News Analysis
EBN Advisory Board member Mike Nicklas led an international delegation of renewable energy experts in promoting sustainable energy at the Earth Summit last month. He and others were negotiating for inclusion of renewable energy and energy conservation measures into agreements being worked out for the United Nations... 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
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
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
Forum topic
Hi all,
We are trying to encourage participation in take-back programs and using recyclable packaging with our vendors and I was wondering how we can add it to specifications. Does anyone have any examples on how we can add wording in specs about participation in take-back programs, using recyclable packaging and/or reducing non-... Read more
Forum topic
Hi all,
We're doing some tool-related soul searching at WRNS and some folks here have raised Cove.Tool as a potentially interesting addition to our library. I'm looking for any insight you all can provide. Cove has come up various times, but curious if there's been any change for the better/worse in the past few years.
Do you use... Read more
Quiz
Welcome to the quiz portion of Finding Furniture Without Toxic Flame Retardants.
Learning Objectives
Upon completing this course, participants will be able to:
1. Explain why avoiding toxic flame retardants is important.
2. Explain how we were swindled into dosing our buildings and our bodies with flame... Read more
Forum topic
Hi SDLers,
We’re really looking forward to connecting with many of you in a few weeks for the Summer Summit. Those of you who have registered are now actively helping to set the agenda--as always, it will be filled with rich conversations and connections.
For a range of reasons--new patterns due to the pandemic, the economy, your... Read more
Forum topic
Hello,
We are becoming involved with the design/construction of a new k-12 school that is intersted in entertaining geothermal. Does anyone have payback studies on geothermal?
Thanks!
Basic page
What better way to follow up the magic of a live presentation from Peter Yost than with 30 free days of BuildingGreen Premium?
Get a free 30 days of BuildingGreen Premium »No credit card required Peter Yost, relaxing after a long week's work.
Forum topic
You're invited to join your colleagues in an SCL Whole Group Web Meeting on Construction Waste May 14th, 2019 11am - Noon EST!!
Report-out web meeting led by Jennifer Taranto and Jenelle Shapiro on what’s been going on in regions, talk as a whole SCL group about how best to support local MRFs' and haulers' activities, and how to leverage... Read more
Forum topic
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
Forum topic
Hope you can join the Small Firm Sustainable Design Leaders CALL this Thursday, 12/12 @ 1pm Eastern.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/629388002
AGENDA
Nadav will lead a conversation about the new(ish) sustainability clauses in AIA’s Code of Ethics
1. Do you think that they... Read more
Product Guide
Wall and corner guards increase durability, but these products are typically made of PVC.
BuildingGreen-Approved Guards
BuildingGreen approves products that avoid the use of PVC and are made with recycled content, FSC-certified wood, other biobased materials, or less-problematic plastics.
Health and Environmental... Read more
Forum topic
All,
I am on the Board of an Environmental organization in the Catskills (The Catskill Center for Conservation and Development https://catskillcenter.org/). We are trying to develop a policy on siting of clean energy projects. For example, we know of one town that bans PV's that can be seen from the road, another is a proposal to... Read more
Forum topic
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

