Hello everyone!

The Sustainable Design Leaders Summit will be kicking off with a Pre-Summit workshop in Seattle July 31st, 9am - 3pm. If you are interested in joining your peers for this workshop, please see the registration link below. Also, if you know someone in the Seattle area that would be good to have in the workshop and might be... Read more

Hello SDL Leaders,

Over the past month, I have been working with ILFI to navigate the question of residuals in LBC compliant products vs. products reporting for a Declare label.

Through our conversations, it came to light that ILFI considers the LBC Red List threshold to be 10,000 ppm, rather than the 100 ppm written into the... Read more

Keeping these meeting invites here on the SDL pages as we hope to continue to offer participation to SDL members.  The invite follows:

Welcome to the Climate Smart Wood Group monthly peer network meeting. For agenda item suggestions and other meeting organization items please contact Patrick Donnelly at pdonnelly@integrusarch.com or... Read more

I have been watching LEED Zero for a while, and have appreciated certain things, but one thing I think is an absolute disaster is their allowance of mainline RECs for claiming Zero Energy and Zero Carbon performance.  I just asked this question on the LEED Zero webinar, and the panelist basically said, "it's part of LEED Zero, therefore it is... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Exterior Paints: Long-Term Protection and Environmental Tradeoffs.

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


1. List the primary differences between alkyd and latex paints and stains and between wood, concrete, and metal primers.
2. Explain... Read more

In the run-up to Earth Day 2023, we're trying something new at VMDO: Full, public transparency on everything we know about how our portfolio is performing (or how we anticipate it performing). Here's a link to all of the details on our sixth year of reporting to the 2030 Commitment and more: https://www.vmdo.com/radical-transparency-commitment-... Read more

Anyone have experience with electric boilers? I think in cold climates it's perhaps the first thought when trying to reduce scope 1 emissions in an HVAC application that would have historically used gas-fired boilers... but it seems like they're only an incremental improvement compared to heat pumps / geothermal / VRF type solutions. We haven't... Read more

As with most office furniture, systems furniture can be made from unsustainable materials and use adhesives and finishes that emit formaldehyde or other hazardous compounds.

BuildingGreen-Approved Furniture

BuildingGreen approves furnishings that:

Seeing Jen's post prompted me to write in support of the Madison Park Technical Vocational High School program (Greenbuild Legacy Project). I spoke to the students earlier in the year and it is a great program. I'll reach out to our HR about interns.

I am the Director of Facilities Management Integration and Sustainability for Shawmut... Read more

Can you comment on successful ways you have used eQUEST and pitfalls you have seen? We are considering training our architects to use it for early building analysis on all projects. 

Hi all - passing on this request on behalf of Alan Scott. He is looking specifically for someone from the Gulf Coast region to round out the panel:

I am putting together a panel for a virtual session during Design Museum Week in April (Thursday, April 28). The description below outlines the conversation I am hoping to curate. I am... Read more

With depth of thought and a broad view of the horizon, Candace Pearson can take a nuanced vision and sharpen it into focus. Articles with her byline have appeared in GreenSource Magazine, Arch-Daily, and Architectural Record. 

Check Out Candace’s Work

BuildingGreen Articles:

How to Make Integrated Project Delivery Work for... Read more

Allen Mutapo

Hi all,

I just joined the SDL group and am grateful to have the opportunity to be a part of this awesome community! 

I have an exciting residential embodied carbon research opportunity to share…

Lake|Flato Architects is collaborating as an industry partner with the RE2 Lab and the Hamer Center for Community Design at Penn... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Existing Buildings Are Architecture’s Future!

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


I wanted to make sure that you didn’t miss this fun event.  We can all use some fun right now.

Built Environment Plus is celebrating the arrival of spring with a fun competition to get people out and about safely. A digital Scavenger Hunt will allow teams of 4 (or larger families) to complete a series of photo, video, and text missions... Read more

Notes and Guiding questions here--please add your own!

2030 Commitment Check-In: Is it leading to more awareness and better outcomes on projects?

Is energy modeling and tracking going to get us to zero by 2030?

Is it effective at driving all projects across a portfolio?

What are firms getting out of reporting... Read more

Hello everyone,

Here's a reminder that our next monthly call will be taking place next Tuesday, September 10th at 2:00pm EST.

Please feel free to join us!

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/661110941
Dial by your location
        +1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
        +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)... Read more