Extremely proud to say that the just-announced winner of the international 'Next Generation Facade' design competition is a team led by the 2017-18 EDR Research Fellow, Liz McCormick.   The facade normally separates inside from outside. What if the 'facade' was a place you occupied, where you worked? What if different parts of the facade... Read more

We are cautiously rekindling the age-old debate: how are we balancing modeling software for design /visualization and performance analysis during early phase of design.  

We are heavy SketchUp users for early design, and most of our staff have access to COVE tool for early performance analysis. Problem is, I’d rather use Revit to COVE... Read more

Hi! We're putting together a pre-summit survey to collect input from everyone who's signed up for the Summit; we'll use that to prep the agenda for our get-together July 9-10.

Based on our last few phone calls, here's a list of topics on our radar. If there are others you'd like to see added to the survey, or if you have more thoughts... Read more

Hi All,

Sasaki is hiring a Director of Sustainability and Resiliency.  See attached.  Please forward along to folks who might be interested.

-Meredith

Welcome to the quiz portion of The BuildingGreen Guide to Insulation!

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


1. Discuss how insulation works to increase the energy efficiency and environmental sustainability of buildings;  2. Explain why certain materials make more sense than others in... Read more

Hi all,

For your planning purposes for next year, here’s info on an in-person event coming up in 2024:

We are excited to announce that we will be hosting an all-peer-networks workshop for SMEPL, SDL, and SCL members at Miller Hull’s office in Seattle on July 15, 2024. We’re still working out the details, but given the recent... Read more

Hi Everyone,

Please mark your calendars for next Tuesday, March 17th, 2020 3pm ET (Noon PT) for an SCL webcast with Mark Chen at Skanska and Emi LaFountain at Turner Construction on Quantifying Jobsite Carbon Emissions. 

Description:

Quantifying Jobsite Carbon Emissions w/ Turner and Skanska
The focus of embodied... Read more

Protection against corrosion is the primary function of steel coatings, which often contain corrosion inhibitors, volatile solvents, heavy metals, and other hazardous chemicals.

These coatings are specified when steel is used structurally, outdoors, or in high-use areas. In these situations, hazardous coatings are often applied off-site... Read more

Hi folks,

Mahesh announced today that he's leaving his position as CEO of USGBC, GBCI, and ArkScoru, effective Nov. 1. An interim CEO will be announced tomorrow.

I think that Mahesh did some great things for the organization(s)--and he had some really loyal team members. He could also be challenging to work with--as I learned... Read more

Hello, 

We are becoming involved with the design/construction of a new k-12 school that is intersted in entertaining geothermal. Does anyone have payback studies on geothermal?

Thanks!

Hello SMEPers,

I’m hoping to crowd source some anecdotes for a guest lecture I’ll be giving at Yale’s architecture school. The topic is integrated design (especially between architects and engineers) and how it enables better sustainability outcomes.

John Boecker has this great story about how choosing a paint color with higher... Read more

I had a client ask recently if there is a 'better' global social justice tool than ILFI's JUST for use outside the U.S. 

Personally, I'd look to WELLv2 feature C12 - Organizational Transparency for other options... but personally have very limited knowledge of options c-e.

Do folks have an opinion on if any of these prograams are... Read more

Dear all,

A mechanical engineer on a healthcare project we are working on has asked for help in dividing the ventilation calculations between ASHRAE Standards 170 and 62.1; can anyone here help shed some light on it?

"This is the first time I am working on LEED for a hospital and I am not sure how the template wants me to show... Read more

Hi SDLers,

We’re really looking forward to connecting with many of you in a few weeks for the Summer Summit. Those of you who have registered are now actively helping to set the agenda--as always, it will be filled with rich conversations and connections.

For a range of reasons--new patterns due to the pandemic, the economy, your... Read more

I have a colleague (lawyer) who is trying to assemble a list of precedent projects that used penalties or incentives for achieving energy targets. The topic she is addressing is how contracts may be changed to address growing climate change concerns.

At the moment, the only concrete example she has is a project in Washington by the US... Read more