All,

Some of my colleagues and I have been working to promote interest in mass timber construction for K-12 builidngs.  As part of that effort we redesigned a large high school using mass timber in lieu steel, and conducted a whole building life cycel assessment to measure the reduction in embodied carbon.  We also conducted a program-... Read more

We are coordinating an effort to produce a "Building Reuse Practice Guide for Climate Action" for the AIA.  This is intended as a resource for architects working on major renovations and adaptive reuse, with a focus on reducing energy use, lower embodied carbon, electrification, and adapting to a changing climate. We are looking for around 5... Read more

Hello SCL,

Quick reminder to sign up for our SCL Summit in May! True to usual form, we ask what’s important to YOU before we finalize an agenda. In the next couple of weeks, we will be sending out a draft agenda and asking for your feedback. Sign up now so your voice will be heard. Initial ideas so far have included:

The Sustainable Design Leaders network and Summit events started over 10 years ago, when a group of sustainable designers realized that the struggles they faced and the goals they strove toward were shared by many... Read more

Hello, All!  I'm hoping for your help to keep a green roof on a project of ours.  We have a large healthcare project in the Midwest that is coming in over budget.  To avoid losing our extensive green roof, I'm looking for alternate sources of funding - grants, private sources, etc.  Has anyone gone down this path before and have shareable... Read more

Following the summer SDL summit - we formed a spinoff user group called "Carbon Sync" to discuss Life Cycle and Carbon Assessment tools like Tally and Athena.  We've had three successful calls with folks sharing a couple 5-minute presentations about various studies and explorations.  We have a mix of experience levels - but are collaborating... Read more

We've put together an infographic that offers a brief rundown of a bunch of programs and tools that help firms promote equity. The idea for this came out of the SDL Winter Summit, so thanks to those who were there and pushed us to create this resource!

https://www.buildinggreen.com/infographic/equity

Hello SCL,

Our diligent Contractor's Commitment working group (led by the great Amanda Atkinson) have reviewed a massive amount of feedback and will soon be releasing an updated version of the program (CC 2.0). We will need a majority of the SCL membership to vote YES to adopt the updated version for 2023. 

In advance of the vote... Read more

With extensive environmental science research background, Elene Drosos provides contemporary commentary on the current climate affairs. She contributes up-to-date trends and shifts in regulations in major green building issues such as LEED and natural disasters. Her passion is to strive for biophilic design where native landscapes can dominate... Read more

Hi all,

We have been noodling on how to preference socially just building products and are feeling a little overwhelmed by the number of questions that we would need to ask our suppliers. Essentially we find ourselves wishing that there was a fair trade label for building products very similar to the one for global agriculture. Or, maybe... Read more

All,

I'm looking for a quick methodology to estimate GHG emissions from refrigerants on a per SF basis. Are there any benchmark studies or quick calculators similar to the embodied carbon study? https://carbonleadershipforum.org/embodied-carbon-benchmark-study-1/

Thanks,

Josh

I'm looking into using solar shingles as a roofing option for a historic building renovation. Has anyone used them before and have any recommendations? I understand they won't be as efficient as traditional panels, but I'd like to figure out if it would be a worthwhile compromise to discuss with the historic commission, if necessary. Thanks... Read more

Hi folks,

We've got another timely and engaging webinar lined up! Join Panama Bartholomy and Peter Rumsey for the latest on electrification policy and applications. (As always, if you can't make it at this time that's ok, we'll be recording it.) 

Register here to get the link: https://www.buildinggreen.com/peer-networks/webinars... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of How To Run a Great Workshop: 37 Tips and Ideas.

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


1. Explain how the right mindset contributes to a successful design workshop.
2. Schedule a design workshop, set its agenda, and balance the skills of its... Read more

THIS WEBINAR PURCHASE AND REGISTRATION IS CLOSED.

The webinar occurred on Wednesday, February 23rd at 2:00 eastern.

USGBC and IWBI are beginning to see eye to eye across a range of focus areas. Knowing how to leverage each in a mutually beneficial way is the key to driving... Read more

Hi folks,

We had a fun impromptu conversation on our call last week. We got most involved in the challenge of getting developers interested in taking advantage of IRA Tax Credits. That can be quite a challenge given their business model.

We also heard about emerging data on tradeoffs between embodied and operating carbon, and how... Read more

My name is Douglas Flandro. I am the sustainable design leader at CambridgeSeven in Cambridge, MA. I started my career in film and theater design. I moved into museum exhibit design with a graduate degree in interior architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design in 2003. I still design museum exhibits for science museums, nature visitor... Read more

Hi all, 

Internally in our organization, we seem to have plenty of horizontal (infrastructure) resiliency expertise, but I'm finding the vertical resources to be lacking. I'm hoping to build a collection of beginner- to intermediate-level resources to help guide practice/design standards for our reference. Any pointers on good info... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Toxic Chemicals in Buildings: How to Find and Avoid the Worst Offenders (recorded webcast).

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


1. Explain how key health hazards and opportunities for healthier choices vary by product category.
2. List... Read more