Hi, this is a somewhat niche/specific question - we are working on an all-electric school (middle and high school) that includes a chemistry lab. The lab was going to have portable sources for flame experiments, but there is concern that the portable sources would be unsafe for middle school students, so they are asking for a hard-pipe natural... Read more

Hello all,

Could any of you point me out to recent studies showing the health impacts of plastic piping vs. copper piping? 

We have a project where NIRON or Aquatherm are proposed as a VE item in lieu of copper.  I know there is some studies showing PEX and PVC piping health impacts, but I can't seem to find anything on these 2... Read more

Hi all,

I had a position listed for a Sustainable Design Coordinator which we have down for the moment as we've taken on a fall intern instead. In the interim, however, I did have a couple of great candidates that I'd like to help find good matches. One of those candidates is Marissa Lantieri, see her resume and portolio attached.

Welcome to the quiz portion of Is Wood Construction Green? A Look at the Issues.

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


1.  Determine what distinguishes wood products sourced from Forest Stewardship Council-certified forests, and why these products improve the environmental impact of... Read more

Hi All,

I wanted to share an exciting opportinity with this esteemed group: Placetailor is seeking out a Mechanical Engineer to add to their growing team. They are located in Boston, MA and focus on Passive House, Low-energy Design, and they have for two years running meet the tenets of the AIA 2030 Commitment! This is an exciting place... Read more

EDITED LINK

Hello, below is a link to our newly uploaded research report, Embodied Carbon in Commercial Furniture. This new research report introduces a case study and some new baselines for measuring the carbon footprint of commercial furniture, to add to a growing body of work on this topic among our peers:
Embodied Carbon in... Read more

Is anyone aware of research or guidance that has looked at VOC’s from roofing products and ventilation intakes? I’ve done some searching, and focus is mainly on managing the construction process to reduce installer exposure. 

Thanks for any help!

Tate

So nice when nice happens to nice people.   And smart ones too!  Congrats to Sarah Gudeman, Blake Stanton, Stanton Stafford, Kathy Wardle, and everyone else in this year's class.

https://www.gbci.org/green-business-certification-inc-celebrates-2021-cl...

Welcome to the quiz portion of Full-Blown Energy Modeling.

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


1. Explain the role of the energy modeler and how each energy model opens an informed discussion between the entire project team about the interactions between architectural and... Read more

THIS WEBINAR PURCHASE AND REGISTRATION IS CLOSED.

Whole-building life-cycle assessment (WBLCA) can help project teams reduce embodied carbon as well as many other environmental impacts of building materials. And it’s incentivized in LEED and... Read more

Early laminate flooring had problems with premature surface wear, moisture damage, and hazardous formaldehyde emissions—and some products may still have these problems.

BuildingGreen-Approved Flooring

Laminate flooring products listed by BuildingGreen have high recycled content (greater than 70%) or FSC-certified content and:... Read more

Greg Calnago

Hi all, it's time to schedule our next session. Who's in? Ping me at amt@vmdo.com if you want to be considered part of the working group, and fill out your availability on this Doodle poll.

If you just want to monitor what's going on, we'll post updates to the Working Group page. 

The agenda for this call is to figure out what we... Read more

Good morning SALs! Nicole's survey on restrooms inspired me to post a survey of my own.

I’ve been trying to stay useful lately. I've been posting new writing on the industry, much of it complimentary, over on Roberts’ Green Letter. (Yesterday I posted the mission statement, explained via brand-new-puppy pics.)

I have a 1-minute... Read more

Hello,

I will be in NYC for Regenerative Metropolis event at the end of Climate Week NYC. Is anyone else going to Climate Week? Did any events seem particularly worth attending? I've not been before but the only thing I've signed up to is the Nature-Inspired Solutions for a Sustainable Future on Wednesday night at COOKFOX.

I'd love to hear thoughts from the design, consulting, and contracting firms in this group about ways to make our specs more inclusive, or at least less exclusive to minority and women owned contractors and subcontractors and others that have not had the benefit of what a recent "Equity in Specs" presenter termed the "Fathers / Brothers / In-... 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. 

So our last webinar effort flamed out with the overloaded internet, but we've regrouped and have the session scheduled for this Thursday 4/2 at 1:10.  We pre-recorded the webinar to make sure everything goes smoothly and I have to say that Mike is delivering some pretty fantastic content. It doesn't engage LCA tools, rather focusing on core... Read more