News Brief
The American Institute of Architects convention in Boston this past June was the setting for a changing of the guard in the American architectural establishment. The Institute’s first woman president took the reins, the Committee on the Environment became its largest and fastest growing committee, and the first installments of the Environmental... Read more
Feature
Carefully stake the building site and driveway, remove trees that are within the excavation area or too close, then erect a fence to keep heavy equipment off fragile soils and away from nearby trees.
Protecting trees and the local ecosystem when building on previously unbuilt land is a vitally important—yet often overlooked—part of environmentally responsible construction. Healthy trees and shrubs can reduce a home’s environmental impact and directly benefit homeowners in a number of ways:
•Enhancing comfort by shielding the house... Read more
Op-Ed
Introducing the first issue of our newsletter.
Buildings have a tremendous impact on the environment. In North America, buildings and the building industry account for about 30% of carbon dioxide emissions, 35-40% of ozone depletion, 20-30% of municipal solid waste, vast quantities of natural resource consumption, and dramatic loss of open space each... Read more
Forum topic
Dear SD Leaders,
As some of you may have heard, EHDD has been working for the last year in developing a data model to support early phase goal setting for holistic low carbon design. This data model is at the heart of our Early Phase Integrated Carbon (EPIC) assessment tool. EPIC is a data-driven goal-setting tool for use in the earliest... Read more
Forum topic
Hi All,
My understanding is that SCL reporting is only for refrigerant use, or recharging for headquarters. I've asked our MEP contractor for a list of our 21 units, refrigerant use, and what quantity of refrigerants were used to charge equipment during installation or service.
Is anyone tracking this for job sites?... Read more
Forum topic
Hi all --
We have a national restaurant client who is looking to source furniture (both indoor and outdoor) made with a minimum of 40% salvaged/recycled material, and they're very interested in finding a vendor that's woman- and/or minority-owned or that would qualify as a "disadvantaged organization" (their terminology). They would... Read more
Forum topic
Sometimes referred to as “the dark side”, the construction industry isn’t actually so bad. We are mostly good people. And, we need good people.
Consigli is hiring a Sustainability Manager to work in Massachusetts, and we could use your help to fill the role. If you or someone you know is brimming with the sustainability force, please... Read more
Forum topic
Hi All,
I meant to put this is in Green Gurus and put it in SAL instead. Rookie mistake.
After this long winter, who is up for some fierce creativity and friendly competition internal to your company or between Green Gurus? What do you think of a location agnostic, virtual, Sustainability Scavenger Hunt from Earth Day to Mother'... Read more
Reports, Courses, Study Guides, Live Webinars
THIS WEBINAR PURCHASE AND REGISTRATION IS CLOSED.
Are your clients asking you about wellness? You’re not alone. Healthy interiors and wellbeing are the trending buzzwords of sustainable design. In this hour-long live webinar, GreenStep Education's Alex Spilger will walk you through the seven concepts within WELL and describe what sets... Read more
Forum topic
Hey, team. Would it be possible to get premium access to LEED User while we're developing the best practices resources? (without subscribing to it- I don't LEED consult any longer) Southface has basic membership, so I can't see what's available, etc. Thanks.
Forum topic
Hi Folks, anyone in Boston (or willing to move) this could be a super cool opportunity for you!
https://careers-bpda.icims.com/jobs/1557/senior-resilience-design-reviewer/job?mobile=false&width=805&height=500&bga=true&needsRedirect=false&jan1offset=-300&jun1offset=-240
Forum topic
I am dual posting a topic from the SDL forum in the Green Commons. Sorry to those who see this twice but I'm trying to cover more ground.
The first post from Mike Manzi ...
SDLers,
Great to see many of you at Greenbuild! It was nice to have the opportunity to remind everyone how our collective energy continues to make a... Read more
Forum topic
Hi everyone,
We’re excited to announce that registration for the Spring 2024 Sustainable Construction Leaders Summit is now open! Join us at Perkins&Will’s Atlanta office on May 6th, the day before the Living Future Conference. Register early to save your seat, and feel free to reach out to me with any questions at amanda@... Read more
Forum topic
Hi all - Reflecting on the COTE Top Ten Awards and Lloyd Alter's recent article https://www.treehugger.com/green-architecture/keep-aiacotes-its-time-scrap-aia-awards.html, I am curious how many local/state AIA awards programs have incorporated sustainability reporting metrics as a requirement for all awards submissions, not just for categories... Read more
Forum topic
We are looking into organics collection service in our corporate office in NYC. Is anyone else in this group composting at their corporate offices? I'm hoping to build a business case, so I'd like to highlight other firms in this group who are actively managing this process.
Forum topic
We've gotten some requests recently, so it must be time to update our salary survey. For those didn't participate in the past, we last did one in 2015, and collected some really interesting data about compensation for SDLeaders.
Our first step in getting this started is to recruit a few volunteers who are interested enough in the data we... Read more
Quiz
Welcome to the quiz portion of Driving to Green Buildings: The Transportation Energy Intensity of Buildings!
Learning Objectives
Upon completing this course, participants will be able to:
Define “transportation energy intensity” as it relates to buildings and understand its impacts on the environment, human health, and... Read more
