BuildingGreen Report

Product Guide

Virgin materials can come with major environmental impacts from mining, petroleum extraction, or irresponsible logging practices.

BuildingGreen-Approved Site Furnishings

All approved products contain some post-consumer recycled content, with several boasting 90%–100% overall recycled material. Wood products are responsibly sourced... Read more

Reports, Courses, Study Guides, Live Webinars

THIS WEBINAR PURCHASE AND REGISTRATION IS CLOSED.

Hot spots: they might sound like fun places to hang out and have a drink—but in green building, they’re actually a bad thing. Something you track down so you can get rid of it. Kind of like being an environmentalist bounty hunter.

Life-cycle assessment (LCA) is... Read more

Forum topic

Hi folks,

Mahesh announced today that he's leaving his position as CEO of USGBC, GBCI, and ArkScoru, effective Nov. 1. An interim CEO will be announced tomorrow.

I think that Mahesh did some great things for the organization(s)--and he had some really loyal team members. He could also be challenging to work with--as I learned... Read more

Author

Mary Ann Lazarus

Forum topic

Hello Everyone - we posted this to SAL, but also wanted to reach the Green Gurus folks!

To prepare for a co-creative workshop at the Environmental Design Research Association annual conference, "Health in All Places" our team ( myself, B. Sanborn, Penny Cole) is soliciting input via an all-questions-optional survey regarding ungendered... Read more

Forum topic

Hello SMEPers,

I’m hoping to crowd source some anecdotes for a guest lecture I’ll be giving at Yale’s architecture school. The topic is integrated design (especially between architects and engineers) and how it enables better sustainability outcomes.

John Boecker has this great story about how choosing a paint color with higher... Read more

Forum topic

Hi everyone, 

We’re so excited to announce that registration for the 2025 SMEPL Summit is now live! Register here and save your seat to join BuildingGreen, your SMEPL peers, and members of all three other networks for a first-of-its-kind summit this year.

In addition to the SMEPL Summit, you’ll have the option of joining us for... Read more

Forum topic

I had a client ask recently if there is a 'better' global social justice tool than ILFI's JUST for use outside the U.S. 

Personally, I'd look to WELLv2 feature C12 - Organizational Transparency for other options... but personally have very limited knowledge of options c-e.

Do folks have an opinion on if any of these prograams are... Read more

Quiz

Welcome to the quiz portion of Pest Prevention: Steps Designers Can Take!

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


Recount the problems and challenges that various pests present to the green building industry, such as health risks to occupants and structural issues that decrease building... Read more

Forum topic

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

Forum topic

Some of you saw my 5-minute presentation about the Rich Earth Institute in Brattleboro, Vermont and how it is inventing new ways to keep excess nutrients from urine out of surface waters and use them instead as fertilizer. Now you can also hear about it on Planet Money: https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2018/01/26/581156723/episode-820-p-is... Read more

Forum topic

I know we have talked about this on various calls, so I wanted to post in case anyone hasn't seen that the IRS has provided an update with rules on how to access the direct pay option.

https://www.usgbc.org/articles/irs-issues-ira-tax-credit-rules-tax-exemp...

Forum topic

We have a project that is looking for plaster/stucco/textured wall products that are sustainable, or “more sustainable.”

I know these products exist, but I haven’t had to spec or work with any, so I’m reaching out.

The project is in MA, so I'm also soliciting recommendations for products and/or companies who are experienced using... Read more

Forum topic

Hi everyone,

Thanks so much to all who filled out the Doodle poll for the Sages monthly call meeting time, and to those who have introduced themselves on the forum.

We’ll be going with Monday, March 11th at 4 pm ET for this next meeting, and I’ll be sending out a calendar invitation shortly. It’s been a tough call to make — we... Read more

Forum topic

The AIA just announced the 2019 Young Architect Award Winners and our own Julie Hiromoto is one of the recipients.  Just wanted to say "CONGRATS JULIE!"  Well done!

https://www.aia.org/resources/6099220-2019-aia-awards---young-architects?utm_source=RealMagnet&utm_medium=email&utm_term=30134332--a3911d92-2589-4799-aed4-... Read more

Forum topic

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