Hello all,

We are looking at ways we can use our specs to reduce toxicity in projects and one step towards that goal may be to require RoHS compliant lighting, switches, alarms, meters, etc., as required by the Small Electrical Components exception in the Living Building Challenge. Based on LBC projects I have been involved with, it... Read more

An elevator system can account for 4%–10% of a building's electric energy load, without considering impacts on heating and cooling. Conventional finishes are also common.

BuildingGreen-Approved Systems

We approve the most efficient tension elevators from leading manufacturers, including models that incorporate:

Welcome to the quiz portion of Saying Goodbye to the Office—and Hello to Housing!

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


We are coordinating an effort to produce a "Building Reuse Practice Guide for Climate Action" for the AIA.  This is intended as a resource for architects working on major renovations and adaptive reuse, with a focus on reducing energy use, lower embodied carbon, electrification, and adapting to a changing climate. We are looking for around 5... Read more

Hi everyone,

As part of our monthly SDLS call yesterday, we looked through the 2020 SD Leaders Winter Summit Report. To help paint an even fuller picture of what was covered at that summit, here are slides from many of the 5-minute presentations.

As a note: we have permission from these presenters to share their slides within the... Read more

Tomorrow is my last day at FXCollaborative before I head back to school. It has been such a gift to engage with you all over the past 10 years. Please stay in touch - my contact information is ilanajudah@gmail.com. I am headed out to UBC next week to do a deep dive into resilience and adaptation in urban environments.

FXCollaborative... Read more

Hi folks,

We had a fun impromptu conversation on our call last week. We got most involved in the challenge of getting developers interested in taking advantage of IRA Tax Credits. That can be quite a challenge given their business model.

We also heard about emerging data on tradeoffs between embodied and operating carbon, and how... Read more

All,

The current version of the program manual includes ID numbers for the best practices, as shown below. I know we want to keep a quick reference number or ID, but though it would be worth asking if we want to use the below, reorder them in some way, or use a different kind of ID. Opinions?

Thanks,
Jenny

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Hello SCL,

Our diligent Contractor's Commitment working group (led by the great Amanda Atkinson) have reviewed a massive amount of feedback and will soon be releasing an updated version of the program (CC 2.0). We will need a majority of the SCL membership to vote YES to adopt the updated version for 2023. 

In advance of the vote... 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 How Buildings Fail Their Users!

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


Explain the importance of finding common ground between a client’s project goals and the project team’s sustainability building goals for successful projects that incorporate... Read more

Help regarding below...

OSHA, see below link, suggests 6' social distancing for unvaccinated or at-risk workers.

https://www.osha.gov/coronavirus/safework#role-employers-workers

Is your office going to maintain 6' social distancing for your workers?   Is the reason above because there are unvaccinated or at-risk workers?... Read more

On our Contractor Coffee talk a few weeks ago, Emi LaFountain (Turner Construction) brought up the idea that there was a lot of blue stain wood that are being landfilled instead of used, and suggested that maybe the designers among us could find a way to turn ugly into beautiful.

I had never heard of this issue, but I was on a call the... Read more

I've been seeing Armstrong's DC flexzone ceiling system at Greenbuild for many years. I'm working on a net zero project with LED lights and solar panels. In theory, the transmission losses in going from DC power from panels to AC for the building to DC for the lights would be eliminated. But does anyone actually have experience using this... Read more

Hi folks -

I was contacted last week by the producer of the documentary that launches this Thursday, 12/10 - he is hoping to generate interest among folks across the environmental spectrum (which of course includes all of us!) so I am sharing his pitch below with you all. The subject of water scarcity and drought is only going to... Read more

We are working on a Core & Shell project with a developer that we work with frequently. I'm looking for advice on best approaches to achieving the Whole Building Life Cycle Assessment credit- we haven't used TALLY and done this type of analysis before. What are some approaches to achieving this credit that others have found successful? I... Read more

The Sages network is specifically for industry veterans and long-time Peer Network members, including those who are still active with one of the other networks and those who have moved on from that role. This group can help set priorities, drive advocacy, and... Read more