I am the Moderator of the 2023 Strategic Council and the call for nominations for the 2024-2026 Strategic Council at-large representatives has just been released.  I would encourage any interested parties to apply for this position.

The Strategic Council’s purpose is to develop ideas to inform future needs and opportunities for the... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of How To Run a Great Workshop: 37 Tips and Ideas.

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


1. Explain how the right mindset contributes to a successful design workshop.
2. Schedule a design workshop, set its agenda, and balance the skills of its... Read more

Producing a ton of cement releases approximately a ton of CO2 into the atmosphere, but accessories like finishes and additives can also be major sources of VOCs, soil contamination, and human health risks.

BuildingGreen-Approved Concrete Accessories

BuildingGreen approves the following concrete accessories:

Hi everyone,
The city of Portland recently expanded acceptable certifications for affordable housing projects they provide funding for to include Enterprise Green Communities Certification. Other options are LEED (flavor depends on project size) and Earth Advantage Multifamily, which is a regionally owned and operated certification. This... Read more

consider supporting Varun Kohli for AIA Board At-Large seat

If you are a voting delegate for the AIA, please consider casting a vote for my friend and COTE colleague, Varun Kohli, FAIA; he's running for the At-Large seat on the AIA national Board of Directors.

Varun is a former COTE Leadership Group member and he understands... Read more

Good Afternoon!

has anyone heard of this?  the program focuses on healthcare construction but i think it would be good for all construction sites to have a certified individual.  And for those of us that report to CDP, this would be a good risk management strategy to include.

https://greenadvantage.org/pcra-certificate-program... Read more

Does anyone up here do or have familiarity with anyone who regularly does NEPA EIS? If you need a definition for the acronym, please see here: https://www.epa.gov/nepa/national-environmental-policy-act-review-process#EIS. I've been asked if I know anything about it, to which the answer is no, but I'd like to get smarter about it and I'm hoping... Read more

Hi SDL: Check out this great interview with Paul Hawken and  COTE members Gunnar Hubbard and Kira Gould. Lots of inspirational ideas about the importance of the built environment in carbon drawdown: 

Here's that link---

https://www.architectmagazine.com/technology/aia-cote-in-conversation-with-paul-hawken_o

thanks.

... Read more

Hi SD Leaders: I wanted you to know about a terrific initiative that is part of the Project Drawdown effort called Project Drawdown Ecochallenge. The Project Drawdown EcoChallenge is a fun and social way to learn about and take action on the 100 most substantive solutions to global warming. 
Drawdown EcoChallenge provides tools and... Read more

Hi All, this is primarily directed at our Sustainable MEP folks, but please anyone with insight feel free to weigh in.

I am increasingly seeing designs and specifications asking for Passive House levels of airtightness as verified by blower door testing, but with traditional ventilation system designs. 

To me, Passive House US has... Read more

You're invited to join your colleagues in an SCL Whole Group Web Meeting on Contractors’ Commitment May 28th, 2019 1:00 PM PST / 4:00 PM EST!!

Web meeting focused on an update with the contractors' commitment work. This is an SCL whole group call led by Kena David.

Join the meeting on Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/972367514  

... Read more

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting is an increasingly common expectation throughout financial sectors, and the real estate industry is no exception. 

This live webinar with our friend Chris Pyke, Ph.D., a senior vice president... Read more

For the fourth year in a row, we’re proud to release our sustainability survey findings, based on the real-world knowledge and experience of our clients and partners, to help determine how sustainability, resilience and wellness are perceived by the commercial real estate industry. We’ve compiled these survey results in our 2019 report, which... Read more

All,

Some of my colleagues and I have been working to promote interest in mass timber construction for K-12 builidngs.  As part of that effort we redesigned a large high school using mass timber in lieu steel, and conducted a whole building life cycel assessment to measure the reduction in embodied carbon.  We also conducted a program-... Read more

The Planning for Resilient Outcomes Working Group has had a few preliminary meetings and we would like to invite interested Green Gurus to join our group.  To give you an idea of what we are about, we have developed a purpose statement to guide our future work: 

The Planning for Resilient Outcomes working group will elevate the industry'... Read more

Hi everyone,

Just a reminder that the first-ever Sages monthly call is happening tomorrow, February 13th, at 12pm ET! We'll be introducing ourselves to each other and discussing our visions for the network. 

Here is the agenda for the meeting, and below is the Zoom info: 

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of LEED 2009: The Missing Manual.

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


1. Stay abreast of changes to LEED NC-2009.
2. Understand the more ambiguous aspects of LEED NC-2009.
3. Explain key interpretations of LEED NC-2009.
4.... Read more