News Brief
At first glance,
An Environmental Handbook for Florida Contractors looks like it deals only with the environmental regulations that Florida contractors must contend with. And, indeed, the Handbook describes in detail the requirements for complying with regulations at the federal, state, and local levels. But the book goes much further,... Read more
Feature
Ozone depletion and global warming are two of our most serious environmental problems—and foam insulation materials containing CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) contribute significantly to both of these problems. The environmentally concerned builder or designer should make it a highest priority to avoid them. Even many of the non-CFC alternatives... Read more
Feature
Susan Maxman is the first AIA president to make sustainable design a priority.
Q.Where would you say architects as a group stand on environmental issues?
A.Architects tend to be reactive rather than proactive. It is important that we take the lead on these environmental issues. The architecture schools in particular tend to be conservative. They just aren’t... Read more
Op-Ed
Introducing the first issue of our newsletter.
Buildings have a tremendous impact on the environment. In North America, buildings and the building industry account for about 30% of carbon dioxide emissions, 35-40% of ozone depletion, 20-30% of municipal solid waste, vast quantities of natural resource consumption, and dramatic loss of open space each... Read more
Feature
Carefully stake the building site and driveway, remove trees that are within the excavation area or too close, then erect a fence to keep heavy equipment off fragile soils and away from nearby trees.
Protecting trees and the local ecosystem when building on previously unbuilt land is a vitally important—yet often overlooked—part of environmentally responsible construction. Healthy trees and shrubs can reduce a home’s environmental impact and directly benefit homeowners in a number of ways:
•Enhancing comfort by shielding the house... Read more
News Brief
The American Institute of Architects convention in Boston this past June was the setting for a changing of the guard in the American architectural establishment. The Institute’s first woman president took the reins, the Committee on the Environment became its largest and fastest growing committee, and the first installments of the Environmental... Read more
Reports, Courses, Study Guides, Live Webinars
If you don’t spend your “day-to-day” in the healthy materials space, it’s hard to create strategy and align your company to meet your customers' (what seems to be) ever-changing asks and project goals. This... Read more
Forum topic
Hi all,
Jacobs is looking to hire specifically for sustainability needs! We have a current job posting for a Senior Sustainability Specialist now up, and anticipate a similar posting soon for a mid-level person as well. Location for these would be in the Mountain or Pacific time zones, remote work is fine; other future anticipated posts... Read more
Forum topic
Hi Everyone!
I am building our internal/firm resources around sustainable design, and creating our post-occupancy evaluations is one of those resources. Does anyone have references or resources they'd recommend me to look into for post-occupancy evaluations? So far I am considering a few evalutation types: building user input, building... Read more
Author
P.J. is an accomplished writer and speaker who brings passion, humor, and discernment to all her work.
Whether it’s a spotlight report on decarbonization, a webinar on ESG, or just a chummy email bulletin, she is ferociously committed to truth, accuracy, and thoroughly... Read more
Forum topic
Following my retirement from BuildingGreen, I’m also looking to retire from the nonprofit Resilient Design Institute, which I’ve been leading since 2012. My default plan is to sunset the organization in the fall of 2024, but I wanted to offer the idea of someone (or multiple people) taking over the organization.
RDI is incorporated as a... Read more
Product Guide
Fluid-applied flooring (FAF), or resinous flooring, is made from various hazardous chemicals that can be released into the building, especially during application.
BuildingGreen-Approved Flooring
BuildingGreen selects FAF that meets CARB emissions standards AND either contains recycled content or offers other positive... Read more
Forum topic
I give you... the content-ready site. The editors should be able to start adding Best Practice content.
Development site:
https://live-bituser.pantheonsite.io/
Instructions (with tutorial videos):
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EUIzitkW0CczFQo8V2q3gVDVO4Juk4EI9iv8...
I created accounts for all the editors... Read more
Forum topic
Hi All - I wanted to share out the All For Reuse initiative below by two peers in the sustainable materials management network. I know some SDL have already done much research on this from quite a few angles, and those with LBC experience probably even moreso in practice.
Frances Yang (Arup) and Andrew Ellsworth (Doors Unhinged) have... Read more
Forum topic
We are putting together a free guide for firms who have not yet started to figure out what their internal standards are for healthy, low carbon materials/products.
As part of this effort, we are looking to gather from all of you who already have standards - examples and precedent.
Also we are collecting standards from clients/... Read more
Forum topic
Hey, team. Would it be possible to get premium access to LEED User while we're developing the best practices resources? (without subscribing to it- I don't LEED consult any longer) Southface has basic membership, so I can't see what's available, etc. Thanks.
Forum topic
Looking for a recommendation for architectural renderings who would be interested in doing some work for a Direct Air Capture project. A friend is working on a project with Deep Sky and I'd love to make a connection to someone(s) affiliated with the network, if possible.
Quiz
This pre-summit workshop was pre-approved for 6 AIA LUs and 6 GBCI CE hours.
Please complete the survey question to confirm your attendance and receive your CEUs.
By providing your credential numbers in your profile, you will enable us to automatically report these CEUs to the organization. Please check your profile to be sure... Read more

