BITuser Meeting:  5/23/18

Participants:  Shane, Andrea, Angela

Notes:

Southface to provide "style tiles" before 6/15 
Greg to send to Andrea, couple dozen images for Best Practice pages
Southface will send, in week to 10 days, "full content" for BP03 - Energy Audit 
(BP03 "full content" will address... Read more

Hello, what acceptable levels of air quality are you using to evaluate natural ventilation strategies for your projects?  In our Living Building we only open windows when PM10, PM2.5, etc. are within LBC and WELL limits.  In a seasonally smoggy urban environment, this limits how often we can utilize natural ventilation even if the outside... Read more

Hi everyone,

Happy new year!

The FIRST First Friday Fika* of 2024 is happening this Friday, January 5th from 11am to 12pm ET, hosted by Candace Pearson.

Here is the registration link for the Fikas, or if you've registered previously, you can use the same link for this week.

We look forward to seeing you Friday!

Is anyone else working on a project doing Living Building Challenge v4.0 Energy Petal? We're working through the Imperative 08 Net Positive Carbon Resiliency Strategy requirements that ask for the project to be habitable for a week in the event of an emergency. We're curious how others are defining "habitable" and what systems assumptions... Read more

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

Welcome to the quiz portion of The Great Eight: High-Impact Material Choices for Green Building.

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


1. Specify green building materials in product categories that truly make a difference for human health, the environment, or both.
2. Conduct a... Read more

Good daylighting intentions can end up increasing glare and solar heat gain.

BuidlingGreen-Approved Lightshelves

We look for lightshelves designed to reflect direct sunlight onto the ceiling, turning what could potentially be glare into diffuse, ambient daylight that penetrates deep into the interior of a building.

Energy... Read more

Anne Hicks Harney, FAIA, has more than 30 years of experience, focusing on high-quality design imbued with a solid technical and sustainable foundation. At Long Green Specs, she provides sustainability-focused construction specifications and building material expertise to architectural firms across the country. She was chair of the AIA... Read more

For any of you who are already tracking your Scope 1, 2 & 3 emissions: Do you do so through a program (like the Carbon Disclosure Project) or do you have an in house excel file or ???? I'm looking for a good template and am open to suggestions.  Looking for what you like and what you find challenging.  Thank you.

Does adding solar panels reduce a building's EUI?

Existing operational use of a building is 80 kBtu/sf/year. When we add solar, it will change the source of energy but does not change the usage.

My understanding is that the EUI does not change, but it would be good to hear from others.

It's energy consumption at the point... Read more

ON SALE NOW - for a limited time, get the Guide for $69.00

If you are interested in sharing this guide within your organization and adding a copy to your library, please purchase the guide's site license. The site license permits the purchaser to share the PDF Guide file within their company/organization and post it on their... Read more

Following up something I mentioned at the summit - the EPA is hosting public comment webinars related to the IRA and construction. The first one seems particularly relevant, 3/2/23 from 2-3.30pm EST “Reducing Embodied GHG Emissions: Construction Materials Prioritization and Environmental Data Improvement”. Good opportunity to have our voices... Read more

Is anyone aware of research or guidance that has looked at VOC’s from roofing products and ventilation intakes? I’ve done some searching, and focus is mainly on managing the construction process to reduce installer exposure. 

Thanks for any help!

Tate

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

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