Hi Everyone!

I'm Emily, GCI General Contractor's Sustainability Manager in San Francisco. Nice to meet you all.

I started with the company in 2013 and since then we've doubled in employees. I have been handling sustainability solo, until about 8 months ago, when we hired Alejandra Arce Gomez full-time to help manage the... 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:


The site license permits the purchaser to share the PDF Guide file within their company/organization and post it on their intranet. Site licenses do not include the CEU quiz.​ If multiple individuals in your organization would like to access the CEU accredited quiz, please purchase individual copies.

The sheer number of... Read more

Hi SD Leaders,

As you may be aware, this past April a group of manufacturers calling themselves the Living Product 50 responded to the letters that many of us sent about five years ago advocating for transparency in their product ingredients.  A copy of that letter can be reviewed about midway through the page at this link:  https://... Read more

Hello Sustainable Construction Leaders,

Save the date! The network's next quarterly call is scheduled for 1pm ET (10am PT), Tuesday November 16th. Topic TBD. Steering Group member Emi LaFountain from Turner will be leading the conversation.

Keep an eye on this thread for more details and Zoom information.

Jen

Welcome to the quiz portion of Verifying Performance with Building Enclosure Commissioning.

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


1. Reason why the enclosure is fundamental to a sustainable building.
2. Explain why energy goals are less likely to be achieved without... Read more

Hey everyone, 

With the coming In-Use Off-Road Diesel-Fueled Fleets Regulation | California Air Resources Board we have been doing some research on availability of R-99 fuel prior to the January 1 start date. One thing we aren't finding in the research is an estimate of cost impacts. Has anyone started rolling out R-99 on their sites yet... Read more

Just saying "Hello"  and happy to be joining the SDL peer network.  I am leading the effort at Integrus Architecture (Seattle and Spokane) to integrate performance and design and am looking forward to learning how others are accomplishing the same. 

Hi all!

I've heard several people talk about developing tools for assessing/codifying a client's values for a project as part of an integrated design process (ie. a set of questions, survey, etc.). Would anyone be willing to share?

(Z, are you listening? I specifically recall you mentioning a tool like this...)

Thanks!... Read more

Hi folks,

I'm looking into lower-carbon pipe options for HVAC and plumbing. The MEP 2040 has slides from a Buro Happold study in 2020 showing PEX to be much lower in embodied carbon than copper, which is unsurprising. CPVC is also a lower-carbon option.

But PVC has its issues and neither PVC nor PEX are recyclable (especially if... Read more

Have any of you relied on Green Badger for LEED documentation on projects?

I am familiar with the tool and know Tommy from my time in Atlanta, but have not used it on a construction project.

Have you found value? Thoughts?

Either way, they publish a pretty nifty "LEED v4 Construction Tool Kit" that may be useful for your... Read more

The ReUse Map created through the Material Flows Working Group is live and got some great traction at Greenbuild (Thank you Nadav and Barbara!).

To keep the map relevant and updated, we'll be looking at how to fund the maintenance of the map, the best ways to get the word out and looking at writing a white paper. If you want to be part... Read more

Hello all, excuse the blast and the short timeline -- while not explicity sustainability-related, this is a great way to connect with the future of the profession, and can be a great opportunity for SDL firms on the west coast (a number of SDL firms already participate), specifically in Tacoma, Olympia, San Francisco, Sacramento, or San Diego.... Read more

Hi everyone,

I’d like to invite you to join this Friday’s webinar hosted by the Embodied Carbon Network: Using Whole Building LCA to Reduce Embodied Carbon within LEED and Beyond, and to follow up with a tool that I presented at this summer’s Architecture SDL summit, which ZGF has now upgraded and made free to the industry at large.... Read more

Gypsum is calcium sulfate dehydrate, which is mined or produced as a byproduct of flue gas desulphurization (FGD) from coal-fired power plants. FGD gypsum may contain trace contaminants from coal processing, but not enough to represent a hazard to users. Years ago, some imported products created indoor air quality problems that required... Read more

Hi everyone,

Have your projects explored, pursued, or successfully achieved the domestic content bonus for PV systems within the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) Investment Tax Credit? I have a project that is considering adding the IRA domestic content requirements and we are trying to understand the nuances and potential challenges (cost... Read more