At the recent All Networks Workshop in Seattle, I listened with interest to some conversation about including sustainability goals, KPI's, critical materials lists, and other related topics on a G-sheet in the drawing set.  This is something I had not previously considered, but would like to learn more about. 

If you work for a design... Read more

Hello All,

I'm supporting a project that is pursuing Green Globes and trying to get familiar with its content.  I'm hoping someone might have experience with the program and be able to provide direction toward products that have an OESR.  From what I've read, this is a material ingredient disclosure type report, based on ASTM std. E3182-... Read more

Hi All,

Jacob Knowles from BR+A reached out with a request and I’m passing it on to you all.  Jacob’s contact info is at the bottom of this so you can respond to him directly or respond here and I’ll forward it on:

We are working on assembling examples of large wet lab buildings that employ strategies to greatly reduce fossil... Read more

The overwhelming majority of wallcoverings are flexible vinyl, laden with all the life-cycle concerns that come with PVC. Products used to contain orthophthalate plasticizers—which make up a large percentage of these products. Phthalates are not bound in the material and can slough off in dust, exposing occupants during everyday work or play.... Read more

THIS WEBINAR PURCHASE AND REGISTRATION IS CLOSED.

Hot spots: they might sound like fun places to hang out and have a drink—but in green building, they’re actually a bad thing. Something you track down so you can get rid of it. Kind of like being an environmentalist bounty hunter.

Life-cycle assessment (LCA) is... Read more

Hello everyone, Happy New Year! 

I wanted to send a quick note that we have an awesome group registered for the Sustainable Design Leaders Winter Summit 2020 and we still have a few open seats! This is taking place Jan. 29th - 31st, 2020 at The Lodge, Gulf Shores, AL with an exciting Pre-Summit Workshop happening that Wednesday. If you... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of LEED 2009: The Missing Manual.

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


1. Stay abreast of changes to LEED NC-2009.
2. Understand the more ambiguous aspects of LEED NC-2009.
3. Explain key interpretations of LEED NC-2009.
4.... Read more

Hi All,

After this long winter, who is up for some fierce creativity and friendly competition in your own offices or between your companies?  What do you think of a location agnostic, virtual, Sustainability Scavenger Hunt from Earth Day to Mother's (earth) Day?

We've done the hard work for you. Join in on the fun and save your... Read more

Hi - some of you may have received an invite to the White House for a 3-hr session to continue the discussion on the Net Zero Emissions building that they released earlier this year. This discussion will be on embodied carbon. I have no idea who the invite went to. If I beg I may be able to go, but if there are plenty of other Architects that... Read more

Greetings from the CARE Tool Team,

We are thrilled to update you on the successful soft launch of the CARE Tool last week at Greenbuild! The online beta was unveiled at a reception hosted by EHDD, AIA COTE, and Architecture 2030 to 300+ people, where attendees got the chance to learn about and explore the tool in a demo room. We... Read more

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

Have any of you relied on Green Badger for LEED documentation on projects?

I am familiar with the tool and know Tommy from my time in Atlanta, but have not used it on a construction project.

Have you found value? Thoughts?

Either way, they publish a pretty nifty "LEED v4 Construction Tool Kit" that may be useful for your... Read more

Just saying "Hello"  and happy to be joining the SDL peer network.  I am leading the effort at Integrus Architecture (Seattle and Spokane) to integrate performance and design and am looking forward to learning how others are accomplishing the same. 

I was wondering if any of you have experience with integrated PVs and/or solar glass. If so, can you could recommend manufactures for each? We are working on a multistory freestanding building in an urban site for a mid-Atlantic city. Because our site and roof area are limited we are looking to maximized the areas where we can generate power.... Read more

Hello Sustainable Advising members,

Nadav and I have created a spreadsheet based on the matrix you all created at the Summit Palooza. The idea of filling this in with your services and activities is to get to know one another better, be able to support each other and build camaraderie. 

Please take the time to enter the necessary... Read more

Jenny/Dan:

What types of content do anticipate having in the Documentation Toolkit tab? Here's an example of what we have on LEEDuser:

https://leeduser.buildinggreen.com/credit/EBOM-2009/SSc5#tab-docs (login required)

The layout is a little complicated on LEEDuser, since we had to work with a lot of legacy content, but... Read more

Hey SDL,

I'm curious if anybody out there has developed specification language requiring a certain level of airtightness (as assessed via one or a series of blower door tests) for a commercial project when it is not going for a Passive House certification and a blower door test is not required by code--basically, something in the... Read more

Hi everyone! Our sister company, Flatiron, is a heavy civil/infrastructure contractor based out of Broomfield, CO. Their sustainability team is on the hunt for a Circular Economy Manager. Our companies recently announced exciting public ESG and climate commitments, including several related to waste reduction, life cycle assessments, and more... Read more

Conventional heating systems burn fossil fuels on the building site or use outrageous amounts of electricity.

BuildingGreen-Approved Heat Pumps

The best heat pumps solve both these problems and provide efficient cooling. BuildingGreen approves air-source heat pumps with minimum HSPF and SEER levels of 10 and 20, respectively.... Read more