News Brief
The American Institute of Architects convention in Boston this past June was the setting for a changing of the guard in the American architectural establishment. The Institute’s first woman president took the reins, the Committee on the Environment became its largest and fastest growing committee, and the first installments of the Environmental... Read more
Feature
Carefully stake the building site and driveway, remove trees that are within the excavation area or too close, then erect a fence to keep heavy equipment off fragile soils and away from nearby trees.
Protecting trees and the local ecosystem when building on previously unbuilt land is a vitally important—yet often overlooked—part of environmentally responsible construction. Healthy trees and shrubs can reduce a home’s environmental impact and directly benefit homeowners in a number of ways:
•Enhancing comfort by shielding the house... Read more
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
Forum topic
Hi everyone - we have a new higher ed client who is committed to sustainability but not very knowledgeable about current topics such as carbon (both embodied and operational) or the electrification of buildings. I need to educate them and would like to start with some easily-digestible background reading. But as we all know, we're a bit dorky... Read more
Forum topic
I was shocked to see this new research. Bad news is that acrylic paints are causing 58% of the microplastics pollution in our ocean. Yes, they are plastic. A recent study by Environmental Action, a Swiss-based scientific research firm, shows us that acrylic paint's role in plastic pollution is much greater than most of us realize. The good news... Read more
Quiz
Welcome to the quiz portion of Raze or Retrofit? Six Extraordinary Answers to an Everyday Question.
Learning Objectives
Upon completing this course, participants will be able to:
1. Understand how the embodied impacts of renovation compare to those for new construction.
2. Provide three reasons why building... Read more
Forum topic
Hi everyone!
My awesome colleague, Paula Melton, is doing a short talk for USGC about mass timber and wants to know if there are SCLers in the group that can share their experience. In particular:
"I’m wondering particularly about how supply-chain and cost issues are affecting availability and decision-making, and what the onsite... Read more
Forum topic
Hi All,
Someone just told me that 80% of his previously certified Energy Star Projects no longer earn certification with the update baselines. Have any of you started digging into this yet?
-Meredith
Forum topic
Hi folks!
Do you have examples or case studies of projects with compelling examples of circularity/salvaged material reuse? We’re looking to go beyond the examples we've seen of furniture reuse or creating art from salvaged material, and we’d like to collect some examples to get our client excited about the possibilities in a deep... Read more
Forum topic
Hello everyone!
A small subgroup SCL members have been working on writing a response the presentation Wes Sullens gave us at the Summit this past winter. It's been a long process but the letter and all it's reccomendations are drafted and ready to present. The group felt it prudent to post the response here first for a short public... Read more
Basic page
General FAQs
What is BuildingGreen? What is BuildingGreen Premium Membership? I have lost or forgotten my password How do I renew my BuildingGreen premium membership? How do I cancel my auto-renewing membership? Can I get a refund? How to receive notification of new BuildingGreen contentOrders, Memberships and Billing
Technical... Read more
Forum topic
Hello Green Gurus, here's a reminder that this webinar is happening one week from today!
Register here.
Planning for Resilience in a Climate-Changed World
Thursday, February 11th, 2021
3 - 4pm ET (12 - 1pm PT)
Description: The world is focused on Covid 19 right now, but the pandemic is just a dress rehearsal for... Read more
Forum topic
Just had a contractor call who said they had a university client interested in using natural-gas-fed fuel cells as an alternative to grid power in some applications. They were interested in an intermediate scale: 300kW.
Anyone with any experience with these devices?
Forum topic
I am wondering how architectural firms plan to close the gap to zero in the next few years.
Owner's dictate outcomes and the typical owner is not committed to zero - even when sustainability is a focus of the project.
We can present solar-ready designs, all electric buildings, geothermal, etc. but there is still quite a gap to... Read more
Forum topic
Has anyone developed a disclaimer to be issued with LCA models and reports? I have been asked to look into developing a disclaimer to be used with LCAs, and unfortuantely I have not been able to find past precedence on this.
Thank you,
Stephanie Fargas
Forum topic
Dennis,
I was wondering if you have any previous experience implementing SSO authentication with Salesforce before and if you had any pointers. This morning I created a developer account on Salesforce and enabled it as an identity provider and am in the process of trying to get Drupal to act as the service provider. The Salesforce... Read more
Reports, Courses, Study Guides, Live Webinars
In order to successfully contribute to a LEED project, it is important to have an understanding of how the LEED process integrates within a typical design and construction schedule. Every new construction or renovation project, whether large or small, moves through certain project phases beginning with design development, design completion (... Read more
