We have a client thats going through a TI remodel in a building thats a LEED Core+Shell certified building. One of the questions we are trying to figure out is are there things we need to be doing to not imperil the building's certification. 

I think the answer is that the landlord had to write tenant guidelines at the time of... Read more

I see Kjell Anderson, Mary Ann Lazarus and Daniel Overbey as the Green Gurus on this list - if i missed anybody apologies.

Congrats all around folks!

https://www.usgbc.org/articles/gbci-announces-2018-leed-fellows 

https://www.linkedin.com/company/buildinggreen/jobs/

Hey Team,

I'm in a Living Future session where a number of manufacturers are talking about the low uptake they're seeing in their take back programs. Contractor friends... What barriers (if any) are you running into in using take back programs? How might we as architects help increase utilization of these programs?

Aley

Hello Green Gurus.

I've been looking into EPDs lately and ran across a few companies with Product Envionmental Profiles (PEPs) which they say are also known as EPDs. Does anyone have any experience with PEPs or know if they actually are EPDs? They reference ISO standards 14040 and 14044 in the writing and ISO 14025 in the list of... Read more

Hello Sustainability Leaders,

Our next First Friday Fika* is tomorrow -- Friday, September 1st at 11am ET (8am PT). We'll meet on Zoom for some lightly structured coffee-chat time. This includes both facilitated sharing and open conversation about the topics you're interested in at the moment. Any Peer Network member who wants to say hi... Read more

Dear all,

On a major renovation where the wall R-value/U-value needs to be brought up to energy code, specifically a mass wall situation, does anyone have insights on how the situation is best dealt with? On the project in question for me, the continuous insulation might have to be added to the inside surface of the mass wall and there... Read more

The headlines are everywhere—from heat waves in Europe to wildfires in the Western U.S. to tropical cyclone flooding in Australia. In this age of climate change, just as there’s an urgent need to reduce carbon emissions and other greenhouse gasses, we also need to adapt and invest in resilience.

Increasingly, owners are asking for risk... Read more

For a number of years a colleague and I have been teaching a course about sustainability and water in architecture at the University of Pennsylvania's architectural school (PennDesign).  This year we're hoping to bring a few new opinions to the table for at the same time as we broaden the discussion.  Because the class will be virtual again... Read more

Hello Sustainable Advising Leaders,

Here are the notes from the last Zoom call. We had a great turnout! Looking ahead, now that things are rolling along we’d like to get into the rhythm of a regularly scheduled monthly call. Since Tuesdays seem to work well for most people, I am proposing the 4th Tuesday of the month from 3-4pm ET. That... Read more

Greetings!

Ayers Saint Gross is in search of a Sustainable Design Coordinator to join our team. This person is anticipated to sit in any one of our offices - Baltimore; Washington, DC; Tempe, Arizona; or Austin, Texas. Fit and skillset are more important than geography. The position is anticipated as full-time, but if the right candidate... Read more

Hello good people and fabulous troublemakers,

PFAS is in everything. In May, the NY Times published an article about this, along with the governments work to remove it from drinking water. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/10/climate/six-things-to-know-about-forever-chemicals.html

As you may know, a working group has been gathering... Read more

Composite windows come in two basic types: fiberglass, and wood/plastic composite.

BuildingGreen-Approved Windows

Fiberglass and other composite window lines have NFRC unit U-factors of 0.20 or lower. Higher U-factors are allowed for products that include significant recycled content.

Manufacturers also must demonstrate... Read more

Welcome to this practice session for the LEED AP v4 exam, and good luck!

All the exam questions and explanations that follow were authored by Alex Spilger, LEED AP BD+C of GreenStep Education, and are provided in this BuildingGreen "exam simulator" through a special partnership with GreenStep and with our friends at the Poplar Network.... Read more

I can hear Kjell saying "All models are wrong, but some are useful." Having said that we are having trouble getting usuable predictive energy use information from our electrical design engineer. They are telling us that their energy models are not for accurate pEUIs but just to compare various scenarios. Are they being lazy? Should we push for... Read more

HI All,

Really hoping to get some insight from all you wonderful people on how the Sustainability teams are set-up in your construction companies. As mentioned in my introduction post, I am the first ever Sustainability Engineer hired by my company.....until now all the work was handled by project teams. Which worked for them in the... Read more

Hello Everyone!

Please see attached are the Flip Chart Notes from last week's 2018 SDL Summer Summit.

Enjoy~

RoseAnn

This is sort of dragging up an ancient topic, but curious how your firms are currently addressing accreditation (LEED AP, WELL AP, LFA, etc.). There was a time when we were all talking about this, and a number of firms instituted requirements, but it has been a long time, and I'm curious how it's looking now in 2024. Thanks! 

For those that missed Z's subtle mention of this a few weeks ago, Bora finally decided sustainability is important enough to have someone dedicated full-time to it, and then went out and got one of the best:

https://bora.co/bora-hires-sustainability-director-corey-squire/?tax=all-posts

I've been sharing Corey's thoughts on... Read more