The BuildingGreen Guide to Thermal Insulation provides detailed guidance on insulation products and practices, including recommendations on what insulation to use and what to avoid. It's a treasure trove of information for architects and designers, builders, and anyone who is actively considering the impact of insulation on the quality of your... Read more

Following up on conversation from the Fika today, Kim said the IRS is supposed to be issuing rules for tax-based (even for orgs that don't pay tax) credits by the end of first quarter.  Sounds like we all just need to be on the look out still.

Some of us SDLers saw a need to create an online repository for the best simulation graphics and created IBPSA Project Stasio over the last couple of years. Along side graphics is a list of simulation questions (in progress) that we as architects may not know we could ask. The graphics are linked to answer the questions so our simulation... Read more

Does anyone know of reports/studies of financial benefits from the developer perspective on Passive House multifamily projects? Specifically looking for market rate (not affordable) housing examples where there is a direct market advantage (higher rents) for PH buildings. 

Welcome to the quiz portion of Getting Flame Retardants Out of Foam Insulation.

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


1. Summarize why and how flame retardants are used in foam insulation.
2. Elucidate the case for taking the chemicals out of foam insulation.
3.... Read more

Can anyone recommend waste haulers and processing facilities that are LEED compliant for processing commingled waste in the DC / MD area?

I know this is the Sustainable Construction Leaders and not the LEED Construction Leaders, but with waste management being such a big part of what we do, I wanted to crowd source a request for help.... Read more

All,

We are collecting examples of buildings that involved electrification initiatives (building does not need to be all electric as long as largely electric). Please share your projects with us through this short survey. It will take 8-10min to complete.

The study will culminate into a report and best practices to advocate for... Read more

Now that you’ve read “The Urgency of Embodied Carbon,” sign up for BuildingGreen Premium to take the quiz and get continuing education credits with AIA and GBCI.

BuildingGreen Premium includes access to our vast CEU library, including Spotlight Reports, feature articles, and webcasts. We’... Read more

Hi all - back in May I asked you for help reviewing our series ahead of publication. The first 5 posts are up, with the 6th a day or so away. Thanks to everyone who has helped out! 

It's a fail-forward effort to help us figure out what we are missing in our climate action on our projects and advocacy. Enjoy, and let me know if and how... Read more

There is a ton of stuff being posted about this, so this is definitely an area where it's nice to have had someone going through it and selecting the best. Thanks for doing that, Jen!

- These tips from 350.org have a great focus on connecting people and using different techniques. Their sample retreat shows how some of it might look in... Read more

Does anyone have a "healthy material" exterior bleacher benchtop (beyond natural wood or metal) recommendation for a public high school track and field? 

How do we discern between fiberglass, recycled plastic or HPDE?  Is there a rule of thumb on how to advocate for specifying a "not as bad" material? 

The project is in a coastal... Read more

Board insulation has good thermal performance ranging from about R-4 to R-8 and is used as an integral part of a building envelope’s continuous insulation system.

Because board insulation is used on the building exterior, it is not always subject to the same material health and emissions requirements as batt insulation used inside the... Read more

Has anyone used the new 3M Smog-Eating Granules on a roof before? Malarkey and Soprema are offering this as an option for their roof shingles. Seems like a great technology for urban areas, but I'd be curious to see if anyone here has actually successfully specified and installed it.

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/roofing-granules-us/... Read more

Hi all, 

The San Francisco Department of the Environment is hoping to gather info from designers and specifiers about construction surplus materials. Their survey is 8 questions total and not limited to those in the SF area. 

Pasting info below if you have a chance to participate! 

Calling Designers and Specifiers:

... Read more

Hello! 

We have several projects that are either pending ILFI Zero Carbon certification or the owner is planning to purchase offsets to cover construction emissions. Thus far, I have not considered this in our corporate footprint reporting. However, we are including A5 emissions whenever feasible and multiplying that performance over the... Read more

We broke up into 5 discussion groups by market sector:

Here are the proposed "guiding questions":