News Analysis
EBN Advisory Board member Mike Nicklas led an international delegation of renewable energy experts in promoting sustainable energy at the Earth Summit last month. He and others were negotiating for inclusion of renewable energy and energy conservation measures into agreements being worked out for the United Nations... Read more
Explainer
News Brief
The American Institute of Architects convention in Boston this past June was the setting for a changing of the guard in the American architectural establishment. The Institute’s first woman president took the reins, the Committee on the Environment became its largest and fastest growing committee, and the first installments of the Environmental... Read more
Feature
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
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
Feature
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
Feature
Carefully stake the building site and driveway, remove trees that are within the excavation area or too close, then erect a fence to keep heavy equipment off fragile soils and away from nearby trees.
Protecting trees and the local ecosystem when building on previously unbuilt land is a vitally important—yet often overlooked—part of environmentally responsible construction. Healthy trees and shrubs can reduce a home’s environmental impact and directly benefit homeowners in a number of ways:
•Enhancing comfort by shielding the house... Read more
Forum topic
A couple questions for this group. I know we're having a Green Commons meeting on this next week. But can anyone comment on the following questions?
-Have you or your firm split the benefit of the 179D with a client? Is this typical?
-Is prevailing wage a requirement for all 179D benefit, or does it follow the same lines as... Read more
Forum topic
Hello everyone,
Here's a reminder that our call for this month will be taking place next Tuesday, November 12th at 2:00pm EST.
Please feel free to join us!
Join Zoom Meeting:
https://zoom.us/j/248664490
One tap mobile
+16699006833,,248664490# US (San Jose)
+19292056099,,248664490# US (New York)... Read more
Forum topic
Hello Green Gurus,
Our next Peer Networks webinar is coming up in just two weeks! We’ll hear from the Indoor Air Quality Working Group, authors of the recently published whitepaper “Considerations for Continuous Air Quality Monitoring: Simple tips for getting it right, according to IAQ consultants”.
More details will be available... Read more
Forum topic
Hi Friends,
I'm working on an SOP for construction waste management for LBC core and LBC materials petal projects and wanted to get your input on the comingled facility requirements. According to the guidelines, any waste that goes to a comingled facility must be a facility that has an average diversion rate of 80% or higher as a... Read more
Forum topic
Dear All,
I'm happy to announce the Call for Speakers for our next Gulf Coast Green conference, which will take place June 1, 2018 at Rice University in Houston. The theme is Resilience: Beyond Recovery. (Harvey, you know). We absolutely love to have SDL members at Gulf Coast Green, and I know there are several of you who specialize... Read more
Basic page
July 29-31, 2020
Chicago, Illinois
Learn more and register
Zoom Meetups Sustainable MEP LeadersTuesday, Mar. 17, 11am EDT
SDL Regional LeadersTuesday... Read more
Forum topic
All, today is the day I had committed to sending out the DRAFT request to equipment manufacturers of what is needed for full electrification. I apologize that I didn't have time or focus to get my thoughts together till now (I had intended to share this with Chris and others prior to sending to the full group, but just didn't get my thoughts... Read more
Quiz
Welcome to the quiz portion of Materials Transparency & LEED.
Learning Objectives
Upon completing this course, participants will be able to:
1. Describe the documentation needed for products to meet the Building Product Disclosure and Optimization: EPDs credit, Option 1 in the LEED v4 BD+C and ID+C rating systems.... Read more
Forum topic
Hi Fellow SDLers: Just wanted to make sure everyone saw the terrific initiatives that the White House announced last week:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/ceq/news-updates/2021/05/17/fact-sheet-biden-administration-accelerates-efforts-to-create-jobs-making-american-buildings-more-affordable-cleaner-and-resilient/
Maybe some impact from... Read more
Forum topic
Hi All,
Sasaki is hiring a Director of Sustainability and Resiliency. See attached. Please forward along to folks who might be interested.
-Meredith
Forum topic
Hi,
Are any of you attending this conference? Michelle and I are doing this low-carbon concrete/EC policy work and can't attend this conference on short notice - but if YOU are attending - we might ask a couple of small favors (collecting specific info from trade show etc)
AND/OR: if any of you have attended in the past - was it... Read more

