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

Does anyone have install experience with Duracryl yet? I'm looking at it for a large project in place of Marmoleum. We've had multiple instances of install failures with Marmoleum, which leads to lots of finger pointing. 

Hello everyone,

Wondering if anyone has evaluated/considered/specified wood fiber insulation for use in lieu of mineral wool as the exterior wall insulation?  Am mostly looking to better understand domestic availability, r-value and fire/combustibility.

We have a multi-family building in DC where the client is interested in using... 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

Lighting can be inefficient and have poor quality, short lifespans, and toxic ingredients.

BuildingGreen-Approved Replacement Lamps and Lighting

BuildingGreen approves a variety of replacement lamps and lighting, including:

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

Welcome to the quiz portion of Embracing the Economy as a Design Challenge!

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


Understand the ways that architects, community developers and others are experimenting with new financial models to support progressive design.

Approach... Read more

Hello, 

All my experience with sustainability has been at the building-level. We are currently being asked within an RFP to list our firm's ESG score and certifying organization. Our firm is about 300-employees and is owned soley by the employees. 

When do A/E firms obtain an ESG score?

is it based on company size? or... Read more

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...

The sheer number of building product certifications and labels is overwhelming, and even those experienced with green labels can get exhausted trying to figure out which are relevant and which aren’t.

The confusion in the market over green labels can complicate efforts of both manufacturers and design professionals... Read more

Hi. I'm Dan Piselli, the new Director of Sustainability at FXCollaborative. You all may know my predecessor Ilana Judah - she and I worked together closely for many years, and I can only hope to emulate her success.

FYI, a few things about me: I've been a project architect and manager for a number of LEED projects, most recently the... Read more

Hi SDL'ers, as promised I am sending information about how to support getting flame retardants out of foam insulation. I am attaching a draft letter to Foam Manufacturers, an intro to that letter giving some background and a list of From manufacturers.   Thanks, please contact if you have any questions.   Larry Strain, Siegel & Strain... Read more

Green Gurus,

First of all, it was great to see so many of you joining our last month BSA COTE webinar! I hope you enjoyed it.

Coming up next Wednesday at 2pm EDT (11am PDT, 12pm MDT, 1pm CDT), we'll have the inspiring Ashley Rao from Leers Weinzapfel leading the presentation titled INTEGRATED SUSTAINABILITY AT THE JOHN W. OLVER... Read more

Call for Reviewers and Call for Proposals now out.  If you're not planning on submitting a proposal to present, please consider volunteering as a reviewer, subject matter expert or member of the Program Working Group.  The quality of the education program is directly proportional to the people who select it!  

See many of you in Alabama... Read more

Hello SD Leaders!

I recently joined and looking forward to all the amazing dialog. I was told that for membership to be official, I must reveal my unsustainable secret. As much as I preach environmental protection in architecture, I’m a bit of a motorhead with a 1967 HP 289 Mustang that I resurrected from a junk yard when I was 16 — that... Read more