Exterior shade or screening devices are generally much more effective at reducing solar heat gain than their interior counterparts.

BuildingGreen-Approved Shading

BuildingGreen approves exterior window and glazing attachments that reduce solar heat gain and glare or redirect daylight, providing important energy benefits while... Read more

Hi All,

I just tried to post a minute ago but it said my connection was lost, so I'm starting over again. You may see two similar posts from me.

Alejandra and I started a document (attached) with ideas on how we can tackle some of the issues we are currently facing with zero waste, as a follow up to our conversation last Friday... Read more

We are putting together a free guide for firms who have not yet started to figure out what their internal standards are for healthy, low carbon materials/products. 

As part of this effort, we are looking to gather from all of you who already have standards - examples and precedent.

Also we are collecting standards from clients/... Read more

Hello Green Gurus! We are diving deep into our carbon metrics this year and are finalizing some of our emissions factors for our Scope 1 and 2 emissions and in a few more months Scope 3. I'm hoping this brain trust has some recent knowledge to share on this topic. What we've found is there's a fairly big variance in what we've seen in published... Read more

Hi Green Gurus: check out this new series from AIAU that delves into the design and planning application of the 4th National Climate Assessment Report by region with some more recent updates. Free to members...looks like some great speakers and highly relevant. 

https://aiau.aia.org/regional-tour-climate-risk-planning-and-design

... Read more

Hello SMEPers,

I’m hoping to crowd source some anecdotes for a guest lecture I’ll be giving at Yale’s architecture school. The topic is integrated design (especially between architects and engineers) and how it enables better sustainability outcomes.

John Boecker has this great story about how choosing a paint color with higher... Read more

On a large sports project, we worked with the structural engineer to spec low carbon / high SCM concrete mixes. Much of the floor area will be sealed and polished concrete, and a concrete sub is pushing back on the SCMs saying they should not be above 20% (with a preference for 0%) for the polish to finish properly, per the manufacturer. Anyone... Read more

I'm definitely slow on the draw here, but happy to be congratulating you, Allen! What a great recognition of your work as a firm! And I love that the story about it highlights the firm's diversity.

Also worth noting--just 'cause no one here has said it yet--how cool it is that Ed Mazria won the Gold Medal this, and that AIA updated it's... Read more

You're invited to join your colleagues in an SCL Whole Group Web Meeting on Contractors’ Commitment May 28th, 2019 1:00 PM PST / 4:00 PM EST!!

Web meeting focused on an update with the contractors' commitment work. This is an SCL whole group call led by Kena David.

Join the meeting on Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/972367514  

... Read more

Please mark your calendars to join BuildingGreen and HKS for the 2018 Pre-Greenbuild SDL Show & Tell on Tuesday, Nov. 13th, 2018 from 7pm - 9:30pm at HKS, 125 S Clark Street, Chicago, IL

We will be sending out a registration link next week. Space is limited. 

Thanks to Rand Ekman and all those at HKS for opening their doors... Read more

Hi Folks,

I mentor startups in the clean tech space and there are a number of cool new things coming to market. I am looking to gather names of interested people who want to get the opportunity to take a look at these cool new things and give some feedback and even - if stars align - pilot and test some of these new technologies (given... Read more

Hi Everyone - I hope this isn't a repeat topic. We are starting to get familiar with TallyCAT at SAR+ and have a few people testing our projects in it. Is anyone willing to help us troubleshoot or share lessons learned? We're running into a few errors and wonder if our Revit models and workflow are the issue, or if we need to be doing something... Read more

Hello SDL!

Has anyone set "Ecosystem Benefits/Service" targets for an individual project or for all their projects? I was previously against the idea of even measuring ecosystem benefits but I've had my mind changed in recent months!

Currently we want to set a target for every project to: "Improve ecosystem benefits on every site... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of The Building Envelope: Innovations in Planning, Materials and Budgets (recorded webcast)

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


1. Explain how to make the building envelope of a rehab super-insulated and resilient.
2. Recall innovative... Read more