Lake|Flato developed a project process road map as an internal project management tool over a decade ago, and we're looking into updating it.  It serves as a sort of "checklist" of major design, sustainability, and QA/QC milestones for each project phase.  I know we've talked about similar tools at other firms at past SDL summits, so wanted to... Read more

Anyone using the USG EcoSmart drywall? I'm writing a short product review and am looking for some quick feedback. I'm particularly curious about reduced greenhouse gas emissions and overall cost. Thanks! Brent

Hello friends in the construction group!

I am advising an owner on a huge redevelopment project and - we are of course looking at carbon/embodied carbon from a design perspective - but I remember hearing some of you talking about how you are addressing emissions during construction (including both recommendations related to specific... Read more

Hi Green Friends - I hesitated to post on April Fools, but wanted to get the link out for folks to share with their netowrks    I'll be teaching a workshop at the Pacific Energy Center on May 11 on Electrification Retrofits of Exisitng Non-Residential Buildings.  I'll be bulidng on the great work our sub-committee led by Allison has been... Read more

CEUs are available for reading our entire plumbing guide. Click here to learn more and take the quiz.

Constructed wetlands and other natural filtration systems close the nutrient and water loop, permitting safe and sustainable wastewater treatment and reuse right on the site.

We look for... Read more

Hey there hive mind,

We went looking through LEEDuser to try and find some direction and didn't find much so I thought I'd bring my team's question here to all of you smart people. We're working on a non-combustion central plant tied to a geothermal field and grid electricity. The project has cooling towers and their associated chemical... Read more

Curious to see if your firms have researched metals and established a preference for what you use for roof and wall panels?  I'm interested in ranking environmental performance for painted steel, galvanize steel, weathered steel, painted aluminum, zinc, etc.

Welcome to the quiz portion of Are Cool Roofs Green? The Answer's Not Black and White

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


1. Explain why roofing choices are complicated by heating tradeoffs, climate effects, and condensation and how cool roofs are intended to reduce... Read more

Hi Green Gurus!

We’ve gotten GREAT feedback and input from many of you via the survey about our planned fall events. You expressed a lot of interest in all the events we proposed: a series of in-depth Integrative Design Jams, separate Summits for SDL and SCL, and regional all-network workshops, starting with one in Boston—so we’re moving... Read more

CEUs are available for reading our entire plumbing guide. Click here to learn more and take the quiz.

Rainwater capture is increasingly important as shortages put pressure on our water systems.

BuildingGreen-Approved Rainwater Harvesting

We approve a wide range of rainwater catchment and storage systems and components, with... Read more

Hello SDL friends,

It has been an amazing opportunity to collaborate with so many of you through this group or through my work with Tally, the USGBC, ILFI, and in my role as an environmental researcher at KieranTimberlake. This is not so much a goodbye as it is a "hope to see you soon." I am making a shift away from building design into... Read more

Wondering if we can have a dialog on HVAC load calculation software... we are currently still using Trane Trace 700, but with the future migration to Trace 3D+ coming are looking into other options. Never used HAP but I haven't heard great things, and we dabbled in IES VE for a while, but went back to Trace since at that time there was no... Read more

MSA has issued a safety advisory because they have received field reports that their green colored MSA V-Gard Protective Caps are cracking. Please share this with your safety staff if they do not already know. Let's keep everyone safe!

Show & Tell Breakout. Presentations:

Hello All-

  We have a K-12 school project that is using a R-60 flat roof assembly as an energy & costing benchmark (along with other energy efficiency measures but this is the relevant detail to our question).  The project mechanical engineer is not onboard with a number of our energy conservation measures and has been sharing... 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

Hi all! I'm very excited to report that we have interest from a developer client in tracking embodied carbon through construction. We have issued construction documents and the construction managment team is begining the process to establish the GMP.

We're looking to use EC3, and/ or ZGF's LCA analysis tool for concrete to look at how we... Read more