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Ozone depletion and global warming are two of our most serious environmental problems—and foam insulation materials containing CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) contribute significantly to both of these problems. The environmentally concerned builder or designer should make it a highest priority to avoid them. Even many of the non-CFC alternatives... Read more
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Susan Maxman is the first AIA president to make sustainable design a priority.
Q.Where would you say architects as a group stand on environmental issues?
A.Architects tend to be reactive rather than proactive. It is important that we take the lead on these environmental issues. The architecture schools in particular tend to be conservative. They just aren’t... Read more
Op-Ed
Introducing the first issue of our newsletter.
Buildings have a tremendous impact on the environment. In North America, buildings and the building industry account for about 30% of carbon dioxide emissions, 35-40% of ozone depletion, 20-30% of municipal solid waste, vast quantities of natural resource consumption, and dramatic loss of open space each... Read more
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The Minnesota CLF chapter’s Specification Subgroup (myself, Andy Marolt/Ryan Companies, Laura Eder/ESG, Java Nyamjav/MSR Design, with input from Annie Perkins/SFI) recently collaborated on a draft set of specification templates incorporating embodied carbon requirements into product performance and action submittals. This work builds on sample... Read more
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The Sustainable Community Design Leaders Peer Network brings together planners, architects, landscape architects, and allied leaders who are committed to leveraging the... Read more
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I’m working on a hospitality project with a large scale farm to table operation, and I am concern about land space and agricultural practices. I'm looking for someone that can advise us on how to establish good agricultural planning and practices. The project is in Utah.
Has anyone work with consultants or academic group focus on this?... Read more
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We are embarking on our first CLT projects (our at least we hope that they go that way). Would anyone with experience be willing to share some thoughts from the architect's perspective on things to consider, lessons learned, etc?
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Wondering if anyone has a contact for good [sustainable] interactive water feature designer? A client is looking for a designer to add to our team and I figured this network would certainly have some insights. Project will be located in Omaha, NE.
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Hello,
We have a mass timber purpose-built rental project specifying flooring at the moment and are trying to find a healthy flooring option while managing acoustics with CLT floorslabs. We don't typically spec vinyl flooring due to the health concerns around PVC, but the project is budget-conscious, and our flooring supplier is... Read more
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AIA is looking for additional technical review jurors for their 2022 COTE Top Ten Award program particularly in the Water/Ecosystems and Energy/Discovery categories. If you are interested please go to this webpage and complete the form.
Time is of the essence, so please complete the form no later than Friday, January 14, 2022.
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Hi MEP Leaders,
I wanted to remind you that our monthly call is today, August 10th, at 2pm ET! This was rescheduled from the usual time - the second Tuesday of the month - due to a BuildingGreen staff retreat. If you usually can't make the Tuesday time, this is a great opportunity to join the call!
Here is the agenda, and below is... Read more
Quiz
Welcome to the quiz portion of Retrocommissioning: Big Savings for Big Buildings.
Learning Objectives
Upon completing this course, participants will be able to:
1. Define the term retrocommissioning.
2. Explain how whole-systems RCx differs from energy-focused RCx.
3. Describe several examples of how... Read more
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For those who work for companies that track and offset their carbon each year, how do you do it? Looking for best practices and how you vetted where to send your money. Don't need insight on quantifying carbon footprint, just offsetting. Thanks!
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Hi everyone,
Join us for the webinar, "IRA Funding with a Tax Expert Part 2: Updates and Clarifications" on Tuesday April 2nd at 3pm ET!
Register here and please feel free to invite anyone from your firms to join.
The great presenter from Energy Tax Savers, Jacob Goldman, is returning for a follow-up session for our... Read more
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I don't have any direct affiliation with this role other than a former colleague asked if I would share the job posting for Director of Sustainability at Corgan with my network - that's you! She provided a little more context - they are obviously looking for someone with sustainability experience but are open to an up-and-comer who would be... Read more
