You’ve probably heard that wood products are carbon neutral. You might also have heard that timber harvesting causes immense carbon emissions.

Which is it?

Could it be both?

Happy Friday, SDL!

We're running a Tally WBLCA for an environmental education center, which has a very small floor area but a fairly robust concrete/steel structure. Still, I was surprised to find an intensity of over 1,000 kgCO2/m2 for the building.

This is way higher than the general benchmarks I've found in the CLF's database,... Read more

I am looking for case studies/trying to identify buildings using concrete mixes with upwards of 30% replacement of cement by SCMs.  I've been in conversations with some structural engineers who are interested in lowering embodied carbon in upcoming projects, but would like to see examples of where this level of replacement has been successfully... Read more

Keeping these meeting invites here on the SDL pages as we hope to continue to offer participation to SDL members.  The invite follows:

Welcome to the Climate Smart Wood Group monthly peer network meeting. For agenda item suggestions and other meeting organization items please contact Patrick Donnelly at pdonnelly@integrusarch.com or... Read more

Hello everyone,

We have a higher ed client in New Jersey that is interested in learning more about the 179D tax credit and would like to speak to someone who can help answer questions and offer guidance. If you have experience that you can offer, or you can provide some contacts - ideally with higher ed experience - who would be willing... Read more

I am getting started on a research project to evaluate the feasibility, costs, and benefits of using phase change material (PCM) to passively regulate temperature in Minnesota buildings. If anyone has experience designing with PCM, installing PCM, or occupying buildings with PCM, can you share any lessons learned that would be relevant as... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of When Passive House Goes Big!

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


Evaluate the main barriers to achieving the Passive House Standard on a large, urban project.

Identify design strategies for successfully and cost-effectively achieving the... Read more

In our quest to create a low carbon future the lectrification/Decarbonization working group is planning spend the next 10 months creating tools to advocate for electrification:

Following up something I mentioned at the summit - the EPA is hosting public comment webinars related to the IRA and construction. The first one seems particularly relevant, 3/2/23 from 2-3.30pm EST “Reducing Embodied GHG Emissions: Construction Materials Prioritization and Environmental Data Improvement”. Good opportunity to have our voices... Read more

Typically made from petrochemicals, carpet and its adhesives can offgas. It is also a challenge to recycle them, increasing the chances that it will be incinerated or disposed of in a landfill. Because carpet has a limited lifespan, its life-cycle performance is key.

BuildingGreen recommends modular carpet that demonstrates lower life-... Read more

Hello Everyone,

We wanted to share the highlights and take-aways from the large firm Sustainable Design Leaders (SDL) 2020 Winter Summit at The Lodge at Gulf State Park, AL. Additionally, this was the first year we had a pre-summit workshop for the winter summit. Our amazing workshop facilitator, Julie Huffaker from Deeper Funner Change... Read more

Keith Hempel, Julie Hiromoto, and Billie Faircloth have been elevated to the AIA College of Fellows - I'm sure I'm missing others but congratulations! Can't wait to celebrate in person - I still rememer Lance Hosey in his tux and Beth Heider in a full ball gown at the AIA Fellows dinner in Chicago (the only one I ever attended. . .) 

I took a first pass at content for the Energy Audit best practice, see the uploaded file. 

ASHRAE 209 in all its glory has been uploaded. This will impact our architectural process, for better or worse, so we should embrace it and learn from it. The revised AIA Energy Modeling Design Guide (due out next year) has been timed to correspond roughly to 209 coming out and will include references to it. The first few energy modeling '... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Making Your Own Electricity: Onsite Photovoltaic Systems.

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


1. Explain the difference between crystalline and thin-film photovoltaic technologies, and the uses of each.
2. Describe the ways in which PV... Read more

I just saw this post from Conor on LinkedIn.

Starting in January 2019, all new Columbia Construction Company projects require LED temp lighting.

Are others doing this too? Frankly, given all the benefits and how quickly the industry is matured, it's hard for me to understand why anyone would use anything other than LEDs on a job.... Read more

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Whether you're selecting windows for a 99-unit condo project or for a single-family home, you're making a choice your client will have to live with for years, maybe decades.

And no matter how large or small... Read more