My name is Douglas Flandro. I am the sustainable design leader at CambridgeSeven in Cambridge, MA. I started my career in film and theater design. I moved into museum exhibit design with a graduate degree in interior architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design in 2003. I still design museum exhibits for science museums, nature visitor... Read more

Friends,

Through AIA work I have been working with Kim Shinn from TLC Engineering. Kim is involved on the ASHRAE 209 development and has been advocating that the AIA, ASHRAE and USGBC align around this standard. Personally I think this is a good idea as I expect that this standard could easily make it's way into regulations and contracts... Read more

Hi friends,

We recently tracked our water consumption on site during the structural demolition of some existing reinforced concrete buildings.  The new OSHA silica regulations required us to keep dust to virtually zero, so we had a bunch of mist cannons and water hoses pumping water around the clock.  We consumed ~855,000 gallons in a... Read more

We are looking for colleagues from other firms to join a conference session proposal on "Dirt cheap Net Zero" for the ASHRAE / IBPSA conference (August 12-14, 2020, Chicago). 

We just had the grand opening of our first project designed to achieve net zero, a 50-unit affordable housing project, where we upgraded from the minimums required... Read more

Hello- I'm curious if anyone has created a visual or 1 pager "roadmap" on thier SCL committments. The use would be a conversation starter for project site visits (many that aren't SCL projects) to get feedback, suggestions and hear any challenges from Superintendents/PM's. Maybe something that connects to a A1-C4 visual? If you've done... Read more

Hello there, 

I am working on a project with indoor plants and active green walls. I would like to design lights for growing plants and people at the same time (which seems to be a non-obvious problem). 
 

I was thinking of Philips, GE, Shneider Lighting, etc. Would you recommend someone I could talk to and eventually engage... Read more

We're thrilled to announce that, for the first time, the 2025 Summits for each Peer Network will be hosted within one week and in a single location. You’ll get the deep peer-to-peer time you love from a Summit AND some glorious cross-disciplinary time to experience the power of the Green Commons. It’s all happening at the Kimpton Cottonwood, a... Read more

Hello Sustainable MEP Leaders!

I have an exciting announcement today, fall Peer Network events are now open for registration! You can see all the event details and register here!

Based on feedback we received from past events and the most recent surveys, we decided against doing one long week of events for this fall and instead... Read more

We have a client for whom we are designing a very high performance manufacturing facility, and they want to communicate their building's performance both dynamically and in real-time within their lobby for guests and staff.

We would like to mine the wisdom of this group to see what recommendations we can muster regarding high quality... Read more

Following up on conversation from the Fika today, Kim said the IRS is supposed to be issuing rules for tax-based (even for orgs that don't pay tax) credits by the end of first quarter.  Sounds like we all just need to be on the look out still.

Hi everyone,

I am writing to let you know about a change we are making here at BuildingGreen. We will be changing the name of this all-Peer Networks forum “Green Gurus” to “Green Commons.” 

We’ve made this decision after learning that using the term “guru” outside of its cultural context is appropriative. In an effort to center... Read more

The overwhelming majority of wallcoverings are flexible vinyl, laden with all the life-cycle concerns that come with PVC. Products used to contain orthophthalate plasticizers—which make up a large percentage of these products. Phthalates are not bound in the material and can slough off in dust, exposing occupants during everyday work or play.... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of What Makes a Product Green Today?

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


Hi Everyone, 

This is quite last minute (due tonight) but please see below for an opportunity to email comments to EPA supporting national building material reuse measurement/methodology. Submission is easy, just a short email supporting C&D/reuse and any other thoughts on what to include/exclude in material pathways for reuse beyond... Read more