I really appreciated our day on Tuesday--seems that we had a great inaugural Summit, and covered a lot of important ground. 

Here are the raw notes (flip-chart pages) from the day. Some of us came away with Action Items--see the list on the last page. 

Five-minute presentation decks and a more polished report to follow shortly. We... Read more

Hello,

Are you seeing any traction with LEED v4 O+M: Transit?

Cheers, Mona

Hi, Green Gurus!

We have a great opportunity available at SERA for someone to join our sustainability team as an Integrated Design and Certification Specialist. Details are posted to our website: https://www.seradesign.com/careers/
Could you please share with any good candidates that you think might be interested. And of course, I’... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of "Spec This, Not That: Avoiding Toxic Chemicals in Commercial Building Projects"!

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


Identify 33 common hazards found in building products, along with their health and environmental impacts and where they might be found.... Read more

I'm looking for successful examples of net-zero, Living Building, or similar office buildings that are NOT owned by highly-motivated organizations like RMI or the Bullitt Foundation (or one of your firms).

We are looking to team with a developer on a small-mid-size office building that will house our new office with us as a tenant (no... Read more

Friends,

Do you know someone early in their career who would love to work with me at BE+?  We are looking for someone with great graphic skills to take on our communications role.  Unfortunately Atelier Ten swooped my latest hire from me before she started. Clearly I'm a bit biased and think it's a great opportunity for someone with a... Read more

Hello Green Gurus,

Here is the information for August's Peer Networks Webinar, Using a Circular Economy as a Framework for Zero Waste, Zero Energy + Zero Carbon. We hope you will join us!

Register HERE.

Using a Circular Economy as a Framework for Zero Waste, Zero Energy + Zero Carbon
Monday, August 23rd, 2021
... Read more

Hello Friends,

With my "AIA 2030 Commitment Working Group" hat on, one of the efforts I have undertaken is a campaign to create a "pull" in the market, rather than (only) the sweaty "push" we all take on every day, trying to build a better world. 

I believe that if we can help clients (building owners) articulate clearer... Read more

Greetings,

I'm looking for recommendations from this esteemed group for 3rd-party vendors/verifiers of GHG emissions to support our CSR initiatives. We currently have a provider, but our company has grown to the point to where we need to transition from "analaog" reporting (location by location) to a higher level of service offering (... Read more

In a recent e-mail to BuildingGreen subscribers, Paula Melton pointed out that USGBC has opened the call for suggestions for LEED v5.

Every day, I encounter dripping skepticism from building owners about LEED for New Construction, because of the many many times that the fanciful outcomes of energy, water, and daylight models bear little ... Read more

I've been asked to author an article on urban heat mitigation, and I wanted to include a plug for the above pilot credit, which I think is a really powerful new addition to LEED. Beyond introducing the "intent" and "credit requirements", I was also hoping to do (2) things within the article:

1) provide some feedback from those who have... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of What Makes Plumbing Green? BuildingGreen’s Guide to Plumbing Products.

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


 

1. Explain how plumbing products affect the environment in ways that go far beyond water consumption.
2. Describe ultra-high-... Read more

Hey All,

Those of us in the electrification working group have been talking about the impending release of this new NREL tool, which provides hourly (TOU) GHG emissions forecasts for grid regions around the country. This will be a useful tool in evaluating the impacts of HVAC electrifcation, EV integration, load shifting, storage, etc. I... Read more

Hi All,

Jacob Knowles from BR+A reached out with a request and I’m passing it on to you all.  Jacob’s contact info is at the bottom of this so you can respond to him directly or respond here and I’ll forward it on:

We are working on assembling examples of large wet lab buildings that employ strategies to greatly reduce fossil... Read more

Cabinets are often made from unsustainable wood bound with adhesives that offgas formaldehyde and finishes that have high emissions or contain PVC.

BuildingGreen-Approved Cabinetry

Approved residential cabinetry has:

Sustainably sourced wood or fiber—either salvaged or FSC certified and verification of low... Read more

Dear Colleagues,

The EPA has released a very impressive proposal for ENERGY STAR specs for residential water heaters that will strongly encourage electrification and decarbonization of these appliances. 

ENERGY STAR is a voluntary program for high performance appliances and this is a huge opportunity to begin the decarb transition... Read more

Hi all,

We are taking a deep look at green accreditations within our firm. Gone are the days when we could say: "our staff is XX% LEED APs!" as a metric of firm progress. Here are a few questions we are asking ourselves, and I'm wondering how you approach this in your firms:

​How does your firm "recognize" accreditations: are they... Read more