Hi all,

I see that this was a hot topic for the Winter Retreat this past year, but I am wondering how your firms manage standard materials across your practice. two aspects - standard specification items, and also designer choice materials. 

1. Do you have a spec baseline with high performance materials that you start with for all... Read more

For folks in the Southern New England, New York City area, I wanted to let you know about this interestesting design summit that is focusing on eliminating forced and slave labor in the building materials supply chain. I am not involved in organizing the summit, but I plan to attend. It is at Grace Farms in New Canaan, CT from 9:00 to 5:30 on... Read more

Hi everyone,

The Summer 2024 SDL Summit on-site lodging (including shared and private rooms) is now full. However, we are excited to announce that we’ve introduced a limited number of commuter tickets for the Summit. If you missed registration for tickets with on-site lodging, you can still attend the Summit by arranging your own lodging... Read more

Hello SD Leaders!

I recently joined and looking forward to all the amazing dialog. I was told that for membership to be official, I must reveal my unsustainable secret. As much as I preach environmental protection in architecture, I’m a bit of a motorhead with a 1967 HP 289 Mustang that I resurrected from a junk yard when I was 16 — that... Read more

What do you specify for the laboratory countertop? Are there any healthier options I should suggest to my team? Thank you!

Hello everyone,

I wanted to let you all know that I'm no longer at Bergmeyer and have moved on to a new position at Sustainable Brands as of this week.  As a non-architect/non-designer, it's always meant so much to me how readily I was accepted into this group and how much of your knowledge and expertise you willingly shared.  As is the... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Design for Adaptation: Living in a Climate-Changing World.

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

1. Identify the major known causes of climate change
2. Describe the range and reliability of predicted temperature changes.
3. List... Read more

Short notice – apologies in advance.

Please review the new Guide following the instructions on the first page of the attached draft and using the attached spreadsheet. Comments will be accepted until February 16th at noon EST

Use the Excel spreadsheet to compile your comments if you have any, and return them to me by Feb 15th COB... Read more

Hi all,

We are taking a deep look at green accreditations within our firm. Gone are the days when we could say: "our staff is XX% LEED APs!" as a metric of firm progress. Here are a few questions we are asking ourselves, and I'm wondering how you approach this in your firms:

Welcome to the quiz portion of Materials Transparency & LEED.

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


1.  Describe the documentation needed for products to meet the Building Product Disclosure and Optimization: EPDs credit, Option 1 in the LEED v4 BD+C and ID+C rating systems.... Read more

Food waste is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions from landfills due to methane released during anaerobic decomposition.

BuildingGreen-Approved Composters

BuildingGreen approves in-vessel commercial composters, which require the smallest footprint and are most likely to be suitable for a densely populated area.

Why... Read more

An elevator system can account for 4%–10% of a building's electric energy load, without considering impacts on heating and cooling. Conventional finishes are also common.

BuildingGreen-Approved Systems

We approve the most efficient tension elevators from leading manufacturers, including models that incorporate:

All,

I think there may be more than a few people interested in an article I co-authored titled Comparative whole building life cycle assessment of renovation and new construction. It is now available in the journal Building and Environment. Fortunately we have a link that gets you past the paywall that is good for 50 days. If you have... Read more

Hi folks,

I'm looking into lower-carbon pipe options for HVAC and plumbing. The MEP 2040 has slides from a Buro Happold study in 2020 showing PEX to be much lower in embodied carbon than copper, which is unsurprising. CPVC is also a lower-carbon option.

But PVC has its issues and neither PVC nor PEX are recyclable (especially if... Read more

I was wondering if any of you have experience with integrated PVs and/or solar glass. If so, can you could recommend manufactures for each? We are working on a multistory freestanding building in an urban site for a mid-Atlantic city. Because our site and roof area are limited we are looking to maximized the areas where we can generate power.... Read more

Dear Green Gurus: I'm so sorry to have missed seeing many of you at AIA last week. I heard the BG and COTE events were the highlights of the week! Congrats.

I'm sure by now you've heard of the dreadful Supreme Court decision about the EPA. I thought I'd share a helpful, if not sobering, perspective in an Op-Ed today in the Washington... Read more

Looking for the Top 10 on the 10th! webinar?  Click here.

IRA NUTS & BOLTS WEBINAR PURCHASE AND REGISTRATION IS CLOSED.

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) offers us a once-in-a-generation chance to equitably decarbonize the built... Read more