Author
Products & Materials Specialist and LEED AP BD+C Brent Ehrlich excels at deep, unbiased, and nuanced technical research on the health and environmental impacts of green building products and materials. Some areas of focus include:
product and material constituents, including their risks
product certifications
... Read more
Spotlight Report
Remember 2013? LEED version 4 had just been released to the public. Hardly anyone was using it, though—not only because they didn’t have to, but also because there just wasn’t a pathway to achieve many of the new credits in the rating systems. Especially the product-related credits in the Materials & Resources category, along with the Low-... Read more
Forum topic
It’s here! By popular demand we’re re-running the SDL Salary Survey that we last ran in 2015.
This is for people who are currently in an SD Leader role at a firm. We’re sending this invitation out on both the Green Gurus and the SD Leaders forums, because some of you are still in transition and haven’t moved into the SD Leader forum yet... Read more
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Hi all - I am in need of specification language for wood sourced from tribally owned and managed forests. Does anybody have examples they would be willing to share? I would be so greateful! thank you
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Hello all,
I've been in communication with a few of you already, but for those who don't know me - my name is Jen and I'm a new member of the BuildingGreen team helping out with the Peer Networks. I've already been learning a lot, and I'm looking forward to getting to know the SDL Network and its members better!
Here are the... Read more
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With an urgent climate justice mission, AIA has the call open for volunteers to help shape our industry's action. COTE, the Codes + Standard Committee (one of the most important committees anywhere!), Board Committees (including the Committee on CLimate Action and Design Excellence - CCADE) and the Strategic Council have openings. Consider how... Read more
Quiz
Welcome to the quiz portion of Deep Material Vetting (That Won't Chew Through Your Design Budget).
Learning Objectives
Upon completing this course, participants will be able to:
1. Align product vetting with goals that aim to mitigate occupant exposure and environmental toxicity.
2. Foster partnerships with... Read more
Product Guide
Plug loads—the energy consumed by plugged-in devices—can use a substantial amount of the total energy in both residential and commercial buildings.
BuildingGreen-Approved Controls
BuildingGreen approves products that monitor and reduce electricity use for plugged-in electrical devices.
Plug Loads and Energy Conservation... Read more
Quiz
This summit was pre-approved for 10 AIA HSW LUs and 10 GBCI CE hours.
Please complete the survey question to confirm your attendance and receive your CEUs.
By providing your credential numbers in your profile, you will enable us to automatically report these CEUs to the organization. Please first check your profile to be sure your... Read more
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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
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Hello Sustainable Advising Leaders!
We have another call coming up next Tuesday, March 17th at 1pm Eastern Time. Here is an agenda, Zoom call information is below.
We'll dive into getting to know each other better and also talk about the best path forward for this group.
Hope you can join us!
Jen
Join Zoom... Read more
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Hi everyone,
Since I know we have a lot of talented people in this group, I'd like to reach out to those of you based in Los Angeles and see if anyone is interested in talking at an upcoming Living Building Challenge collaborative event. The topic of the meeting is "Selecting Healthy Materials 101: From the perspectives of... Read more
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Hi, we need 3-4 folks to volunteer to join us to work out a draft Materials section for the Contractors Commitment. Meeting set for 6/16 @ 2 PM CST.
Please message me at pslloyd@leopardo.com if interested in participating. I will forward out the meeting invite. If the time doesn't work, but you want to participate, I will share info in... Read more
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Welcome to 2030 reporting season!
I brought up on the Fika today that there is a webinar December 5th to show updates to the DDx including the calculation of operational carbon from your energy data. Below is a link to register.
https://aia.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUocOutrTItHtWiySNMIqfGYv4ZbAhtjSg...
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The EC3 Tool has come up quite a few times in the Green Guru's conversations. We're hosting an online review with Stacy Smedley and Mark Chen from Skanska.
Wednesday September 29th at 3pm PST
The tickets are free and this will be a Teams meeting.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/using-the-ec3-tool-the-why-and-how-tickets-...... Read more
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Hive mind,
We recently learned that 3M has discontinued the production of their 3M Daylight Redirecting Film (https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/building-window-solutions-us/solutions/dayli...). This product was selected by an architecture client last year as the optimal daylight/glare control strategy for a school project, and we're assisting... Read more
Reports, Courses, Study Guides, Live Webinars
Successfully managing the LEED documentation process requires specific knowledge, tools, and skills that are not covered in the LEED Reference Manual. This CEU course is based on the LEED Project Management course that GreenStep developed and teaches through UC–Berkeley Extension. It is designed for professionals who are somewhat familiar... Read more
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So I was testing assigning a BIT Expert to a Best Practice and I am having trouble getting the profile image to appear.
When I upload a profile picture, it appears on the standard profile page from "My Account" but when I navigate to the BIT Best Practice 01, the image does not show and it takes me to another profile page that does... Read more