Embodied carbon in products and existing buildings. What does LCA tell us about renovation vs. new construction and material choices?

Guiding Questions: 

Apologize in advance if this has been posted before but we are trying to get manufacturers of stage curtains to give documentation that proves that the product does not have halogenated fire retardants. Manufacturers say they don't have them or concentrations are limited to 100ppm but they don't seem to have documentation to provide for it.... Read more

Hi all - Can you help me with a list of states with pending electrification/fossil fuel free ordinances? I am providing some technical aasistance for an article that is going to press soon. The author has listed WA, CO, and MA but I'm unsure how far each of these go and if it's technically correct to call them electrification ordinances.

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The world’s most powerful customers are looking to rein in the excesses of their suppliers. Climate change is the likely catalyst for a recent uptick in calls for corporate transparency... Read more

For those of you working in jurisdictions with both prescriptive and performance-based commercial energy code pathways, roughly what percentage of your projects are using the performance pathway? How do your project teams decide which pathway to follow?

In Minnesota we are seeing very few projects pursuing the performance pathway,... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of What Makes a Product Green Today?

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


Hi All,

The National Architectural Accrediting Board is currently undergoing review and revision of its “Conditions for Accreditation and Procedures for Accreditation.”

I recently attended the 2019 Reynolds Symposium: Education by Design, hosted by the University of Oregon in Portland. At the Symposium, a group of 100... Read more

Though BuildingGreen has long supported the use of electric hand dryers as a more environmentally friendly hand drying option, the majority of evidence appears to support paper towels as a preferred method of controlling the spread of potential pathogens. 

And even the most efficient hand dryers contribute significant CO2 to the... Read more

I wanted to alert you to this opportunity to help develop a new ASHRAE Standard. They are especially looking for people who have not served with ASHRAE previously (aka the usual suspects)

ASHRAE Standard 242P, Standard Method for Calculation of Building Operational Greenhouse Gas Emissions

1 Purpose: This standard provides a... Read more

Hi everyone,

Thanks so much again to everyone who attended the Spring 2024 SCL Summit. The report is now available and is a public document that can be shared.

Please feel free to email me with any questions. Enjoy!

I opened IE11 (Internet Explorer 11) today, and saw a message indicating IE11 will be retired June 15th, 2022. While I have no personal attachment to IE11, it was the only internet browser I could consistantly get to open LEED Online credit templates on the actual website. 

Has anyone found another way to be able to fill out LEED credit... Read more

Hi all!

NESEA's BuildingEnergy Boston is happening March 28-29 at the Westin in Boston's Seaport. Would anyone like to meet up there? There are a few happy hour-like events we could meet at in the Trade show space or I'm open to other ideas! Let me know if you're interested. Here is more info: https://nesea.org/conference/buildingenergy-... Read more

Hi Fellow GG: I just wanted to make sure everyone saw the great announcement from the White House yesterday about Code updates to address energy efficiency and resilience. It's great to see these kinds of initiatives that hopefully can continue for a few more years. So let's try to take advantage of them (said by someone who lives in Missouri... Read more

Seems to be a trend! We're looking to fill a Sustainability Specialist position at Perkins Eastman: 

http://perkinseastman.hrmdirect.com/employment/job-opening.php?req=89745...

Please let me know if you have any potential candidates who might be a good fit! 

Has anyone here found an alternative to XPS for the void former?

A structural engineering contact was included in recent conversations about embodied carbon in insulation materials and brought to our attention that this is a common use for XPS that has nothing to do with its insulating properties. It is typically used where concrete is... Read more

I'm sure may are familiar with Aqua in Chicago, and Joe Lstiburek's article on thermal bridging. (https://buildingscience.com/documents/insights/bsi062-thermal-bridges-redux) We have similar problem with a project that is a residential highrise building, concrete structure. Here is my questions. Will energy simulation be able to pick up the... Read more

Hey All!

One of the initiatives from our first meeting in Chicago was to gather and develop resources related to plug and process loads in buildings which will help us all with: energy modeling, equipment sizing and power distribution.  We had our first call this morning and are rolling.  Aspirations are that this could turn into a... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Three Imperatives to Create the Future of Green Building.

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


1. Explain why it's relevant to teach cross-disciplinary skills in the green building industry.
2. Detail the reasons for encouraging... Read more