Op-Ed
Introducing the first issue of our newsletter.
Buildings have a tremendous impact on the environment. In North America, buildings and the building industry account for about 30% of carbon dioxide emissions, 35-40% of ozone depletion, 20-30% of municipal solid waste, vast quantities of natural resource consumption, and dramatic loss of open space each... Read more
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The IECC is accepting applications for committee members for its development of the 2024 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). The responsibilities of the committees include:
Reviewing and evaluating public input in accordance with the requirements of the Code Council’s Consensus Procedures, and building consensus to incorporate... Read moreForum topic
I'm curious who in this group has used ASHRAE Standard 209-2018, Energy Simulation Aided Design for Buildings except Low Rise Residential Buildings?
We've used it internally (minimally) as a reference to help better communicate the goals and activities involved with energy modeling at various phases of design. But it seems like there's... Read more
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We all know the climates are shifting, and the ASHRAE standard that gets invoked for energy codes is shifting along with them--though not in perfect sync. Louisiana is leaping from ASHRAE 90.1-2007 energy code to 2021 IECC (boom!). The 2021 IECC as published uses relatively old climate maps; for Louisiana, at least, the same as the 90.1-2007... Read more
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This just in from AIA Leadership:
https://www.aia.org/pages/6522198-aia-statement-on-scotus-decision-in-west-v
Please share this with your networks.
Thanks.
Mary Ann
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Here’s a nice NYTimes op ed on urban density that directly addresses the concern Gwen raised on out call today:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/24/upshot/coronavirus-urban-density-risks.html?referringSource=articleShare
Quiz
Welcome to the quiz portion of The BuildingGreen Guide to Insulation!
Learning Objectives
Upon completing this course, participants will be able to:
1. Discuss how insulation works to increase the energy efficiency and environmental sustainability of buildings;
2. Explain why certain materials make more sense than... Read more
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Hi all,
Thanks for your patience as we've finally compressed this video file enough to upload it onto the forum. You can watch the recording of "Are We There Yet? A Sampling and Exploration of Project Process Diagrams" here.
Enjoy!
-Amanda & the BuildingGreen team
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Hey, everyone! Reaching out to share about the currently-under-development IEA Annex 89: Ways to Implement Net-zero Whole Life Carbon Buildings. The current committee is really the who's who of building LCA in Europe, but it does seem like it suffers from a lack of North American representation. The one North American on the committee, in fact... Read more
Spotlight Report
Building materials emit massive amounts of carbon long before the lights go on.
In this course, BuildingGreen takes an analytical look at the greenhouse gases that are emitted in the process of constructing our buildings in the first place—the embodied carbon. The report focuses on how architects and designers, working with other key... Read more
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Does anyone know where one can locate weather files (EPW) that has predicted future data for climate change?
Thanks in advance.
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Hello Fellow Green Guru Members: I am pleased to be a new member of the Sustainable Community Design Leaders (SCDL) forum, and look forward to learning and contributing here. Also, in case you missed it, this week there were two important steps forward towards an eventual standardized Environmental-Social-Governance (ESG) reporting system... Read more
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Hi: Is anyone individually or at a firm level offsetting their travel through Certified Emissions Reduction (CER) or Verified Emissions Reduction (VER) credits? I'm trying to research a valid approach to doing this and running into a few different options - some even with apps. I'd appreciate any wisdom from this great group.
Thanks.... Read more
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All,
A bit of a short notice, but the Tally team is hosting a webinar tomorrow (1/16) from 1-1:30 EST on the Tally to EC3 integration. It's an incredibly powerful workflow for generating real reductions in embodied carbon and has us pretty excited. We expect a lively group of attendees and will be answering any questions from the... Read more
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Looking for an example or case study for a building utilizing a radiant heating/cooling in climate zone 4a. General use type is office with some public assembly spaces, total of 85,000 sf.
As usual, everyone, especially mechanical engineer, is terrified by the thought of "condensation." So far, I read a DGWW case study, "Energy... Read more
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Mithun has a part-time employee Jake Minden who is a graduate student at the University of Washington. Jake is participating in a year-long research fellowship focused on equitable design practice. He has developed a survey to collect perceptions of workplace culture.
Please consider taking 10-minutes to help gather this valuable... Read more