Hi Sustainability leaders,

Realizing that many of us are now stuck and home and may be feeling isolated, we thought it would be fun to offer an open hang-out time for anyone in the Peer Networks. If you'd like to connect, share some thoughts, hear from others, or just get to know other Green Gurus, join us on Zoom this Thursday. If it... Read more

Hi everyone,

Registration for the 2025 Super Summit is live! Register here for the SDL Summit and save your seat to join us in Omaha. 

We’re also excited to announce the Pre-Summit Workshop for this year – “From Transactional to Transformative: Building Relationships for Change.” The workshop will be led by David Jay, author of... Read more

Help. I have a contractor in need of advice on IAQ testing agencies and I'm largely uninformed about the local market of IAQ testing agencies. Anyone have organizations they'd specifically recommend or not recommend?

Feel free to email me directly if you'd prefer - awilson@ayerssaintgross.com.

Aley

Conventional heating systems burn fossil fuels on the building site or use outrageous amounts of electricity.

BuildingGreen-Approved Heat Pumps

The best heat pumps solve both these problems and provide efficient cooling. BuildingGreen approves air-source heat pumps with minimum HSPF and SEER levels of 10 and 20, respectively.... Read more

Anyone aware of tools or workflows for modeling of a specific outdoor space and effective surface temperatures?  We've done a goodly amoutn of microclimate simulations, but never explicitly factored in the ground surface, in terms of emissivity and other related factors.   

Hi All,

Our local COTE committee has the opportunity to meet with a local jurisdiction on meeting the targets set forth by their Climate Action Plan.  In preparation I'm looking for innovative building codes/ordinaces that address existing buildings.  I am already digging into Boston's Building Energy Reporting and Disclosure Ordinance... Read more

Hi folks,

I’m excited to be welcoming Meredith Elbaum and Nellie Reid into this forum! Meredith and Nellie were the duo that originally conceived of the Sustainable Design Leaders network back in 2008, and led the effort (with BuildingGreen’s support) through it’s early years. 

They later left their SDL roles, so they haven’t been... Read more

There seems to be a slight glitch in that it was posting Seonhee's picture (love Snoopy!) for the post that Duane sent in - is that correctable?

**Just noticed that you can click on the "Edit" tab on the post and correct (e.g. mis-spelled names (Sorry, Seonhee!).**

Hi all,

I am on the planning committee for the National Adaptation Forum, which is an excellent conference (this will be the 6th annual) that has relatively little representation from architecture and engineering audiences. Our municipal and agency clients, as well as private sector, tend to attend this conference for climate adaptation... Read more

Hi Green Gurus,

A "fun" take-away from the sustainable MEP Leaders Summit (just ended today):

Inspired by Passive House, we are embarking on a campaign: "Low Load Buildings Are SEXY".

One idea we have is:  what if the AIA design awards set limits on metrics like heating loads to meet basic eligibility?

If you have... Read more

For questions and/or to be added to the Summer Summit waiting list, please email Jerelyn Wilson directly.

2019 Summer SDL Summit
Islandwood, Bainbridge Island, WA
July 31st- August 2nd, 2019

THIS WEBINAR PURCHASE AND REGISTRATION IS CLOSED.

Practitioners interested in reducing the embodied carbon of buildings are likely now used to considering the impact of different materials, like mass timber or low-carbon concrete. Low-carbon... Read more

Hi Everyone,

It has been great to see the discussion forum gaining traction as a tool for us all. 

When we met for the first time at Greenbuild last year, we mentioned that one of the goals of the group was to have an annual in-person meeting where we could strategize on how to improve our roles, our companies, and the industry... Read more

Someone made a tombstone to mark Internet Explorer’s end-of-support date

https://www.engadget.com/internet-explorer-tombstone-175433997.html

On Thursday, September 27 at 2PM Eastern Time you can join the first BuildingGreen Communities webinar where we will share key takeaways from the 11th annual Summer Sustainable Design Leaders Summit (@ the Garrison Institute in upstate New York). Our new webinar format using Zoom will allow for interactive questions and comments throughout. If... Read more

A new article addressing whether PFAS finishes on upholstery fabric actually work (Spoiler alert - they don't) has been published and can be found here:

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/24723444231159856

This is authored by the fine folks at Green Science Policy, Arlene Blum's group that is the source of the Six Classes of... Read more

Hello Sustainability Leaders!

Here's another fun announcement to help round out this year and get us excited for the next to begin: Join us in 2022 for First Friday Fikas!

What is a fika? Pronounced fee-ka, this is a Swedish custom of taking a break from work to have a coffee and a snack while catching up with friends. It’s a... Read more