I've been asked to author an article on urban heat mitigation, and I wanted to include a plug for the above pilot credit, which I think is a really powerful new addition to LEED. Beyond introducing the "intent" and "credit requirements", I was also hoping to do (2) things within the article:

1) provide some feedback from those who have... Read more

Hello SCL- as we move closer towards the release of the Contractors Commitment we have realized that we need a donation of graphics/marketing help from one of our member firms.

We are looking for help with a BG SCL Contractors Commitment logo, landing page, document organization, and any graphics we might need to highlight the... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Take Control of Your Materials: Four Empowering Lessons from Teams That Beat the Red List.

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


1. Customize a framework to prioritize goals and simplify complex material decisions.
2. Use a red-list... Read more

Katherine keeps BuildingGreen’s physical and digital spaces running smoothly. A graduate with honors from the University of Iowa, Katherine has a background in filmmaking and administration. She lives in southeastern Vermont with her partner and enjoys hiking, board games, writing, and cats.

Dear Colleagues,

The EPA has released a very impressive proposal for ENERGY STAR specs for residential water heaters that will strongly encourage electrification and decarbonization of these appliances. 

ENERGY STAR is a voluntary program for high performance appliances and this is a huge opportunity to begin the decarb transition... Read more

Good Morning everyone.  i just wanted to send Congratulations out to the new class of fellows, with a shout out to Jonathan Weiss, Paul Hutton, and Ramana Koti.

Well done Gentleman!

If you work on projects in Massachusetts, you are probably working under the updated MA Stretch Energy Code. While this code is doing great things pushing for electrification and very efficient buildings, it can still be tricky to implement or adjust your processes to the calculations even for seasoned pros. AIA MA in conjunction with BE+ has... Read more

Hi folks,

On today's call James Peterson will be introducing a conversation about how COVID might have changed our ways of working.

If there's time afterwards, we can take a look at this draft article from the USGBC research team. They're interested in our input on how we might want to analyze the info on electrification rates in... Read more

Older buildings—especially those from the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s—need our help. Many leave something to be desired in terms of aesthetics and comfort. But the truth is that they are part of the urban and suburban fabric now, and they aren’t going anywhere. As tempting as it might seem to tear them all down and replace them with high-performance... Read more

We are growing our Design Performance Group at NBBJ! We're looking for two special people right now: a senior sustainable material consultant and a senior energy analyst. Help us design the next generation of healthy, low impact buildings - this is a chance to impact across the scale of our global company and build a better future! Know anyone... Read more

The High Performance Buildings Database (HPB) provides case studies of projects ranging from homes and commercial interiors to large buildings and even whole campuses and neighborhoods. These may be certified green projects, or simply projects that have one or more notable environmental features. We review each published case study to focus on... Read more

The COTE Toolkit just launched on AIA.org's site, please go and check it out and share with your networks. The project spanned over the last year+ with over 40 authors, subject matter experts, and reviewers contributing to the process, (including many Green Gurus!)

With the goal of closing the information gap to designing high... Read more

Hi folks,

Any of you who have completed WBLCA for projects - we are working on a new initiative with the City of Cambridge (building on our prior work NZ Climate Action Plan) but this time focused exclusively on embodied carbon.

We have not yet begun the work - but they have an opportunity to make a move on this on Tuesday and... Read more

I’m writing to see who would be interested in collaborating during the month of December on a position paper that would be given to the incoming Biden administration, outlining things that firms in our industries (i.e. architecture, engineering and construction) would be excited to see advanced as part of Biden’s Build-Back-Better (BBB) program... Read more

This is a bit off the thread of sustainable design leadership, but how much design and/or leadership can you get done without an adequate amount of caffeination?

We are looking for recommendations and advice on improving the sustainability of our breakrooms, particularly on the subject of beverage (mostly coffee, but also a fair amount... Read more

Following up on one of our conversations on the vision vacuum and sustainability beyond certifications, I would like to help facilitate an offline conversation with anyone working within their firm to use the AIA COTE measures as a guiding framework in their firms/projects. Attached are my slides on my first pass at thinking about this at Page... Read more