As with most office furniture, systems furniture can be made from unsustainable materials and use adhesives and finishes that emit formaldehyde or other hazardous compounds.

BuildingGreen-Approved Furniture

BuildingGreen approves furnishings that:

For those who haven't heard yet, we've reached a critical milestone with the Contractor Commitment. 51% of the SCL network voted to approve the language of the current draft. That's the mark we needed to hit, so we can move forward with planning the launch! Thank you to all those who have worked tirelessly over the last two years developing... Read more

Is anyone else working on a project doing Living Building Challenge v4.0 Energy Petal? We're working through the Imperative 08 Net Positive Carbon Resiliency Strategy requirements that ask for the project to be habitable for a week in the event of an emergency. We're curious how others are defining "habitable" and what systems assumptions... Read more

Hi Everyone, just as governors are regionally deciding how to reopen their economies, it's probably time we started thinking about what getting back to work looks like for us.  And, just as governors are leaning on each other for ideas and coordination, we can benefit from discussing strategies as a group.  To that end, I wanted to get your... 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

Does adding solar panels reduce a building's EUI?

Existing operational use of a building is 80 kBtu/sf/year. When we add solar, it will change the source of energy but does not change the usage.

My understanding is that the EUI does not change, but it would be good to hear from others.

It's energy consumption at the point... Read more

Question for you all: there is this wonderful graph showing how we can shift mechanical and electrical dollars into envelope investments to make deep energy savings cost-neutral. Have you experienced this on a project?

1-minute or less survey! (two questions, more detail if you want)

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/... Read more

If you are interested in sharing this Guide within your organization and adding a copy to your library, please purchase the site-license guide.

The world’s most powerful customers are looking to rein in the excesses of their suppliers. Climate change is the likely catalyst for a recent uptick in calls for corporate transparency... Read more

We've got a great private (BG Communities/SD Leaders) webinar lined up for December. Register now to get it on your calendar. And let us know if you have suggestions or requests for future webinar topics!

Register here

Topic: Organizing Sustainability: knowledge management as the key to high performance

Description: Corey... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Can Commercial Kitchens Go Electric?

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


Understand why building electrification can be better for the environment and human health than use of fossil fuels, including natural gas.

List eight reasons... 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 was sitting in on the USGBC's monthly Advocacy call this afternoon and heard about a state-local policy proposal to use property tax incentive for GHG reductions.  Through a state-local partnership, owners of existing residential and commercial buildings who invest in qualifying outcome-based improvements would receive a property tax... Read more

The deadline for submitting presentations is coming up. This year ASHRAE is hosting a joint conference with Simbuild. We are just about to send out an extension announcement (It is now Feb 9th) , so there is still time to get an abstract for a presentation. 

Possible ideas for topics: 

Daylight - new metrics and... Read more

Go to your profile, where you will find the TEAM MANAGEMENT section in the left side bar. Click on Team Members.

You can invite up to 9 more colleagues for a 10-person team to start their Premium Subscriber access through the Team.... Read more

Hello all,

We are having a mini office debate on fiberglass vs aluminum windows for use in schools (k-12) in Massachusetts. In the past we have always used aluminum windows on our schools, for durability. However, their performance is not as great as other products that are up and coming on the market. There is some hesitation to switch... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Engineering a Wood Revolution

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


1. Compare engineered wood to steel and concrete; and describe how engineered wood offers better dimensional stability, less waste, and more consistent performance than... Read more

This is specifically to Chris but also to anybody who is interested in the topic - which Chris raised on our SAL call today, regarding how to influence change:

From this article, which i thought was good but had a great paragraph pulled below.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/12/business/Steve-Mollenkopf-Qualcomm-corner-office.html... Read more

Hi all,

I'm sure many (most? all?) of us have heard the changes to LEEDv4's energy standard are coming. If this is news to you, info on the balloted measures that have passed is available online here: https://www.usgbc.org/articles/leed-v4-energy-update-approved-member-ballot.

My question to MEP friends in the Green Commons: In... Read more

Interior luminaires often use inefficient, outdated technology such as compact fluorescent or halogen lamps, some of which contain mercury and have poor light quality and limited controls.

BuildingGreen-Approved Lighting

BuildingGreen lists lighting products using LEDs (light-emitting diodes) from manufacturers whose luminaires... Read more