Attached are the raw notes from the Design Process Conversations.

And here are the Guiding Questions from the Agenda Survey:

Design Process: how to intervene to get better outcomes?

How do I crack the nut of making a difference within my firm in the Design Process?

What strategies alter our fast-paced design... 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 What Makes a Product Green?.

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


1. List and describe at least three attributes that address each of the following categories: "efficient use of materials"; "responsible sourcing"; "energy and water... Read more

Hello Sustainable Design 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 instead... Read more

HGA is looking to fill several positions, including: a senior leader for resilience services and research, senior and junior simulation experts, senior and junior sustainability leaders. Please pass this along to anyone interested in working in a collaborative, passionate, and seriously fun team setting. Locations all over the country too.... Read more

If you don’t spend your “day-to-day” in the healthy materials space, it’s hard to create strategy and align your company to meet your customers' (what seems to be) ever-changing asks and project goals. This... Read more

Hi everyone, 

Following November's SCL Summit, I put together a model Construction Waste Management Action Plan based on the ideas shared in our focus group. It is linked below in Google docs, so everyone should have access to live edit the plan. Please take a look and add comments if you can. It's a very rough outline, so we can... Read more

Hi all,

The Healthy Building Network, now Habitable, was kind enough to develop printable versions of their Informed Product Guidance for us. I think these are a really great resource for design teams looking to select better product options. While the web version is great, we are using the printable version to hang select sheets around... Read more

Hi all, 

I'm looking for critical mass here. Do any of you have or know of clients who are requiring Just labeling for their consultants? I've heard that Google is asking this, and wondering who else might be on that course. Thanks! 

Many of today’s surface coatings are either too toxic or lack durability and require too much maintenance to be viable choices for commercial or heavy residential use.

BuildingGreen-Approved Coatings

Products approved by BuildingGreen meet California’s South Coast Air Quality Management District’s strict VOC limits. They also:... Read more

Posting for Kira Gould: 

Since his death on August 27, 2021, Lance Hosey has been missed by our community. We miss his voice and his vision -- as well as his collegiality and humor. Now, Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation announced the Lance Hosey Scholarship Fund to Make Things Better. We are pleased... Read more

Dear Colleagues,

I proposed CarbonCure for a project and the structural engineer in the meeting was opposed to it. He later sent me detailed reasoning by email. I have not used this technology and would like to hear other more experienced opinions on the technology. The project we are working on is well integrated with climate, 99% sDA,... Read more

It was great to see everyone who was able to join in the peer networks webinar and to be able to share a brief update on what the Defining and Measuring Resilient Outcomes working group has accomplished over the last year... and what we are looking forward to tackling in the coming year. 

I've both attached a copy of the deck here and... Read more

As announced in last week's SDL/SCL Winter Summit, I have been working with a group of regional AEC professionals, industry stakeholders, and the New Buildings Institute on two code proposals to the 2021 Seattle Building Code that limit the Global Warming Potential (GWP) of concrete & steel in buildings over 50,000 sf (see attached).  We ... Read more

For those of you who have attended the event above, I think you will agree this has been a high quality event.  But DFC is changing the forum this year. Instead of holding an annual event in September, this year they are holding 4 half day events around the country.  Attendance will be limited to 40 people and it is focused on sustainability... Read more