This month on our Sustainable MEP Leaders call we were asked what resources would be suggested for advancing integrative design.

Two books immediately came to mind for me:

How Building Learn, by Stewart Brand

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_Buildings_Learn

It was many years ago but reading Stewart Brand’s How... Read more

Metal windows are used in commercial building because of their durability, low maintenance, and ability to handle wind loads.

BuildingGreen-Approved Windows

Metal windows must achieve an NFRC-certified unit U-factor of 0.20 or lower to be approved by BuildingGreen.

Manufacturers also must demonstrate that their highest-... Read more

This is specifically to Chris but also to anybody who is interested in the topic - which Chris raised on our SAL call today, regarding how to influence change:

From this article, which i thought was good but had a great paragraph pulled below.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/12/business/Steve-Mollenkopf-Qualcomm-corner-office.html... Read more

Hello! Long shot here, but I thought I would try.

Alex Wilson and I are working on an article about priorities for the next four years under the Biden-Harris administration. We'd like to feature some recent photos of climate demonstrations, protest signs calling for the Green New Deal, or other environment-focused illustrations of... Read more

I'm looking to compare using an electric tower crane vs a diesel generated tower crane.  I've got the average gallons/hour for the size of crane I'm looking at, but when I reached out to the crane manufacturers, they can only tell me what size electric supply I need to provide, not the kWh usage for the cranes.  I know that it varies depending... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of LEDs: The Future is Here.

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


1. Restate the energy efficiency and long service life of LEDs.
2. Describe basic LED components and how, when assembled, they perform differently than traditional light... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of "How to Access the Full Power of Biophilia."

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


Does anyone here have a draft spec for low embodied carbon concrete they could share? I see the GSA has a standards sheet with MGWP limits, but we are hoping to actually specify the mix for upcoming projects.

Phase one of the website will not include e-commerce (i.e. paid membership) but the BIT team wants to restrict access to some parts of the site, including the full Best Practices documents and the forum. This means we'll need a rudimentary paywall, directing users to register for full access.  Current registered users of BuildingGreen and... Read more

Hello Sustainable Advising Leaders!

I have an exciting announcement today, fall Peer Network events are now open for registration! You can see all the event details and register here!

Based on feedback we received from past events and the most recent surveys, we decided against doing one long week of events for this fall and... Read more

Hello Green Gurus,

Here is the information for this month's first Peer Networks Webinar, Previewing the WELL Equity Rating: a roadmap for advancing DEI. So sorry for the short notice - we had a pileup of tech issues and time off. We hope you can still join us!

Register HERE.

Previewing the WELL Equity Rating: a roadmap for... Read more

Hello friends. On a current school project, an abuse resistant wall covering has been proposed as an alternative to our typical MDF wainscot. The proposed product has been used successfully in healthcare, and switching to it will save the project almost $1million, which is no small amount when the project is over budget and 7-figure cost... Read more

I am new to the SAL and honored to be included. I'm Summer, managing partner at Ecoimpact Consulting. I manage a small staff of sustainability consultants who focus primarily on LEED project administration and documentation services. Day to day, I am working on implementation of the technical requirements of various LEED rating systems (in the... Read more

SmithGroup is hosting Metropolis Magazine for a “Think Tank Event on Waterfront Redevelopment and Urban Resilience”.   While the event is in our office, if you're not in DC, it will also be broadcast live on Facebook Live (https://www.facebook.com/events/1299577320146259/) Feel free to share this invitation with others.  Information about the... Read more

We just heard from one of our more progressive clients that they are pulling Mohawk from their shelves and are no longer allowing it on their projects. Apparently there are some chemical ingredients they objected to, but more importantly the manufacturer "lied" to the client about the content. Does anyone have an idea what this might be about?... Read more

Has anyone done a LEED Homes and a NGBS certification and have insight into the differences, challenges, etc between the two?