Welcome to the quiz portion of Cost-Effective Green Retrofits: Opportunities for Savings in Existing Buildings.

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


1. Define the term retrocommissioning and list at least three examples of how it might help commercial building owners.... Read more

Hi folks! Our AIA Seattle Committee on the Environment is hosting a series of decarbonization talks that might be of interest to this group. The next one is coming up next Thursday with the University of Washington. 

Details and free registration here: https://aiaseattle.org/event/cote-university-of-washingtons-pathway-to-d...

We've got a great private (BG Communities/SD Leaders) webinar lined up for December. Register now to get it on your calendar. And let us know if you have suggestions or requests for future webinar topics!

Register here

Topic: Organizing Sustainability: knowledge management as the key to high performance

Description: Corey... Read more

I was sitting in on the USGBC's monthly Advocacy call this afternoon and heard about a state-local policy proposal to use property tax incentive for GHG reductions.  Through a state-local partnership, owners of existing residential and commercial buildings who invest in qualifying outcome-based improvements would receive a property tax... Read more

Many wood panels are unsustainably sourced, and some have high formaldehyde emissions.

BuildingGreen-Approved Panels

Laminate panels approved by BuildingGreen:

I was recently asked about potentially specifying concrete with wood nanoparticles and concrete with biochar as a way to further lower the embodied carbon and to increase concrete strength.  These approaches are something I know nothing about, and wondering if anyone in this group has any experience and/or observations that might be relevant to... Read more

I'm guessing this is the most impactful thing any of us could do over the next couple of years. Energy Codes are far and away the biggest lever that our industry has in fighting climate change. I'm up to my eyeballs in commitments at the moment but heartily encourage you (yes, YOU!) to sign up.

...

Hi all – if any of you are... Read more

Thank you for your interest in the Sustainability Leaders Peer Networks hosted by BuildingGreen. We have received your application.

A BuildingGreen team member will be in touch with you soon via email to discuss next steps in the application process.

ASHRAE 209 in all its glory has been uploaded. This will impact our architectural process, for better or worse, so we should embrace it and learn from it. The revised AIA Energy Modeling Design Guide (due out next year) has been timed to correspond roughly to 209 coming out and will include references to it. The first few energy modeling '... Read more

is anyone aware of some guidance about citation protocols for when a person/team/org uses an AI tool to generate some base components for a report (which is then heavily edited by humans)?

I'm inclined to disclose in detail which tools were used and how ... but would love to know if there are some industry protocols shaping up about this... Read more

Have you been perusing the recently launched Contractor's Commitment and thought to yourself, 'Companies are going to need more guidance/templates/resources if they're actually going to implement this thing'? Good--now's your chance to help develop those resources.

The Contractor's Commitment Working Group is meeting December 1, 1pm ET.... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of How to Build Green At No Added Cost

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


1. Know how to make a value proposition for green buildings.
2. Explain how shrinking a green building and investing in its envelope can reduce first costs of its... Read more

The Center for the Built Environment (CBE) at the University of California, Berkeley is conducting a survey to understand current practices and outlooks among design practitioners: architects, engineers, energy modelers, and related professionals. Our goal with this work is to improve climate change adaptation guidelines that support building... Read more

Older buildings—especially those from the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s—need our help. Many leave something to be desired in terms of aesthetics and comfort. But the truth is that they are part of the urban and suburban fabric now, and they aren’t going anywhere. As tempting as it might seem to tear them all down and replace them with high-performance... Read more

Hello, All.  Do we have folks in the group who helped develop Matter - a material management tool?  With its direct connection to Mindful Materials, it would be great to gain some insight from anyone in the know!  https://matterbuild.com/#/landing 

Hi all!

I'm working on my first energy positive / passive house multifamily building and trying to figure out the trash/recycling chute. I am curious what solutions you have employed to make the trash chute air tight? We have excluded the whole chute from the envelope. Do you use airtight doors (and which ones?) at each floor trash/... Read more

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

Huge shout out to Patty Lloyd, Luke Leung, Janet Olsen, and Sarah Gudeman for their webinar on the Power of Peer Networks. They share lots of insights into the value of participating in BG Peer Networks and many others. Ten bucks to Illinois Green gets you access to the recording--I loved it. What would you have said that they didn't?