An elevator system can account for 4%–10% of a building's electric energy load, without considering impacts on heating and cooling. Conventional finishes are also common.

BuildingGreen-Approved Systems

We approve the most efficient tension elevators from leading manufacturers, including models that incorporate:

Hi All,

We are trying to make a case for hiring a full time sustainability specialist in our firm, and one of the arguments we want to use is that the ratio of sustainability specialists vs the ratio of full time employees in our company is quite low. That being said, I want to have an understanding of where other firms stand with this... Read more

Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:

Be aware of key dates in the history of the LEED rating system.

Have a clear understanding of the new impact areas present in the updated rating system.

Ascertain which types of new credits belong to which impact areas in the LEED v5 rating system.

Hi Sages,

Thanks to those who filled out the survey and helped set our agenda for Monday's meeting. We know that this time doesn't work for everyone (no time could, of course), so we'll be alternating times each month. The April meeting will be Thursday, 4/11 at 3:00 eastern.

The agenda is here. It also has the Zoom link (in case... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Resilient Design: 7 Lessons from Early Adopters

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


1. Recount the ten resilient design principles.
2. Recount each of the seven fundamental messages embraced by the model practitioners.
3. Describe... Read more

Re: 310 CMR 78.00: Ban of Covered Products Containing Certain Flame Retardants. This law took effect as of April 01, 2021, and is enforced by Mass DEP. 

Quick Summary: Law bans 11 types of chemical flame retardants from... Read more

Hi All,

As of February 1, I’ll no longer be on this Forum as I don’t fit into any of the roles of SDL (yet) and I respect this space as a haven for those who do.  Helping to form this network with Nellie, Jim and Nadav has been a highlight of my career. Its truly exciting to see SDL networks finally expand to other practice areas.  I am... Read more

I posted this on the SCL as well, but am looking for anyone's experience and/or suggestions.

For any of you who are already tracking your Scope 1, 2 & 3 emissions: Do you do so through a program (like the Carbon Disclosure Project) or do you have an in house excel file or ???? I'm looking for a good template and am open to... Read more

Buck Dodgers

Hi folks,

We had a great conversation about this today, following up on a past agenda item that we didn't get to, but that Kim wrote about a few weeks ago on a different thread. He said:

We didn't get to item 7:  "Question about company size as a qualification for the network".  I'd like to offer this input:  I'd like to open it... Read more

Hi - we're working with the University of California Office of the President to put together low-carbon case studies. The two types we are looking for now include 1) a low-carbon TI (not a full building gut/renovation), and 2) any that involve the circular economy (in this case not just building reuse but product reuse) which could include... Read more

Hi folks, we have a client who is interested in good precedents for measuring wellness. A little background: the project is a student health and wellness building, and what we'd typically measure (healthcare visits, staff absenteeism, etc) are pretty disease focused. We'd like to put in place systems for measuring positive things, like how many... Read more

We are working on a Core & Shell project with a developer that we work with frequently. I'm looking for advice on best approaches to achieving the Whole Building Life Cycle Assessment credit- we haven't used TALLY and done this type of analysis before. What are some approaches to achieving this credit that others have found successful? I... Read more

Hi everyone, 

The winning date for our Waste Management call is 3/24/2020 from 12pm-1pm PST.

Here is a link to the Google hangouts meet as well as a call in number for those without gmail accounts:

meet.google.com/cae-gdxd-qpp

(‪US‬)‪+1 240-224-0800‬

PIN: ‪996 308#‬

I am working on putting together an... Read more

The Sages network is specifically for industry veterans and long-time Peer Network members, including those who are still active with one of the other networks and those who have moved on from that role. This group can help set priorities, drive advocacy, and... Read more

BUILDINGGREEN

WELL AP Practice Guide - Site License

BG Premium Monthly Membership-Individual (auto-renewing)

BG Premium Yearly Membership-Individual (auto-renewing)

... Read more

For folks in the Southern New England, New York City area, I wanted to let you know about this interestesting design summit that is focusing on eliminating forced and slave labor in the building materials supply chain. I am not involved in organizing the summit, but I plan to attend. It is at Grace Farms in New Canaan, CT from 9:00 to 5:30 on... Read more

Our specification team is currently piloting and testing new software to replace E-specs without an easy favorite, and would really love to know what other firms are using.

First question - what software does your firm use for specifications and why?

Second question - would you/your specifier be willing to chat with ours about it... Read more

It may take hundreds or thousands of years to return to pre-industrial-age levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, but the loss of animal and plant species that is occurring today is, practically speaking, irreversible. It will take millions of years for evolution to fill the ecological niches being vacated by extinctions and restore healthy... Read more

Hi all,

We recently learned that Mass Dept of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) along with a few other state agencies are looking to offer grants for wastewater heat recovery implemented into projects. This is a newer technology that puts a heat exchanger or heat pump in the wastewater system that then extracts the heat energy and... Read more