Do you have the authority to start using only EVs in your renderings?  Let’s normalize and accelerate this change!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_production_battery_electric_vehicles

Why are we showing gas cars in renderings of our green buildings?

Hello,

As with most people I feel some what helpless about what the next 4 years will bring. Heather Clark, Senior Director for Building Sector Climate Policy at The White House thinks that a big bill will be presented in the new year and one of the small items in there will be the axing of the Inflation Reduction Act. What she made... Read more

Hi All! 

We have had a few multi-family projects consider this single package vertical unit with integrated ERV, but we haven't pulled the trigger for fear of the unknown. Our local engineers aren't sure how it actually performs and worry it may not meet code requirements for separation between exhaust and intake. Has anyone else used... Read more

Hey Team,

Has anyone had experience either taking or delivering a Carbon Cure CEU that ISN'T from Carbon Cure? We have a project for which Carbon Cure is a really good option to reduce embodied carbon, but the client has now started having second thoughts and we're looking to get them a CEU on it that isn't from Carbon Cure directly so... Read more

Sustainability leadership has requested that you take this quiz to help assess sustainability literacy across the firm. Your own results will be presented to you at the end of the quiz but will not be shared with anyone else. Only aggregated, anonymized results will be available to others.

Please don’t do research to inform your answers... Read more

Healthcare Design, one of the most respected and widely recognized trade journals in the health care AEC space has released the names of its 2022 HCD 10 winners.  The mission of The HCD 10 is to recognize and celebrate the broad spectrum of outstanding professionals in that industry and the influence they have on healthcare design.

One... Read more

https://www.architects.org/awards/sustainable-design-0

All,

My BSA Co-chair, Steven Burke, and I want to make you all aware of the BSA Sustainable Design Awards coming up soon. Please see the above link for qualifications and registration information. This is an award which is attempting to work towards the same stringency, rigor... Read more

Hello Sustainability Leaders!

Here's another fun announcement to help round out this year and get us excited for the next to begin: Join us in 2022 for First Friday Fikas!

What is a fika? Pronounced fee-ka, this is a Swedish custom of taking a break from work to have a coffee and a snack while catching up with friends. It’s a... Read more

The Sustainable Design Leaders group has had awesome, inspiring Summits for ten years now—and there is so much more we can do can to make it a thriving, essential year-round community. To do that we have to extend the trusted “safe space” of the Summits into our online conversations.

And other groups are just getting started on a... Read more

Hello SCL,

We've heard you ask for more ways to connect with your SCL peers. So, we are happy to announce that we will now be holding bi-monthly calls where the entire SCL network is invited. These calls will be limted to SCL members (with the exception of guest speakers) so please don't share the information with colleagues. 

The... Read more

Plans are coming together for this Summit! Here's what we know (at least tentatively) so far:

Location:
Chicago, SmithGroup office

Timing: 
July 9-10, 2019

1:00 p.m. start time on 9th, 3:00 p.m. end on 10th

Welcome to the quiz portion of BuildingGreen’s Top 10 Green Building Products for 2018.

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


1.  Explain the transparency and optimization criteria in the LEED v4 (applicable to  Building Product Disclosure and Optimization credits in LEED v4 BD+C and... Read more

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

Hi SD Leaders: I'm hoping that you guys can be a great resource for a family member who teaches at Carnegie Mellon University, Professor Marvin Sirbu. Marvin teaches and does research in the Energy and Public Policy department and each year leads a class that takes on a challenging real-world problem to arrive at innovative solutions. This time... Read more

There are a number of clear finish options available, from natural oils and low-toxicity products primarily used on residential woodwork through factory-applied finishes where specific aesthetics and/or added durability are required (such as those used on cabinetry or commercial architectural millwork). Many of these have very high VOC levels,... Read more