BuildingGreen Report

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Hi All,

Structure Tone just released their annual Sustainability, Resiliency, and Wellness Report.

Download a copy here.  https://structuretone.com/sustainability/

I’m curious what people think.

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Our guys have started talking about how the built enviroment can address infection transmission in public spaces - places like lobbies and waiting rooms, particularly in applications where people queue - theaters, airport gates, amusment parks, etc.  In the specific case of Covid-19, we know the microbe can be transmitted three ways:  fomite (... Read more

Spotlight Report

Biophilic design features are not just aesthetically pleasing; researchers have found that patients heal faster, workers are more productive, and children learn better when more elements of nature are present.

And yet there are still very few projects developed today that inspire a connection to life and the natural world. Some people... Read more

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The Getting to Zero Forum is happening next week in Minneapolis, Minnesota (my home state!). Anyone else from this group planning to attend in person? I'm especially curious as the Forum comes so quickly on the heals of the Living Future Conference.

As a proud Minnesotan, I have a hard time imagining how anyone could ignore an... Read more

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Hi all,

Here's a good follow up to Maria's steel question on Monday.  We have a Midwest project that unfortunately (from a carbon perspective) is required to use a traditional, thick precast facade.  We’re working with the contractor and potential future (not yet bid out) fabricators to determine an appropriate % of pozzolanic material... Read more

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This are opportunities for us to get involved as design and construction allies with the new administration and the US Department of Energy on more efficient building.

The first link below is for low-carbon projects that will provide the case studies and solutions that the industry can follow.  The second is identifying barriers and... Read more

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Greetings, colleagues!

Here's an opportunity for this community from AIA COTE Advocacy: US Congressman Paul Tonko (D-NY), Ranking Member of the Environment Subcommittee of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, is looking for input from national stakeholder groups to help develop new federal climate legislation. Congressman Tonko... Read more

Product Guide

Untreated rainwater leaving a developed site is effectively a chemical spill, laden with pollutants that include oil, sediment, heavy metals, nitrogen, and phosphorous. The heat carried by stormwater is also harmful to fish and other aquatic organisms.

BuildingGreen-Approved Systems

We approve systems that:

are designed to... Read more

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Hello, All!

Looking for some quick insight from the braintrust into how to best approach project goal-setting.

We’ve been taking a critical look at goal-setting practices to better understand what drives the gap between projects that meet ambitious high-performance targets and those that don’t. Recognizing that goal setting is a... Read more

Peer Network Event

Reports, Courses, Study Guides, Live Webinars

Successfully managing the LEED documentation process requires specific knowledge, tools and skills that are not covered in the LEED Reference Manual. This condensed, online training is based on the LEED Project Management course that GreenStep developed and teaches through the University of California–Berkeley. As part of this interactive... Read more

Quiz

Welcome to the quiz portion of Behind the Logos: Understanding Green Product Certifications.

Learning Objectives

Upon completing this course, participants will be able to:


Explain certification basics: standard development, the degree of separation between the certifier and the company whose product is being certified, and... Read more

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Hi! I’m working on two reports about equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in the building industry, and I’m looking for contributions from you or others in your firm. See below for what I’m looking for, and please reply directly to me at paula@buildinggreen.com.

NOTE: Ideally, I’m hoping people will want to provide names and firm names... Read more

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Question for you all: there is this wonderful graph showing how we can shift mechanical and electrical dollars into envelope investments to make deep energy savings cost-neutral. Have you experienced this on a project?

1-minute or less survey! (two questions, more detail if you want)

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/... Read more

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Dear fellow SCL'ers,

Recently one of our members, Ryan Poole, sustainability leader at DPR, has been facing some personal challenges. His wife is 35 weeks pregnant and was diagnosed with a brain tumor. They have moved across country - from Colorado to South Carolina - to be closer to thier parents and their support system, but they can... Read more

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Hey there, Tally users.  I'm looking for some answers to a few basic questions about using Tally:

When do you typically run a WBLCA?  As soon as you have a Revit model?  Later, maybe end of DD, when the Revit model is more fully developed? At the end of CDs? Are you mostly using Tally for targeted studies or WBLCA for the purpose of... Read more

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Hi all, we are embarking on an effort to standardize our LCA process in order to maintain a firmwide database of embodied carbon intensity from which we can create internal baselines and targets. I was wondering how other offices are setting boundaries for their LCA efforts. Below is our starting point. Most LCA will be conducted using Tally.... Read more

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Hello!

As perhaps one of the newest members, I wanted to take a moment to say hi.

I have recently joined Lois Vitt Sale at Wight & Company and look forward to engaging with the group.

Like many of you, my interests and work tend to span a wide range of topics – a necessity as we approach the complexity of today’s... Read more

Author

Upman LaTole

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Hi all,

As follow-up to the summit, I’m attaching a draft letter on MEP embodied carbon written by our group (Luke, Kristy, Adam).  The goal is to start a dialogue with manufacturers to include embodied carbon info for major equipment.  Will explain more on the call.  Please read in advance if you get the chance!

Thanks!