I am looking for example specifications for low carbon concrete to have our structural engineer(s) review and incorporate.  Does anyone have good examples or  link(s) to good examples?

Thanks,

Mark

Happy Friday, SDL!

We're running a Tally WBLCA for an environmental education center, which has a very small floor area but a fairly robust concrete/steel structure. Still, I was surprised to find an intensity of over 1,000 kgCO2/m2 for the building.

This is way higher than the general benchmarks I've found in the CLF's database,... Read more

Hi Fellow SDLers: I'm sure you're like me and thrilled at the news of the Senate's passage of the historic climate bill yesterday. And also are likely on pins and needles until it's passed the House and signed into law. What a conclusion of a terrible roller-coaster ride that is our Congressional system.

I'm writing to pass along a... Read more

Hi Green Gurus,

We have recently had a beloved member of the HKS DesignGreen team relocate to Toronto due to work visa challenges in the US. Our loss could be your gain if you have an office in Toronto! We are hoping to collect a list of leads for him once the dust settles on his move and he begins his job hunt. If you have any... Read more

I'm looking to compare using an electric tower crane vs a diesel generated tower crane.  I've got the average gallons/hour for the size of crane I'm looking at, but when I reached out to the crane manufacturers, they can only tell me what size electric supply I need to provide, not the kWh usage for the cranes.  I know that it varies depending... Read more

Our firm was asked by a government client in Canada to update their specifications for concrete to capture low embodied carbon as a performance metric. From the SDL group's knowledge of concrete procurement:

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

Welcome to the quiz portion of Take Control of Your Materials: Four Empowering Lessons from Teams That Beat the Red List.

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


1. Customize a framework to prioritize goals and simplify complex material decisions.
2. Use a red-list... Read more

All--

A few months ago, I sent around a note about an article I was writing about the state of post-occupancy studies. It finally came out, in the latest issue of Metropolis. Great quotes and work from Payette, EDR, KieranTimberlake, HKS, and others. Thanks to all for helping with this.

I don't believe it's available online yet,... Read more

Hello all,

We are having a mini office debate on fiberglass vs aluminum windows for use in schools (k-12) in Massachusetts. In the past we have always used aluminum windows on our schools, for durability. However, their performance is not as great as other products that are up and coming on the market. There is some hesitation to switch... Read more

Posting for Kira Gould: 

Since his death on August 27, 2021, Lance Hosey has been missed by our community. We miss his voice and his vision -- as well as his collegiality and humor. Now, Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation announced the Lance Hosey Scholarship Fund to Make Things Better. We are pleased... Read more

ASHRAE 209 in all its glory has been uploaded. This will impact our architectural process, for better or worse, so we should embrace it and learn from it. The revised AIA Energy Modeling Design Guide (due out next year) has been timed to correspond roughly to 209 coming out and will include references to it. The first few energy modeling '... Read more

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Hi All,

I'm working on a LEED for Schools project under 2009, and received some amorphous comments back about our Mold Prevention Plan. We used the LEEDuser template as a guide, while also referencing the EPA document the credit is based around, but the reviewers feel we haven't provided proper metrics. The EPA plan is something like... Read more

ASHRAE posted this year's list of honors and right there at the top of the list is our SMEPL colleague, Cindy Cogil - now able to add FASHRAE to her signature block!  Well done, Cindy and congratulations to ASHRAE for recognizing your accomplishments.