Leaders!

Here's a reminder that our monthly meeting is coming right up--today at 2:00 pm ET.

There is a lot to talk about: James has put together a starting point for our "how to make the best use of your engineer" guide. And Summit plans...

You can view the agenda here.

All members of the SMEPL network are... Read more

Does having a rating system change the conversation? How well defined are the metrics for resilience? How to measure success? Does the RELi Rating System provide a good way to define resilience. How many are using the system and have they noticed a growing level of understanding because there is a rating system? How to talk to clients about it?... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Building Re-Entry with Arc

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


1.  Explain the similarities and differences between LEED v4.1 O+M performance metrics and the Arc Re-Entry program.

2.  Understand how Arc Re-Entry contributes to an iterative re-... Read more

We are looking for colleagues from other firms to join a conference session proposal on "Dirt cheap Net Zero" for the ASHRAE / IBPSA conference (August 12-14, 2020, Chicago). 

We just had the grand opening of our first project designed to achieve net zero, a 50-unit affordable housing project, where we upgraded from the minimums required... Read more

Have any of you heard of anyone ever using phase change material (PCM) "movable partitions" as a resiliency strategy to mitigate indoor overheating during a heat wave in passive buildings? You'd keep them stored in a basement or cool room, and deploy them into habitable spaces during the heat wave to keep the space cooler than the exterior... Read more

All,

We are collecting examples of buildings that involved electrification initiatives (building does not need to be all electric as long as largely electric). Please share your projects with us through this short survey. It will take 8-10min to complete.

The study will culminate into a report and best practices to advocate for... Read more

Hey there SDLs!

We're having a debate in our firm about whether we're at a tipping point to hire an in-house energy modeler - someone capable of doing an MEP-caliber energy model inside a design firm. I know some you have in-house energy modelers on staff and I'd love to hear your experiences:

- How did you know your firm was at a... Read more

Hey, everyone! Many of you on this forum have probably already RSVP'ed but I wanted to put a plug out there for the happy hour event on the evening of November 2nd at our office in San Francisco.

The event is co-hosted by Architecture 2030 and national and local AIA COTE. There will be food, drinks, great people, and a chance to preview... Read more

Does anyone know of reports/studies of financial benefits from the developer perspective on Passive House multifamily projects? Specifically looking for market rate (not affordable) housing examples where there is a direct market advantage (higher rents) for PH buildings. 

Welcome to the quiz portion of Embracing the Economy as a Design Challenge!

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


Understand the ways that architects, community developers and others are experimenting with new financial models to support progressive design.

Approach... Read more

Hi folks,

USGBC has commissioned this survey of the building industry about Federal tax incentives for building efficiency. They will be sharing results with congressional staff, so this might be a good opportunity to give them feedback from the field!

And it's just 10 minutes.

And, after you do the survey if you want to... Read more

Hi Leaders,

We've pulled together some highlights from each of the three half-day cross-network workshops that happened in October. This report captures the gist of each workshop:

Net Zero What? Transitioning our Metrics from Energy to Carbon Getting Better Materials Into Projects Beyond the Property Line: Bringing Clean, Resilient... Read more

Greetings, All.

The Resilient Outcomes Working group has been putting together a resource list (and map) of resources for supporting resilience-focused design across the US.  So far, we have around 50 resources on the list, ranging from the AIA Resilient Design Toolkit to local Vulnerability and Adaptation reports and tools.

We... Read more

THIS WEBINAR PURCHASE AND REGISTRATION IS CLOSED.

Tuesday, September 17, 2:00pm Eastern (11:00am Pacific)

In simpler times, our buildings were made primarily from local, natural substances like stone, wood, straw, and clay.

But lifestyles have changed dramatically since these were... Read more