Hello Green Gurus,

I am starting some research on municipal incentives offered to developers seeking to achieve sustainability targets and am wondering what you may have come across in your work, including but not limited to achieving Passive House. In my limited research, here are few I have come across to get us started:

Has anyone come across any (embodied) carbon emissions calculator for water?  Perhaps per region/state?  

Thanks in advance!

Pint-flush and non-water urinals can save tens of thousands of gallons of potable water per year. A single non-water-using urinal can save more than 10,000 gallons of water per year compared with the U.S. EPA standard of 1.0 gallon per flush (gpf).

When older 3.0 gpf urinals are replaced, the savings can be as great as 50,000 gallons... Read more

Hope I'm posting this in the right place.  I have a client who's interested in estimating the embodied carbon of multiple buildings (primarily apartment buildings) they own and operate.  Not sure if I'll have access to drawings or area takeoffs of materials for their buildings.  How would you approach this?  Would appreciate input on resources... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Lighting Design for Health and Sustainability: A Guide for Architects​!

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


Describe how high-quality lighting design dovetails with sustainability by improving energy efficiency and supporting occupant health and... Read more

Hi All,

I just became aware of the attached detail (if I uploaded it correctly) for a project in Portland, OR going out for permit at the end of this week.  Has anyone located the radiant tubing at the bottom of concrete like this before?  It doesn't sit right with me, though I cannot pinpoint exactly why.  Our consultants and the... Read more

Hello MEP Leaders,

Happy 2022! Here's your reminder that our virtual meetup for this month is coming up next Tuesday, January 11th at 2:00pm ET.

All members of the network are invited to join! The agenda for the call is available here.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83598691786?pwd=... Read more

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

Hello Everyone!

Wondering if anyone has expertise in Algae Photobioreactor facades? Here is a product: https://cellparc.com/

My basic understanding is that they produce heat and biogas (as well as providing shade and some thermal value.)  However, I am not clear on the GHG balance benefit, so to speak.  I cannot determine if the... Read more

Wanted to let everyone know that Nadav and I are very excited about gathering in Las Vegas for our very first Summit of the Small Firm SDL peer network! We'll meet Wednesday afternoon, June 5, for a 4-hour concentrated session from 1:30-5:30 in Room N205. Here's the agenda. A group of us will be meeting on Tuesday to refine the content and flow... Read more

When BuildingGreen started publication in 1992, simply finding building products designed with environmental benefits in mind was a big challenge. 

In the years since we’ve seen rapid advances in green building materials and products, and manufacturers are beginning to take topics such as embodied carbon and social justice concerns—... Read more

Has anyone done any museums in which they hired an independent QA/QC specialist? Or perhaps, your firm offers QA/QC services and experise in this area? If so, could you please reach out to me? I'm wondering what firm you used and what your experience was. Was it worth the fee?

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

Can anyone recommend waste haulers and processing facilities that are LEED compliant for processing commingled waste in the DC / MD area?

I know this is the Sustainable Construction Leaders and not the LEED Construction Leaders, but with waste management being such a big part of what we do, I wanted to crowd source a request for help.... Read more

I've written waste and recycling policies many a time before for both construciton and operations... but in a volunteer committee application this morning, the maintenance team got bogged down on "how do we collect recycling without plastic bags" question. I told them there's not any kind of plastic bag that I'm aware of which can be thrown... Read more

Welcome to this practice session for the LEED AP v4 exam, and good luck!

All the exam questions and explanations that follow were authored by Alex Spilger, LEED AP BD+C of GreenStep Education, and are provided in this BuildingGreen "exam simulator" through a special partnership with GreenStep and with our friends at the Poplar Network.... Read more

Hi folks,

Registration is now open for the SDL Summer Summit. We expect this one to fill up, so if you plan on coming don't wait too long to register.

As usual, those of you who are coming will help set the agenda. We reviewed some ideas yesterday with the Steering Committee and agreed that some topics from January's Winter Summit... Read more