Dear SLD-ers,

We have a project team considering the use of copper cladding for a high profile project in Vancouver. The preference is to use pure copper that is pre-patinated and does not have additional coatings.

We are attending a CEU from the Copper Development Association to understand options and environmental impact, but we... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Energy Modeling: Early and Often.

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


1. Explain how energy codes and standards are pushing commercial projects beyond what they can do without modeling.
2. Describe the energy and cost-savings benefits... Read more

Hello Green Gurus,

Here are all the details about our Peer Network event in NYC on Wednesday, September 28th. If you'll be in town, we hope to see you!

From 1-5pm we'll have the NYC Regional Mini-Summit, open to members of any of the five Peer Networks (Sustainability Consultants, Community Design Leaders, Contractors, Architects... Read more

Gypsum is calcium sulfate dehydrate, which is mined or produced as a byproduct of flue gas desulphurization (FGD) from coal-fired power plants. FGD gypsum may contain trace contaminants from coal processing, but not enough to represent a hazard to users. Years ago, some imported products created indoor air quality problems that required... Read more

What’s the net present value of that extra insulation? Join us on Tuesday, June 25th at 2:00 pm Eastern for a Peer Networks webinar on “Balancing Embodied and Operating Carbon.” Bill Smarzewski and Jason Fierko of Ewing Cole have developed a method for combining energy modeling with embodied carbon data to determine the carbon “payback” of... Read more

Hi everyone!
I've seen a lot of claims over the years of living walls or planted buffers that can mitigate *outdoor* air pollution and have always assumed there's no real scientific basis for that idea, unless we're talking an actual forest that's 10s of feet thick. Am I wrong? Are there examples of living walls that actually have been... Read more

This article just came up in my news feed. I thought you’d all like to read it. I will point out that C&D-specific MRFs have told me that they are really good at single-stream C & D waste, as long as the drywall is pulled out.  Any drywall in a single-stream C & D dumpster ends up in the landfill. Drywall just breaks apart and gets... Read more

I have a client that is very interested in automated shades for a mid-rise multi-family housing project. Do you have any examples of projects that have attempted this? I assume it would involve occupancy sensors and/or an over-rideable default setting dependant on sun position and temperature. I also have an MEP Engineer team that is having a... Read more

I am the Sustainability Program Manager for Sellen Construction in Seattle, WA where we build healthcare, education, office buildings, museums, historical renovations, and unique structures like sculpture parks and the “spheres” that have been in the news lately.  My role blends environmental regulatory compliance, sustainability in field... Read more

As if you weren't worrying enough already, here's a little something that I ran across through monitoring activity on the American Society of Healthcare Engineers discussion boards:  https://www.id-hub.com/2018/10/17/hospital-plumbing-reservoir-resistance-interview-amy-mathers/, "Hospital Plumbing as a Reservoir for Resistance".  This is both a... Read more

Sharing the below message from Mike McMeekin, who some of you know, regarding his current initiative, the Engineering Change Lab USA Climate Change Noble Purpose Statement. (Also, here is a Link to today's LinkedIn Updates on this topic.)

Greetings, I am re-sending my email from last week primarily as a reminder regarding the sign-up... Read more

Practitioners interested in reducing the embodied carbon of buildings are likely now used to considering the impact of different materials, like mass timber or low-carbon concrete. Low-carbon construction, however, may be less familiar. 

Contractors are just... Read more

Hi: Please check out the fantastic editorial from Ned Cramer at Architect on "The Future of Architecture Education is the Future of Civilization". The deadline to comment on the latest draft of the NAAB accreditation criteria is November 22 and, as in the past draft, it falls far short of prioritizing climate action and sustainability. VERY... Read more

The COTE Toolkit just launched on AIA.org's site, please go and check it out and share with your networks. The project spanned over the last year+ with over 40 authors, subject matter experts, and reviewers contributing to the process, (including many Green Gurus!)

With the goal of closing the information gap to designing high... Read more

Upman LaTole