Guiding questions:

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 friends,

As you might have seen from my op ed last week on BuildingGreen.com, I’m convinced that just voting is not enough; we all need to do all we can to improve our chances of success in this election. My wife Janice and I have been writing get-out-the-vote letters using Vote Forward as our platform. I thought it might be fun, and... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of EPDs Are the Future of the Building Industry, Whether You Like It or Not.

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


1. Explain how environmental product declarations (EPDs) are made, what they tell you, and how they're best used.
2. Describe... Read more

I read a very misleading article on the AIA's website today regarding antimicrobials and the benefit of microbicidals in paint. It was written by a manufacturer, not a healthcare professional, and was not obviously labeled as sponsored content on the website. (I received the link in an email, which did label it as such).

https://www.aia.... Read more

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

Hello SDL Leaders,

Over the past month, I have been working with ILFI to navigate the question of residuals in LBC compliant products vs. products reporting for a Declare label.

Through our conversations, it came to light that ILFI considers the LBC Red List threshold to be 10,000 ppm, rather than the 100 ppm written into the... Read more

Metal roofs can also provide high solar reflectance, minimizing a building’s contribution to the urban heat island effect. 

BuildingGreen-approved

Materials and finishes recognized by Energy Star maintain solar reflectance levels after three years of use of 50% for low-slope and 15% for steep-slope. Some unpainted metals and many... Read more

Hello SDL friends,

It has been an amazing opportunity to collaborate with so many of you through this group or through my work with Tally, the USGBC, ILFI, and in my role as an environmental researcher at KieranTimberlake. This is not so much a goodbye as it is a "hope to see you soon." I am making a shift away from building design into... Read more

Hi everyone,

I'm interested in identifying any in-person opportunities (local to Greater Boston) to engage my office during Earth Week. We are all excited to be able to do things in person now, so if anyone has anything on their radar please let me know (a panel, educational activity, or volunteer opportunity!)
 

Thanks,... Read more

Erika Heet is the Editor-in-Chief of BuildingGreen. She is the former Editor-in-Chief of Interiors magazine. She has held senior editor positions at Dwell and Architectural Digest, and is the author of two books on modern architecture. She has served on the boards of Greenbuild and the Sustainable Furnishings Council, as well as on juries for... Read more

In the run-up to Earth Day 2023, we're trying something new at VMDO: Full, public transparency on everything we know about how our portfolio is performing (or how we anticipate it performing). Here's a link to all of the details on our sixth year of reporting to the 2030 Commitment and more: https://www.vmdo.com/radical-transparency-commitment-... Read more

Anyone have experience with electric boilers? I think in cold climates it's perhaps the first thought when trying to reduce scope 1 emissions in an HVAC application that would have historically used gas-fired boilers... but it seems like they're only an incremental improvement compared to heat pumps / geothermal / VRF type solutions. We haven't... Read more

Hi All - 

Has anyone explored hydronic system analysis software (1D CFD)? 

Some options are PipeFlo, AFT Fathom, PipeFlow (eerily similar name to first option), COMSOL Pipe Flow Module. 

Applications could range from general system troubleshooting, pump sizing, to district hydronic system network analysis. 

Best,... Read more

I'm working on the Best Practice pages, and I want to verify the role of "BITuser experts" (analogous to LEEDuser experts, as shown on this credit page). My questions:

Note that the role of the expert,... Read more

Has anyone had a Contractor track GHG emissions during construction? If so, any advice on how to include that in the project specifications?

Thanks!

Yarden