Hi everyone,

We’re excited to announce that registration for our Summer 2024 Sustainable Design Leaders Summit is now open! Join us from July 15th-17th at IslandWood on Bainbridge Island, a beloved location where we’ve hosted Summits multiple times before. Register early to save your seat, and feel free to reach out to me with any... Read more

Hello AEC Sustainability Leaders (aka the Green Gurus)!

As we continue to promote and expand the use of mass timber on our projects, it is becoming increasingly important that we learn more about the spectrum of impacts that this material selection is having on the forests and communities from which we’re sourcing our wood fiber…both... Read more

If you have been wondering about the Contractor Commitment, we have an update for you!

Several weeks ago, the subgroup leaders and the Steering Committee members gathered to agree on a basic structure for the Commitment. The idea was to align the basic expectations around issues like how many tiers there would be, what would be disclosed... 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

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

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

Green Gurus,

We'd love your feedback.

The MEP group is endeavoring to make progress on integrative design. It has been long accepted that integrative design is necessary to make real progress, but a lack of stellar results demonstrates that it is easier said than done.

What is your experience with successes and failures... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Design Strategies for Occupant Engagement—and Why They Boost Performance.

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


1. Explain how research in the social sciences and neurology links occupant engagement strategies with specific sustainability... Read more

CEUs are available for reading all the building-envelope product guides and primer. Click here to learn more and take the quiz.

Standard spray polyurethane foam (SPF) insulation is made using blowing agents with extremely high global warming potential (GWP), which can cancel out much of the potential energy savings from use over its life... Read more

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Hi all - Can you help me with a list of states with pending electrification/fossil fuel free ordinances? I am providing some technical aasistance for an article that is going to press soon. The author has listed WA, CO, and MA but I'm unsure how far each of these go and if it's technically correct to call them electrification ordinances.

Columbia already offers access to free EV charging for our field employees. Of the few projects that have have opted in so far, we've had to custom design and intall EV charging setups. It's good that we're doing this, but it won't scale quickly enough and cost effectively.  I think a practical next step is working with trailer companies so... Read more

Hi all,

As discussed in our monthly meetings, we are assembling an industry push to expand the availability of embodied carbon data for MEP equipment. Our first steps are to send a letter to industry announcing a call to action and future educational webinars on the topic. In a similar manner as the electrification letter by the SMEP... Read more

Hi Gurus!

I'm desperately seeking any case studies (past/currently on the boards) of labs that have been designed without natural gas infrastructure (the topic I have to debate is about commercial spec labs but any lab case study, wet or dry, is welcomed). This is for a development authority that will be setting guidelines for new... Read more

Hello,

We're trying to budget Fitwel Certification consulting fees for a non-profit client for whom we're designing an early childcare center in Louisville, KY. It would be for a single tenant new building Fitwel certification and include a Fitwel introduction workshop, working with design team, and coordinating/submitting documentation... Read more

Hey there hive mind,

We went looking through LEEDuser to try and find some direction and didn't find much so I thought I'd bring my team's question here to all of you smart people. We're working on a non-combustion central plant tied to a geothermal field and grid electricity. The project has cooling towers and their associated chemical... Read more

Hello Sustainable MEP Leaders!

Over the weekend BuildingGreen received an inquiry about connecting with this peer network regarding a project. Please review David Cohan's email below to see if it is something of interest for this group.

We would invite you to reach out directly to David Cohan and let us here at BuildingGreen know... Read more