I was shocked to see this new research. Bad news is that acrylic paints are causing 58% of the microplastics pollution in our ocean. Yes, they are plastic. A recent study by Environmental Action, a Swiss-based scientific research firm, shows us that acrylic paint's role in plastic pollution is much greater than most of us realize. The good news... Read more

Hello everyone! 

A small subgroup SCL members have been working on writing a response the presentation Wes Sullens gave us at the Summit this past winter. It's been a long process but the letter and all it's reccomendations are drafted and ready to present. The group felt it prudent to post the response here first for a short public... Read more

Following up on the Decarbonizing Existing Building: Envelope + MEP Solutions Integrative Design Jam, a cohort of us determined a "Decision Making Tree Toolkit" that begins to classify decisions into and "if/then" framework using region, market, climate, scale of intervention, and other factors would be useful in helping us collectively move... Read more

I am wondering how architectural firms plan to close the gap to zero in the next few years. 

Owner's dictate outcomes and the typical owner is not committed to zero - even when sustainability is a focus of the project. 

We can present solar-ready designs, all electric buildings, geothermal, etc. but there is still quite a gap to... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Changing Building Design Priorities for a Changing Electrical Grid!

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


Define a “Highly Variable Renewable Energy” generation asset, or VRE, and understand how VREs can most effectively contribute to the... 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

Hello Everyone,

Here is the information and invitation to complete the SCL Demographics Survey! If you have multiple company colleagues on this forum (you can check in the group list here click "Group members" tab), please coordinate to have only one of you submit survey responses.

If you would you like to gather your answers... Read more

Biophilic design features are not just aesthetically pleasing; researchers have found that patients heal faster, workers are more productive, and children learn better when more elements of nature are present.

And yet there are still very few projects developed today that inspire a connection to life and the natural world. Some people... 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

Does anyone know where one can locate weather files (EPW) that has predicted future data for climate change?

Thanks in advance.

Hi all,

We are looking to study Passive House on a couple small multifamily projects. Our understanding is that WUFI Passive only integrates with SketchUp at this time. Our BIM manager has been trying to find an example of a firm that works in Revit and uses WUFI Passive, to point him in the right direction on workflow. I offered to ask... Read more

Hello all,

I need future weather files for a project. We are looking at three years, 2050, 2075, and 2095 using two climate change scenarios, low emissions, and high emissions. I have seen ARUP's Weathershift site that uses RCP 8.5 and RCP 4.5. Are we assuming that 2.6 is not achievable? I would have used this as a low emissions scenario... Read more

First, there was Energy Use reductions

Then there was embodied carbon

Soon it will be refrigerant use/leakage calculations

…and much more

As coordinators and leaders of project teams, what does this look like for the practicing architect and our collaborators?

I have no idea. BUT I’m guessing someone is... Read more

Hello all, 

Any Fitwel experts out there? I have a 30,000 sf boutique hotel + spa client who would like to certify under the Fitwel rating system but Fitwel folks are telling me that no scorecard is currently available to hotel clients (can't use mulit-tenant or resi, that a hotel scorecard is under development). Has anyone used Fitwel... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Finding Furniture Without Toxic Flame Retardants.

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


1. Explain why avoiding toxic flame retardants is important.
2. Explain how we were swindled into dosing our buildings and our bodies with flame... Read more