Author
Amanda is BuildingGreen's Peer Networks Manager, working behind the scenes to support the Peer Networks team and members. They are passionate about sustainable design and love helping people find tangible ways to help the planet.
Prior to joining BuildingGreen in 2023, Amanda was a campaigns coordinator at a food justice... Read more
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Hi there colleagues!
Out of curiosity, do you plan on attending Greenbuild in person in San Diego in September? My staff asked me if we were going and my answer is partially contingent on the extent to which attending would mean getting to see some of our favorite people (read: all of you). Looking forward to taking the temperature of... Read more
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Hi everyone! Our sister company, Flatiron, is a heavy civil/infrastructure contractor based out of Broomfield, CO. Their sustainability team is on the hunt for a Circular Economy Manager. Our companies recently announced exciting public ESG and climate commitments, including several related to waste reduction, life cycle assessments, and more... Read more
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Hi All,
I have a client interested in exploring the development of their own custom framework to address environmental, health/wellness, and data security, among other parameters, but would also like to have it audited by a 3rd party.
Leveraging ISO 14001 could be one option. I also understand that GreenCirle certifies a few... Read more
Spotlight Report
Older buildings—especially those from the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s—need our help. Many leave something to be desired in terms of aesthetics and comfort. But the truth is that they are part of the urban and suburban fabric now, and they aren’t going anywhere. As tempting as it might seem to tear them all down and replace them with high-performance... Read more
Basic page
The High Performance Buildings Database (HPB) provides case studies of projects ranging from homes and commercial interiors to large buildings and even whole campuses and neighborhoods. These may be certified green projects, or simply projects that have one or more notable environmental features. We review each published case study to focus on... Read more
Quiz
Welcome to the quiz portion of Better Choices in Low-Slope Roofing.
Learning Objectives
Upon completing this course, participants will be able to:
1. Explain life-cycle impacts, health and environmental hazards, and durability of low-slope roofing options.
2. Classify situations for which reflective roofing... Read more
Forum topic
Hello SDL!
Has anyone set "Ecosystem Benefits/Service" targets for an individual project or for all their projects? I was previously against the idea of even measuring ecosystem benefits but I've had my mind changed in recent months!
Currently we want to set a target for every project to: "Improve ecosystem benefits on every site... Read more
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Hi Advising Leaders!
Lets get this forum going by introducing ourselves (yes, I know we mostly know each other, but just to be sure). And sharing what's most exciting and/or bugging us these days. Oh, and if you haven't already, please fill out your BG.com profile with a picture and bio.
I'll start. I'm Nadav, president at... Read more
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Has anyone found any options to recycle safety vests, or discovered an upcycling option for them? We are about to replace all of our vests company-wide and will have thousands that we don't want in the waste stream and we don't want to be reused as safety vests. Any thoughts or ideas would be great!
Thanks and I hope everyone is... Read more
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Hi all, has anyone come across a comprehensive (and recent) study looking at how long buildings actually last (beyond Stewart Brand)? I know of plenty that look at the benefits of reuse, but none that look at existing building stock and how much has been reused vs. demolished.
As we start looking at embodied carbon metrics, I can't help... Read more
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All,
I recently met Sahil Tadwalkar who is a Stanford MS Candidate in Civil Engineering. He and his group are interviewing design and construction industry professionals to understand issues and challenges around specifying and using low carbon solutions on projects. Interesting stuff! I encourage you to contribute by setting up an... Read more
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On a large sports project, we worked with the structural engineer to spec low carbon / high SCM concrete mixes. Much of the floor area will be sealed and polished concrete, and a concrete sub is pushing back on the SCMs saying they should not be above 20% (with a preference for 0%) for the polish to finish properly, per the manufacturer. Anyone... Read more
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Hi there SD Leaders,
We're running an LCA on one of our projects that's about to start construction that has had serious embodied carbon goals and I got a result that really surprised me. I haven't been able to find any obvious/glaring issues with the work, but these results are strange enough that I'm not feeling confident. I'm hoping... Read more
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Hi All,
Jacob Knowles from BR+A reached out with a request and I’m passing it on to you all. Jacob’s contact info is at the bottom of this so you can respond to him directly or respond here and I’ll forward it on:
We are working on assembling examples of large wet lab buildings that employ strategies to greatly reduce fossil... Read more