At first glance,

An Environmental Handbook for Florida Contractors looks like it deals only with the environmental regulations that Florida contractors must contend with. And, indeed, the Handbook describes in detail the requirements for complying with regulations at the federal, state, and local levels. But the book goes much further,... Read more

Builders concerned about out-gassing of formaldehyde from medium-density fiberboard (MDF) have long used Medex in cabinets. This exterior-grade product, originally developed for highway signs, is considerably more expensive than conventional MDF or particleboard, however. Now Medite II fills the need for a... Read more

The City of Austin’s Green Builder Program was one of 12 award recipients in the United National Local Government Honours Programme at the Earth Summit in Rio, and the only winner from the United States. “The purpose of the Honours Programme is to recognize innovative local approaches to... Read more

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

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

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

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

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

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

We have a client who is asking us to design a roughly 10 ksf Wellness Center for PHIUS 2021 certification.  The program includes several high density assembly type spaces - roughly 300 person peak occupant load for the building.  The Criteria Calculator that the architect showed us puts the building peak cooling load at 4 BTUH/sf (3000 sf/ton... Read more

Hello Green Gurus,

Here is the information for December's Peer Networks Webinar, Architects in the Blue Zone: The AIA at COP26. We hope you will join us!

Register HERE

Architects in the Blue Zone: The AIA at COP26
Wednesday, December 15th, 2021
4pm - 5pm ET (1pm - 2pm PT)

Description

The American... Read more

My dear collegues,

As I'm sure is true for many of us, the events of the past weeks (months/years/decades...) have emphatically reinforced to me the need for a radical shift in how we meaningfully address JEDI in what we do. One (admittedly small) step I've been thinking about are the statements of reconciliation that have become more... Read more

Hi all, how many of your companies have started ESG reporting? If so, are you working with a consultant to calculate your impact of business operations? Or are you calculating it yourself? Are you purchasing offsets? I've been getting a lot of cold calls about this, mainly from a UK-based company. We are not yet at this point, but it seems like... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Can We Replace Foam Insulation?

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


1. List four ways in which foam is environmentally problematic and provide four examples of foam replacements.
2. Discuss the industry's relationship with foam... Read more

Hi all - I heard from sevearl of you at Greenbuild that you have learned from and perhaps even shared the Path To Zero Carbon series internally at your firms and externally. As I mentioned at Greenbuild, we are attempting to hand off the series to a non-profit, with the idea that groups of experts (including many of you, I hope!) will provide... Read more

Good morning all!

We're working on a higher ed project, and the university PM recently read an article about eco-friendly drywall and is interested in using it on the project.  We're currently using the USG EcoSmart drywall on another project and mentioned it as an option, but the article she forwarded also mentioned ExtremeGreen's MgO... Read more

We are excited to share the REPORT from the 2019 Small Firm SDL Summit held in Las Vegas on June 5th. Take a look and use this forum to post questions and comments that will allow us to engage our new members as we continue the valuable conversations begun at the Summit. As you will read in the introduction, we know that collectively small... Read more