They say that Louisianans are often late to the party but enjoy catching up.  The state, which had been stuck on ASHRAE 90.1-2007 (commercial) and IECC 2009 (residential) and has just adopted legislation jumping to IECC 2021 / IRC 2021, and commits to automatic upgrades with each 3-year code cycle.  This means we join CA, OR, WA, MA, and VT--... Read more

Hi Everyone!

I'm Emily, GCI General Contractor's Sustainability Manager in San Francisco. Nice to meet you all.

I started with the company in 2013 and since then we've doubled in employees. I have been handling sustainability solo, until about 8 months ago, when we hired Alejandra Arce Gomez full-time to help manage the... Read more

This is a bit off the thread of sustainable design leadership, but how much design and/or leadership can you get done without an adequate amount of caffeination?

We are looking for recommendations and advice on improving the sustainability of our breakrooms, particularly on the subject of beverage (mostly coffee, but also a fair amount... Read more

As if you weren't worrying enough already, here's a little something that I ran across through monitoring activity on the American Society of Healthcare Engineers discussion boards:  https://www.id-hub.com/2018/10/17/hospital-plumbing-reservoir-resistance-interview-amy-mathers/, "Hospital Plumbing as a Reservoir for Resistance".  This is both a... Read more

I'm writing an article surveying and comparing various embodied carbon tools, including whole-building LCA tools. I'm looking for interviewees who have used at least TWO of the three major LCA tools currently in use in North America (Tally, Athena IE, and One Click LCA). If you've tried all three, all the better! If you or someone in your firm... Read more

Hello to all,

Are you familiar with examples of commercial kitchens using all induction / all electric cooking, without gas or other fossil fuels?

For a dining hall for 1800 students, we are interested in precedents.

Thanks!

Tamar

Hi everyone - in doing a carbon footprint for our firm, does anyone know if buildings that we design as Architects considered scope 3 emissions, or are they beyond the boundary of emissions? LMN's buildings, despite best efforts, are cumulatively multiple orders of magnitude above our scope 1 and 2 emissions. We have never included these... Read more

As we begin to look into Scope 3 emissions reduction strategies, it's important to understand ways to reduce tranportation emissions to project sites. Is anyone aware of best practices or programs for contractor carpooling to jobsites? I know many of my colleagues travel to work together in one vehicle because of parking limitations, however,... Read more

Little things make a big difference in MEP systems. Pumps, fans, ducts, and dampers are at the heart of performance.

BuildingGreen-Approved HVAC Accessories

We approve the best-in-class products in each category, including:

Welcome to the quiz portion of Choosing Insulation: High-Performance Wall Assemblies – Unit 3.

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


1. Describe key environmental and performance factors for insulation materials.
2. Recount bottom-line insulation material... Read more

Hi: Great to see so many of you at AIA COTE Top Ten last week.  I'm forwarding the message below for those of you who know Marsha Maytum and can contribute to this important effort. Deadline is next Friday June 23rd!Thanks.

Mary Ann

Hello, friends,

During A'23, Je’Nen and I discussed our desire to send Marsha photos we have... Read more

Does anyone have a "healthy material" exterior bleacher benchtop (beyond natural wood or metal) recommendation for a public high school track and field? 

How do we discern between fiberglass, recycled plastic or HPDE?  Is there a rule of thumb on how to advocate for specifying a "not as bad" material? 

The project is in a coastal... Read more

A colleague just pointed out an article about M-Fire. Its a factory applied fire inhibitor for wood construction. It's GreenGuard Gold but I can't find any real information. Have any of you heard of this or have any idea what it actually is? https://www.bisnow.com/national/news/construction-development/this-new-tech-will-stop-fires-before-they... Read more

Checking in to see if any of you have had good job site success with plastic water bottle recycling. Due to the LBC recycling requirements, we have to source separate onsite, and we're trying to has a separate plastics bin. For the most part, water bottles is going to be on of our biggest contributors.

Hello SDLs!

Here is the 2018 SDL Summer Summit Report, ENJOY!

In a couple of weeks we will share this report with the broader Green Gurus group. 

We are also working on setting up a webinar to present the 2018 SDL Summer Summit Report and discuss the Summit!

All the best,

RoseAnn

We have all these resources out here in the ether but it’s so hard to pull them into one spot! I was asked, last minute to join a client call today to help convince both the client (affordable housing developer) and the mechanical engineers to "stick with" a commitment to 100% electric design that was publicly stated when the competition was... Read more