They do, seriously.  They are fine people with tons of information, and without them, all of us Architects would be, well, out of luck.

So, we first want to say THANK YOU to all of our contractor friends who took part in our Contractor Coffee Talk on Tuesday. THAT WAS AWESOME!

We learned things like:

Checking in to see if any of you have had good job site success with plastic water bottle recycling. Due to the LBC recycling requirements, we have to source separate onsite, and we're trying to has a separate plastics bin. For the most part, water bottles is going to be on of our biggest contributors.

We have all these resources out here in the ether but it’s so hard to pull them into one spot! I was asked, last minute to join a client call today to help convince both the client (affordable housing developer) and the mechanical engineers to "stick with" a commitment to 100% electric design that was publicly stated when the competition was... Read more

Wellness is key to sustainable design. As more and more clients understand the value of healthy built environments, designers need to understand the various wellness rating systems available, and which would meet the project's goals and needs.

WELL and Fitwel have emerged as the two leading wellness rating systems,... Read more

Hi Gurus,

It seems odd to think about leases now, during a time when most business are giving up leases or reducing their footprints, but there are still leases going on! Please share this link to any clients of yours who might be interested and sign up yourself if you want to advocate to your clients to consider these leases!

... Read more

We should probably agree on the correct spelling for what we at BuildingGreen are calling "BITuser." I noticed that on the Salesforce portfolio screenshot provided by Dennis, it's spelled "BIT User."

BITuser has the advantage of more closely resembling LEEDuser, but it has the disadvantage of looking a little weird in all-caps, as in... Read more

First, there was Energy Use reductions

Then there was embodied carbon

Soon it will be refrigerant use/leakage calculations

…and much more

As coordinators and leaders of project teams, what does this look like for the practicing architect and our collaborators?

I have no idea. BUT I’m guessing someone is... Read more

Hi all,

We are looking to study Passive House on a couple small multifamily projects. Our understanding is that WUFI Passive only integrates with SketchUp at this time. Our BIM manager has been trying to find an example of a firm that works in Revit and uses WUFI Passive, to point him in the right direction on workflow. I offered to ask... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Video: Energy Reporting in LEED with MPR6.

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


1. Define the role of MPRs in achieving LEED certification
2. Describe MPR6 and the pathways for achievement
3. Answer MPR6 Frequently Asked Questions... Read more

Hi everyone,

We're pitching a green wall to a client for a project in NYC and are looking for recommendations on systems/companies.  We've done them locally, but the company we've worked with only services the Boston area.  There are so many companies out there now that we'd rather go with one that's recommended.  Thanks in advance for... Read more

A couple Minnesota cities are considering adding electrification to their sustainable building policy (required for new construction receiving City financial assistance). Concerned that the market isn't ready for a full-on mandate, they are considering a more moderate approach of requiring developers/design teams to conduct an electrification... Read more

Are you getting questions, advice, and dubious sales pitches from all comers about how to design and run an HVAC system to combat infectious disease? You’re not alone. Engineers, facility managers, architects, and other building professionals are all... Read more

On LEEDuser we divide checklists into multiple project phases. Specifically:

How many of these phases are relevant for BIT best practices?

Note that we also... Read more

Does anyone have a "healthy material" exterior bleacher benchtop (beyond natural wood or metal) recommendation for a public high school track and field? 

How do we discern between fiberglass, recycled plastic or HPDE?  Is there a rule of thumb on how to advocate for specifying a "not as bad" material? 

The project is in a coastal... Read more

OSB subflooring typically contains formaldehyde, and wood may not be sustainably sourced.

BuildingGreen-Approved Subflooring

Products approved by BuildingGreen contain no added formaldehyde or are available with FSC-certified content.

Magnesium oxide panels, which are particularly insect and moisture resistant, are also... Read more

How interested are you in a Sustainable MEP Leaders Summit this summer? 

Please respond to this poll ASAP, as we need to gauge interest before we finalize any details.

When: Wed. July 26 at noon to Thurs. July 27 at 1:30. 
Where: At a conference facility near Boston
Cost: $1200, which includes lodging, meals, and... Read more

Hey group,

I'm part of the contractor team on a large commercial project pursuing LBC v3.1 Petal Certification, with one of those petals being materials. This requires the team to meet Imperative 10 Red List.

The ownership group has taken the responsibility of red list vetting as a task of their own. The construction team is to... Read more