Following up on the Decarbonizing Existing Building: Envelope + MEP Solutions Integrative Design Jam, a cohort of us determined a "Decision Making Tree Toolkit" that begins to classify decisions into and "if/then" framework using region, market, climate, scale of intervention, and other factors would be useful in helping us collectively move... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Three Imperatives to Create the Future of Green Building.

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


1. Explain why it's relevant to teach cross-disciplinary skills in the green building industry.
2. Detail the reasons for encouraging... Read more

I have a client that is very interested in automated shades for a mid-rise multi-family housing project. Do you have any examples of projects that have attempted this? I assume it would involve occupancy sensors and/or an over-rideable default setting dependant on sun position and temperature. I also have an MEP Engineer team that is having a... Read more

Happy Friday all! 

Arizona's USGBC's Fall Summit is coming up on October 5th and we are looking for another GC to speak on our 'Waste Diversion in Arizona Construction' panel. 

Here is the link to the event: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/usgbc-arizona-fall-summit-2023-tickets-6776...

It's going to be a great event starting... Read more

What’s the net present value of that extra insulation? Join us on Tuesday, June 25th at 2:00 pm Eastern for a Peer Networks webinar on “Balancing Embodied and Operating Carbon.” Bill Smarzewski and Jason Fierko of Ewing Cole have developed a method for combining energy modeling with embodied carbon data to determine the carbon “payback” of... Read more

Dear Esteemed colleagues: I was recently asked a good question in light of the impending (fingers crossed) passage of the reconciliation bill that will bring alot of funding to energy efficiency/decarbonization upgrades at the residential scale. The question is: What are the arguments/ scenarios about the importance for homeowners to contract... Read more

Have any of you relied on Green Badger for LEED documentation on projects?

I am familiar with the tool and know Tommy from my time in Atlanta, but have not used it on a construction project.

Have you found value? Thoughts?

Either way, they publish a pretty nifty "LEED v4 Construction Tool Kit" that may be useful for your... Read more

CEUs are available for reading all the building-envelope product guides and primer. Click here to learn more and take the quiz.

Vapor retarders are meant to protect our building assemblies from getting wet, but they can also slow drying, contributing to mold and structural degradation.

BuildingGreen-Approved Vapor Retarders

A colleague just pointed out an article about M-Fire. Its a factory applied fire inhibitor for wood construction. It's GreenGuard Gold but I can't find any real information. Have any of you heard of this or have any idea what it actually is? https://www.bisnow.com/national/news/construction-development/this-new-tech-will-stop-fires-before-they... Read more

Has anyone used a commercial heat pump water heater for a large protect?  I have found a few manufacturers for this technology, but want to make sure this is a viable and cost approach to electrical eliminate gas on a path to all electric.

Does anyone know where one can locate weather files (EPW) that has predicted future data for climate change?

Thanks in advance.

First, there was Energy Use reductions

Then there was embodied carbon

Soon it will be refrigerant use/leakage calculations

…and much more

As coordinators and leaders of project teams, what does this look like for the practicing architect and our collaborators?

I have no idea. BUT I’m guessing someone is... Read more

I wanted to let you all know about this Built Environment Plus Roundtable coming up on Thursday afternoon 3:00 est. We will be having a discussion around the IRA and how to implement the incentives on projects and help our clients understnad what it means for them. This is an informal setting where people can ask questions or share experiences... Read more