Hello Green Gurus! 

We are planning a virtual Show & Tell and Happy Hour for Oct. 30th 7pm - 9pm ET (4pm - 6pm PT) with a Halloween theme, bring your best costumes! We will hold presentations (virtually of course!) for about the first 1 hour and 20 minutes and then will transition to some fun Happy Hour festivities, sharing, and... Read more

Returning to work: for many, it’s unthinkable without some kind of reassurance that leadership and the facilities team have taken all possible precautions. Lots of organizations are weighing in on what we should pay attention to, but how do we know if it’s working?

The free Re-entry program from Arc is a tracking and measurement... Read more

Is your team working on a LEED v4 or WELL project? 

Finding products for these projects is daunting, and even when you find products you believe will meet the requirements, you have to know exactly... Read more

Most products sold as “ceramic tile” are fired at lower temperatures and are less durable.

For porcelain tile, BuildingGreen starts with the Green2 standard for sustainable tiling—ANSI A138.1 American National Standard Specifications for Sustainable Ceramic Tiles, Glass Tiles, and Tile Installation Materials. This is a multi-attribute... Read more

Our Sustainable Construction Leaders peer network famously developed the Contractor's Commitment.

Famous because it is the industry's only agreed-upon framework for systematically addressing the environmental and social impacts of construction activity.

Famous because it now has 27 signatories, collectively accounting for $49... Read more

We had so much fun at our Contractor coffee talk that I reached out to our MEP friends to see if they would set up something similar.  And they have agreed to host a talk on Thursday December 2, at 1-2pm EST.  They will talk about decarbonizing buildings, on a schedule that keeps us under the 1.5° C limit and will also address strategies for... Read more

We're wrapping up a multi year project that went through multiple design changes, leaving us with a ton of material samples.  Does anyone know of a good place we could donate these samples to, to keep them out of the landfill.  I'm in the greater Seattle area.  Thank you for any suggestions.

Something we seem to be seeing a lot in our market recently are projects split into multiple packages - footing / foundation, C&S, and then later a TI package of CD's... mostly in an effort to speed up permitting and construction schedules. (Oftentimes with a contractor on board for a design / build approach). 

My question to the... Read more

I've been hearing recommendations for bipolar ionization, as a way to filter airborne virus particles in HVAC systems while avoiding the energy penalty of increased ventilation. However, I've also heard that ionizing equipment is dangerous because it produces ozone.

Does anyone have any insight into the effectiveness and/or cautions... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Energy Reporting: It's the Law.

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


1.List the benefits of energy performance benchmarking and disclosure.
2. Address the concerns associated with public disclosure.
3. Restate at least three U.S.... Read more

Hi Fellow SDLers: Just wanted to make sure everyone saw the terrific initiatives that the White House announced last week:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/ceq/news-updates/2021/05/17/fact-sheet-biden-administration-accelerates-efforts-to-create-jobs-making-american-buildings-more-affordable-cleaner-and-resilient/

Maybe some impact from... Read more

My company is looking for ways to introduce and train employees on jobsite recycling and composting. There is definitely a culture shift that needs to change in order for it to happen, but we are looking for any success stories to help us on our journey.

1) Has anyone been successful in setting up recycling/composting programs for... Read more

How much does every designer need to know? How to support that basic literacy?

Guiding Questions:

I would be interested to hear which parties in our group have participated in the CDP Program and how you are reporting your efforts.  I have talked to several contractors that just submit the data for their offices. I always feel like it is asking about our operations including the jobsites, and wonder how you get there.  I am very much... Read more

Hello, 

I am struggling with understanding if I should be using Annual Marginal Emission Factors (MEF) or Annual Average Emission Factors (AEF) for evaluating different building design decisions.

Everything I know is from this document. So as I understand it ... an individual building or retrofit is going to change the marginal... Read more