The LBC v4.0 materials imperatives for Responsible Materials (Core) & Responsible Sourcing require a majority of wood materials (by cost) to be FSC. Sure. But what is - or isn't - considered wood? The Clarification page for the imperative's scope and a key definition poses a perplexing conundrum: 

"All wood included in the Materials... Read more

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

I think they look great - thanks to BuildingGreen for setting this up!  A few comments/questions:

I'm sure we'll learn more soon, but several people have asked on various platforms about how Betsy del Monte is doing (she lives in Asheville, NC, which was hard hit by Hurricane Helene). 

I had a brief text exchange with her on Saturday 28 September, and I feel sure that she would be OK with my sharing it with you all: 

We’re... Read more

Hi All,

Polling the group to see if anyone has experience with Simergy - an e+ based modeling tool?

The tool appears to have features and integration with a lot of e+ plugins that make it attractive - but i haven't heard of its widespread use.

Is anyone successfully using Simergy?

Hi all - 

I have heard a good deal about SBTI in the last while and am wondering about this group’s firms’ engagement with them. We reported one year through CDP, and it was not very useful. It focused entirely on Scope 1 and 2 emissions, which are over 1000x times less than our semi-controllable Scope 3 (buildings’ embodied carbon and... Read more

Auto-quiz used for CEUs for attendees of the 2023 SCL Wintger Summit.

Short notice – apologies in advance.

Please review the new Guide following the instructions on the first page of the attached draft and using the attached spreadsheet. Comments will be accepted until February 16th at noon EST

Use the Excel spreadsheet to compile your comments if you have any, and return them to me by Feb 15th COB... Read more

Does anyone have any research studies they could share on the effect of construction/renovation noise and activity on employee productivity?  I'm trying to make a case for the measurable negative impacts of having ongoing renovation construction activity in an office environment.  Thanks!

I thought some folks here might be interested in a webinar we have coming up this Thursday 12/6 on the topic of best practices for occupant comfort surveys. Although this webinar is part of our Roast launch series, it will be tool agnostic, with information that will be applicable to any occupant survey regardless of tools used. 

To... Read more

Metal roofs can also provide high solar reflectance, minimizing a building’s contribution to the urban heat island effect. 

BuildingGreen-approved

Materials and finishes recognized by Energy Star maintain solar reflectance levels after three years of use of 50% for low-slope and 15% for steep-slope. Some unpainted metals and many... Read more

We just heard from one of our more progressive clients that they are pulling Mohawk from their shelves and are no longer allowing it on their projects. Apparently there are some chemical ingredients they objected to, but more importantly the manufacturer "lied" to the client about the content. Does anyone have an idea what this might be about?... Read more

Hello Everybody,

I would like to invite you all to an event being hosted by the AIA Seattle COTE.  This is the next event in a series entitled Pathways to Decarbonization.  Date and time: May 13, 12:00pm - 1:00pm 

Description:  Universities are learning laboratories to explore and implement solutions to our greatest challenges... Read more

Hey Gurus:

I have a client who is interested in reporting to their superiors on the status on energy codes in different states across the US. They are hoping to find some kind of summary that might show relative costs for HVAC systems under the various energy codes in effect across states. They are also interested in data that is... Read more

Hi Everyone! 

I am building our internal/firm resources around sustainable design, and creating our post-occupancy evaluations is one of those resources. Does anyone have references or resources they'd recommend me to look into for post-occupancy evaluations? So far I am considering a few evalutation types: building user input, building... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of What Makes a Product Green?.

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


1. List and describe at least three attributes that address each of the following categories: "efficient use of materials"; "responsible sourcing"; "energy and water... Read more

...for all the folks on the west coast.

It’s smokey out there. For anyone looking for a cheap and relatively effective way to clean your indoor air, here is an article on a DIY box fan filters. 

https://www.texairfilters.com/a-variation-on-the-box-fan-with-merv-13-filter-air-cleaner/

This PSA is from our friends at NEEA (... Read more