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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

What thoughts do you have? What have others said that you feel we want to capture?

The Vision Vacuum: What’s driving environmental and social progress in architecture today? What should be driving it, and where should we be going?

Colleagues:

I "lurk" on the list serve of the American Physical Plant Administrators.  I wanted to share a posting from that forum:

Hi All,

Two questions here: wondering if any Universities in the Pacific Northwest have a thermal comfort standard they adhere to for new building design on campus? UBC is currently undertaking... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Improving Resilience!

IMPORTANT: This quiz covers five related articles within this topic. 

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


Hey SDL,

I'm curious if anybody out there has developed specification language requiring a certain level of airtightness (as assessed via one or a series of blower door tests) for a commercial project when it is not going for a Passive House certification and a blower door test is not required by code--basically, something in the... Read more

Caseworks can be made from unsustainable wood and other materials, and with adhesives and finishes that offgas formaldehyde and other hazardous compounds.

BuildingGreen-Approved Casework

Approved caseworks are:

Hi all,

We have a newly constructed, core/shell project having some hot water issues in the core restrooms.

There is a 0.35 Toto lav installed throughout. The hot water heaters are adjacent on each floor, located in the janitor closets. We did the math, and there could be a gallon of water standing and cooling in the pipe between... Read more

Are there any metrics for % increase for building PH vs conventional?  These questions are always really hard- especially when there are none to compare to in area.

Hi there SD Leaders,

We're running an LCA on one of our projects that's about to start construction that has had serious embodied carbon goals and I got a result that really surprised me. I haven't been able to find any obvious/glaring issues with the work, but these results are strange enough that I'm not feeling confident. I'm hoping... Read more

Hello - 

I am looking for the recording and the PDF/ slides that were shared 3/6 for the project process share-out/ 5 min presentations. It was super inspiring and I would like to refresh my memory of some of what was shared. Thank you!

–
Alison Nash 
AIA, LEED AP ID+C, CPHC, WELL AP
Associate | Sustainability... Read more

Pipe that delivers domestic water in North America is typically made from copper, chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC), cross-linked polyethylene (PEX), all of which present environmental challenges. Bimodal polyethylene  (PE-RT) and polypropylene (PP) are potential alternatives with lower climate and health impacts.
... Read more

If anyone else has gotten confused going between parts-per-million and percentages (parts per hundred!) for material reporting here's a little infographic that might help. Feel free to use or improve! 

Hello all,

This month's SCDL call was full of great discussion! We decided this month that we are feeling good about where we are for the Task Force Agreement on defining social sustainabiltiy in our work. The aim is to work with this agreement for a while and see if it holds up as a process framework. There was also interest to invite... Read more

Hello,

We’re looking for Design Energy Code Equivalents for Chinese commercial energy codes. Do any of you have  any good sources? I’ve only found data comparing ASHRAE 90.1 2013 to the Chinese Code at that time. We understand the Chinese code require a 65-75% energy savings over the baseline but don’t have good information for defining... Read more