The Sustainable Design Leaders peer group brings together the most committed sustainable design directors from leading architecture firms throughout the U.S. and Canada. We invite you to apply for membership.
We look for the... Read more

Hi Everyone,

Who has worked on a SITES certification and can share the approximate hours involved for administering and completing documentation? A relative sense of the effort compared to LEED would also be helpful, similar to the thread about WELL on this same subject. 

Appreciate any insight. Thanks! -Hilary

Anyone know what stages does CARE include? Does it include B1-5, C1-4 or D?

Thank you!

Hello, I'm wondering if anyone out in the network has experience with the following:

>Low carbon concete mixes for polished concrete slabs: we're hearing concerns from our concrete supplier that using a low carbon mix design for a polished concrete slab will cause pitting. What experience do others have?

>Low carbon concrete... Read more

ASHRAE 209 in all its glory has been uploaded. This will impact our architectural process, for better or worse, so we should embrace it and learn from it. The revised AIA Energy Modeling Design Guide (due out next year) has been timed to correspond roughly to 209 coming out and will include references to it. The first few energy modeling '... Read more

Hello All! 

We are using TallyCat to extract quantities from our REVIT Model, and bring them over to EC3 to get a model GWP (focusing on material categories required to evaluate ILFI Zero Carbon certification).  There are a number of questions that are popping up!!

I am sure there are others trying the same thing, yes... maybe?! ... Read more

Hi all,

We are looking for a great energy analyst with communication skills  to join NBBJ - if you know someone who fits the bill, send them my way! http://jobs.jobvite.com/nbbj/job/oTrk8fww

Margaret

Alena Jumplot

I'm sure may are familiar with Aqua in Chicago, and Joe Lstiburek's article on thermal bridging. (https://buildingscience.com/documents/insights/bsi062-thermal-bridges-redux) We have similar problem with a project that is a residential highrise building, concrete structure. Here is my questions. Will energy simulation be able to pick up the... Read more

Columbia already offers access to free EV charging for our field employees. Of the few projects that have have opted in so far, we've had to custom design and intall EV charging setups. It's good that we're doing this, but it won't scale quickly enough and cost effectively.  I think a practical next step is working with trailer companies so... Read more

Hi all - Can you help me with a list of states with pending electrification/fossil fuel free ordinances? I am providing some technical aasistance for an article that is going to press soon. The author has listed WA, CO, and MA but I'm unsure how far each of these go and if it's technically correct to call them electrification ordinances.

Welcome to the quiz portion of The Four Core Issues to Tackle for Resilient Design (And the Programs That Can Help).

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


1. Use site-specific hazard analysis to evaluate a project’s resiliency demands.
2. Use climate change data to... Read more

Notes and Guiding questions here--please add your own!

2030 Commitment Check-In: Is it leading to more awareness and better outcomes on projects?

Is energy modeling and tracking going to get us to zero by 2030?

Is it effective at driving all projects across a portfolio?

What are firms getting out of reporting... 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

I'm hoping someone knows the anser to this question. For the LEED ND certification the minimum requirement is "The LEED project should contain at least two habitable buildings and be no larger than 1500 acres." Does habitable mean buildings with dwelling units?

Hi Fellow GG: I just wanted to make sure everyone saw the great announcement from the White House yesterday about Code updates to address energy efficiency and resilience. It's great to see these kinds of initiatives that hopefully can continue for a few more years. So let's try to take advantage of them (said by someone who lives in Missouri... Read more