News Analysis
EBN Advisory Board member Mike Nicklas led an international delegation of renewable energy experts in promoting sustainable energy at the Earth Summit last month. He and others were negotiating for inclusion of renewable energy and energy conservation measures into agreements being worked out for the United Nations... Read more
News Brief
The American Institute of Architects convention in Boston this past June was the setting for a changing of the guard in the American architectural establishment. The Institute’s first woman president took the reins, the Committee on the Environment became its largest and fastest growing committee, and the first installments of the Environmental... Read more
Feature
Carefully stake the building site and driveway, remove trees that are within the excavation area or too close, then erect a fence to keep heavy equipment off fragile soils and away from nearby trees.
Protecting trees and the local ecosystem when building on previously unbuilt land is a vitally important—yet often overlooked—part of environmentally responsible construction. Healthy trees and shrubs can reduce a home’s environmental impact and directly benefit homeowners in a number of ways:
•Enhancing comfort by shielding the house... Read more
Feature
Ozone depletion and global warming are two of our most serious environmental problems—and foam insulation materials containing CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) contribute significantly to both of these problems. The environmentally concerned builder or designer should make it a highest priority to avoid them. Even many of the non-CFC alternatives... Read more
Op-Ed
Introducing the first issue of our newsletter.
Buildings have a tremendous impact on the environment. In North America, buildings and the building industry account for about 30% of carbon dioxide emissions, 35-40% of ozone depletion, 20-30% of municipal solid waste, vast quantities of natural resource consumption, and dramatic loss of open space each... Read more
Feature
Susan Maxman is the first AIA president to make sustainable design a priority.
Q.Where would you say architects as a group stand on environmental issues?
A.Architects tend to be reactive rather than proactive. It is important that we take the lead on these environmental issues. The architecture schools in particular tend to be conservative. They just aren’t... Read more
Forum topic
The AIA just announced the 2019 Young Architect Award Winners and our own Julie Hiromoto is one of the recipients. Just wanted to say "CONGRATS JULIE!" Well done!
https://www.aia.org/resources/6099220-2019-aia-awards---young-architects?utm_source=RealMagnet&utm_medium=email&utm_term=30134332--a3911d92-2589-4799-aed4-... Read more
Forum topic
Hello fellow SCLers,
Last year I was approached by Green Advantage, remember them from like 2005? There has been a LEED innovation credit for as long as I can remember.
Has anyone employed Green Advantage recently? Is anyone asking for it? Do clients pay for the training, is it an investment by your company, and/or a cost passed... Read more
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Forum topic
Mass Timber Construction: An Economic Study of Supply, Best Use, and Implementation in three North American regions
This series unveils a macroeconomic study of building with mass timber in three U.S. regions; the Upper Midwest, Rocky Mountain Colorado, and the Southeast.
Three companies - SCB Architects, LeMessurier, and Turner... Read more
Forum topic
tate
A draft of AIA’s Top Ten Toolkit was just published!
http://bit.ly/COTEtoolkit
Hopefully useful for everyone toward making more very high performance buildings. More updates to come, including interactive tools like a superspreadsheet.
All the best,
Tate
Forum topic
We are trying to figure out how we are going to meet the LEED Credit for Building Life Cycle Impact Reduction for the first time.
One approach we're trying out: We're taking the results of our Tally model and looking at potential reductions from low-carbon concrete. However, the problem I am encountering is that when I take some of our... Read more
Author
Peter Yost (at https://building-wright.com/ ) is available to provide building science expertise, trainings, public speaking, building investigations, and more. Learn more
Forum topic
Hi all,
Thank you again to those of you who attended the Spring 2024 SCL Summit! We had an amazing day of learning from one another, including from our presenters.
The slides for the 5-minute presentations are below, as well as the BuildingGreen slides from the Summit. Please be aware that we have permission from all of the... Read more
Forum topic
I can hear Kjell saying "All models are wrong, but some are useful." Having said that we are having trouble getting usuable predictive energy use information from our electrical design engineer. They are telling us that their energy models are not for accurate pEUIs but just to compare various scenarios. Are they being lazy? Should we push for... Read more
Forum topic
Our fledgling group had an organizing call last Tuesday, March 17th. Of course, it was a great conversation - the group is full of amazing people! The focus of our conversation was the goals and actions that should drive this group forward. I have a few ideas. Please share your own in this thread!
I start from the belief that we see our... Read more
Quiz
Welcome to the quiz portion of The Product Transparency Movement: Peeking Behind the Corporate Veil.
Learning Objectives
Upon completing this course, participants will be able to:
1. Describe an EPD, naming at least six characteristics that it attempts to quantify.
2. Explain what the HPD Open Standard... Read more
Forum topic
Has anyone done inherent bias training in their firm, and if so, how'd it go? Do you have someone you'd recommend as a trainer/facilitator? Thanks!

