Our Sustainable Construction Leaders peer network famously developed the Contractor's Commitment.

Famous because it is the industry's only agreed-upon framework for systematically addressing the environmental and social impacts of construction activity.

Famous because it now has 27 signatories, collectively accounting for $49... Read more

Fellow SCLers,

This is a small ball item, but I recently had a conversation with a safety glove manufacturer called Traffi. They make PPE, but in particular they have a line of gloves that they promote as carbon neutral. Their organization's operations are offset with retired RECs, but one line of their gloves, LXT, is offset by a... Read more

The overwhelming majority of wallcoverings are flexible vinyl, laden with all the life-cycle concerns that come with PVC. Products used to contain orthophthalate plasticizers—which make up a large percentage of these products. Phthalates are not bound in the material and can slough off in dust, exposing occupants during everyday work or play.... Read more

My company is looking for ways to introduce and train employees on jobsite recycling and composting. There is definitely a culture shift that needs to change in order for it to happen, but we are looking for any success stories to help us on our journey.

1) Has anyone been successful in setting up recycling/composting programs for... Read more

Hello Sustainable Design Leaders,

Mark your calendars for an exciting webinar next Wednesday, May 27th, at 2:30pm ET and REGISTER HERE!

Missing the Forest: How forest practices impact the carbon embodied in mass timber projects is a follow-up to last month’s conversation on embodied carbon and mass timber. The presenters will be... Read more

Hello SDLs!

Many of you have internal research groups or internal grants to foster thought leadership in your firms.  We have run an annual research-innovation grant program for about the last 5-6 years.  Anyone in our firm is allowed to apply, submit their idea, the time/budget they need, define a deliverable and then a small group... Read more

Hi,

There is a Blog section on the BIT User site. Will you have a blog post in time for launch? Or should we hide that section to begin with?

https://live-bituser.pantheonsite.io/blog

Andrea

Hi all,

We're seeing more interest and desire for outdoor work spaces, and as we consider the design implications around working outdoors, teams have been asking about wind comfort. We've tested Ingrid Cloud and now SimScale. I'm curious if anyone would recommend any other CFD tools that are geared toward architects? Also curious if... 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

Is everyone else having trouble with a dysfunctionally slow LEED-Online today (i.e., worse than the usual incredibly slow performance)?

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

We are excited to open registration for the Sustainable Construction Leaders Summit 2019! This year’s Summit will take place Tuesday, Nov. 19 in Atlanta in conjunction with Greenbuild. The Summit agenda will be shaped by the steering committee and collective feedback from the group. The day will culminate in a networking event with members of... Read more

Were we given any warning that LEED Online and USGBC.org would be down for a week?  

Does anyone have an idea when the AIA Materials Pledge Reporting Framework will be available? Or is there a draft of what it looks like? 

BWBR is on a push to refine our approach towards materials. As AIA Material's Pledge signatory, we were hoping to incorporate the reporting framework into our efforts. Trying to get a sense of the... Read more

Just highlighting a tool from Circular Ecology (the group that brings you the Inventory of Carbon and Energy data) for measuring Scope 1 and 2

https://circularecology.com/organisational-carbon-footprint-tool.html

Hi everyone,

As designers who sometimes work in the field of healthcare, we occasionally like to gather data about both current attitudes and future possibilities. Steffian Bradley Architects would greatly appreciate your participation in our 2018 survey by completing the questionnaire linked below.

All responses are anonymous to... Read more

Has anyone seen a comparison between IECC 2021 and previous versions of the energy code, including ASHRAE 2010? I'm curious how far ahead code buildings are relative to LEED v4.0, and how much the latest IECC raises the bar relative to the previous. I did a quick search for the LBNL and other studies that look at this, but didn't see anything... Read more