Has anyone heard about batu or cumaru as substitutes for ipe? I am looking for a durable deckling material, and would appreciate your recommendations for sustainable choices!

Our firm has had some clients that object to the term "Master Plan." We have removed "Master Planning" from our letterhead, where we list our capabilities and have replaced it with "Planning." Although we still find ourselves using it, old habits die hard, especially when we receive an RFP from a client asking for "Master Planning." Once we get... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Certified Wood: How SFI Compares to FSC.

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


1. Describe how forestry standards engage with pesticide use, protection of old growth forests and forest biota, and prevention of deforestation.
2. Discuss... Read more

Hi All, this is primarily directed at our Sustainable MEP folks, but please anyone with insight feel free to weigh in.

I am increasingly seeing designs and specifications asking for Passive House levels of airtightness as verified by blower door testing, but with traditional ventilation system designs. 

To me, Passive House US has... Read more

Hello - I seem to remember a thread on Sustainable Design Specialist / Advisor - Focused or Integrated Position within a firm. Does anyone remember the subject header or did I just dream this up? My searches are coming up empty...

Thanks!

Mona

Mona Lemoine, Architect AIBC, MAA, MRAIC, LFA, LEED AP BD + C

Senior... Read more

Dear Green Gurus,

I both regret and am excited to tell you that I am leaving this group to pursue my next adventure.  I'm stepping down as Kirksey's Director of Sustainability, moving to Tucson, and starting my own business.  My business plan is to buy existing buildings, renovate them to net zero, and then sell or rent them.

I... Read more

When BuildingGreen started publication in 1992, simply finding building products designed with environmental benefits in mind was a big challenge. 

In the years since we’ve seen rapid advances in green building materials and products, and manufacturers are beginning to take topics such as embodied carbon and social justice concerns—... Read more

HGA is collaborating with the University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership (MCAP) to research how the AE industry is currently using climate projection data, and what they need in order to grow their use of data. MCAP is currently producing a set of dynamical downscaled climate projections for the state of Minnesota and unlike other... Read more

Does anyone have any comparative analysis/reviews of the various energy modeling protocols that includes the 'new' Trane TRACE interface?

Thanks!

Robert Phinney

rphinney@pagethink.com

Hi all,

Just wanted to put a couple of useful webinars on your radars if you haven't heard of them yet:

#1: The Contractor’s Role in Quantifying and Reducing Embodied Carbon: Why, What and How

This webinar will provide an overview of what a contractor's role is towards embodied carbon reductions, and how two General... Read more

Dear SDL community,

I am supporting one of our health authorities in developing a business case for regenerating healthcare infrastructure as part of the indicative design for a new hospital and cancer centre. While I will be deepening this inquiry through the lens of a PhD over the next few (hopefully 4 or less!) years, I - and we - are... Read more

Welcome to the Sages forum! Some of us have been hanging out together for ages, but others might be new to this group (if not to sustainable design/construction). So let’s start by introducing ourselves, with some highlights from our career and history with the Peer Networks, and why we’ve now joined this one.

My career history is pretty... Read more

The Planning for Resilient Outcomes Working Group has had a few preliminary meetings and we would like to invite interested Green Gurus to join our group.  To give you an idea of what we are about, we have developed a purpose statement to guide our future work: 

The Planning for Resilient Outcomes working group will elevate the industry'... Read more