News Brief
Energy Source™ Directory
Life has been a whole lot easier around the office since theEnergy Source Directory arrived. Assembled and published by Iris Communications, this is the most complete and most useful guide to specialized products and materials used in energy-efficient construction that we've seen. The 500-page directory is... 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
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
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
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
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
Forum topic
Hello Sustainable Construction Leaders,
Save the date! The network's next quarterly call is scheduled for 1pm ET (10am PT), Tuesday November 16th. Topic TBD. Steering Group member Emi LaFountain from Turner will be leading the conversation.
Keep an eye on this thread for more details and Zoom information.
Jen
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Last updated October 26th, 2022
What this policy covers
BuildingGreen, Inc. values your privacy. This notice describes what information we collect and how we use it.
To Users Resident in the European Economic Area: This Privacy Policy will govern use of your personal information if you choose to use any... Read more
Forum topic
Will any SDL folks be at AASHE in Pittsburgh next week? Would love to grab a coffee and catch up.
Forum topic
Hi, all. We missed you at the standing check in today. We have a couple of questions for the BG team:
1. What is the timing criteria you need for Best Practice content? We need to back into a deadline on submissions and believe your critical path timing will help define ours.
2. Can you elaborate on what LEED User/BG content may... Read more
Forum topic
***Cross-posting this from SCL Group***
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 seen employed Green Advantage recently? Is anyone asking for it?
Do you see value in GCs/CMs/trades having this training... Read more
Forum topic
Has anyone found an interior synthetic turf flooring with an emissions test?
Forum topic
Hello! We are currently working on an LBC Petal project pursuing the Materials Petal. Does anyone know whether H1 lubricants are inherently Red List Free given they are food grade lubricants? We are trying to figure out whether NSF H1 registered lubricants need ingredient reporting or whether the NSF registration works similar to Delcare, RoHS... Read more
Forum topic
Hey Everyone! My firm is a part of the local Passive House group helping organize the local Humid Climate Conference on May 2nd - 3rd. I wanted to make a post in the chat for those interested to sign up.
The theme is "Barriers To Better Buildings" and it's going to be a really strong, humid climate focused conference. We've nearly got... Read more
Forum topic
Hi All! This is a question for NYC and surrounding area (but if its the right fit, could extend beyond)!
Can anyone recommend a designer for healthy and sustainable furniture for an affordable housing development? The spaces that need funiture are: a community facility, common spaces, and residential units (for formerly homeless). ... Read more
Forum topic
Hi all - I’m wondering if any of you have heard of or use the National Green Building Standard, which appears to be primarily for residential and mixed use: https://www.homeinnovation.com/green.
The NGBS Green certification program is based on the ICC-700 National Green Building Standard and supposedly is the program of choice for many... Read more
Forum topic
Hi everyone,
Registration for the 2025 Super Summit is live! Register here for the SDL Summit and save your seat to join us in Omaha.
We’re also excited to announce the Pre-Summit Workshop for this year – “From Transactional to Transformative: Building Relationships for Change.” The workshop will be led by David Jay, author of... Read more
Spotlight Report
Remember 2013? LEED version 4 had just been released to the public. Hardly anyone was using it, though—not only because they didn’t have to, but also because there just wasn’t a pathway to achieve many of the new credits in the rating systems. Especially the product-related credits in the Materials & Resources category, along with the Low-... Read more

