Author
Jill is a licensed architect with WELL and Living Future accreditation. Through her experience leading sustainable achievement and verification on projects in the workplace, K-12, civic, and retail/mixed use typologies, Jill brings her passion for sustainable materials across vetting categories, AEC disciplines, bid scenarios, and market... Read more
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The LBC v4.0 materials imperatives for Responsible Materials (Core) & Responsible Sourcing require a majority of wood materials (by cost) to be FSC. Sure. But what is - or isn't - considered wood? The Clarification page for the imperative's scope and a key definition poses a perplexing conundrum:
"All wood included in the Materials... Read more
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Hi! Over the last 10 years, the firm where I work in Boston has predominately designed housing & senior living projects in the the Boston Metro region, with the occassional project in NH, CT, RI, and NY. We have built projects as far south at DC, but never designed anything to my knowledge in California in our 55 years of operation. A... Read more
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I'm sure we'll learn more soon, but several people have asked on various platforms about how Betsy del Monte is doing (she lives in Asheville, NC, which was hard hit by Hurricane Helene).
I had a brief text exchange with her on Saturday 28 September, and I feel sure that she would be OK with my sharing it with you all:
We’re... Read more
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Hey team,
I'll go look to see who's in the MEP group, but does anyone in this circle have a northern California design engineer for institutional work that they'd particularly recommend? A group of folks we're engaged with is apparently having difficulty identifying a California-based MEP that everyone universally likes for high-... Read more
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We just heard from one of our more progressive clients that they are pulling Mohawk from their shelves and are no longer allowing it on their projects. Apparently there are some chemical ingredients they objected to, but more importantly the manufacturer "lied" to the client about the content. Does anyone have an idea what this might be about?... Read more
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Hello Sustainable Construction Leaders!
I have an exciting announcement today, fall Peer Network events are now open for registration! You can see all the event details and register here!
Based on feedback we received from past events and the most recent surveys, we decided against doing one long week of events for this fall and... Read more
Product Guide
Solvents and other hazardous ingredients contained in flooring adhesives can pose a significant health risk and compromise indoor air quality.
BuildingGreen-Approved Flooring Adhesives
BuildingGreen approves flooring adhesives that
exceed South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) 1168 VOC content limits and also... Read moreForum topic
Hi all -
I have heard a good deal about SBTI in the last while and am wondering about this group’s firms’ engagement with them. We reported one year through CDP, and it was not very useful. It focused entirely on Scope 1 and 2 emissions, which are over 1000x times less than our semi-controllable Scope 3 (buildings’ embodied carbon and... Read more
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This is something I have been tracking since last year. The same or similar bill was introduced in 2022 but failed by one vote. This would mandate carbon reporting for any company with revenue of $1B or more AND which does business in California. Unlike the upcoming SEC reporting requirements, this would apply to both private and public... Read more
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Know any awesome sustainability leaders within GC or CM firms? They can be at mid-sized or large construction companies—any firm in the ENR top 400 qualifies for sure, others might need some vetting. The key is people who have sustainability as the focus of how they spend their time--either formally by title or otherwise.
We want to... Read more
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I have been asked to recommend folks to join the AIA’s Framework for Design Excellence. The AIA Framework for Design Excellence is basically the top ten toolkit, that has been rebranded by the AIA and is forming the backbone of much of the policy that the AIA is currently setting.
From the AIA's website:
The Framework for Design... Read moreForum topic
Does anyone have an opinion of Autocase? https://autocase.com/
I had not heard of this platform before. Their website says that some firms in the group are customers / users. Website does not do a great job of describing exactly what they do. Is there value?
Thanks,
Allen
Quiz
Welcome to the quiz portion of Better Window Decisions: Mastering the Performance and Cost Options.
Learning Objectives
Upon completing this course, participants will be able to:
1. Understand the energy metrics that inform how windows affect energy loads
2. Describe ways to avoid air leakage and condensation... Read more
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Hi folks,
We're kicking off a new way for us to collaborate as a network: monthly web-based conference calls. The first one will be on Friday, Nov 15 at 1:00 eastern time. The topic will be "Sustainability and the Small Firm: Practices in Transition" -- which is the name of the proposal James has submitted (and gotten first-round... Read more