I'm working with the AIA Minneapolis chapter on guidance for small firms related to how and when to energy model. A lot of small firms would like to sign the AIA 2030 Commitment (we had 100 in a room in 2022 in a session led by Nadav and Gwen Fuertes). But we have learned that a) they don't have a good way to energy model small commercial to... Read more

Hi All,

The SMEPL's Embodied Carbon committee has been hard at work developing a letter that calls for MEP equipment vendors to increase material transparency in their products.  As a way of contacting the most widely-used vendors first, we're asking each of you to enter your "Top 3" specified vendors for each of the products listed in... Read more

The live webinar occurred on April 12, 2023.

Live webinar attendance confirmation closed on May 5, 2023.

Questions or comments about your purchase? Please let us know via our company contact form.

Welcome to the quiz portion of Energy Modeling for Early Design Decisions (recorded webcast)

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


1. Explain how energy codes and standards are pushing commercial projects beyond what they can do without modeling.
2. Describe the key... Read more

Check out Fast Company's new list of innovative architecture firms with Perkins + Will and NBBJ at the top with great sustainability tag lines. 

That's a great demonstration of the mainstream importance of sustainability!

Congrats to all.

Here's the link: https://www.fastcompany.com/most-innovative-companies/2018/sectors/... Read more

Allen Mutapo

Can anyone point me to a (dream?) resource listing effective R-values of various wall assemblies?  We are trying to find a cost-effective R-40 wall assembly for a one and two story public middle school targeting net zero energy in Oregon.  Referencing Seonhee's "thermal bridging" thread in late April, I used Therm's native drawing feature, but... Read more

Hi everyone,

During the "Integrating Social Sustainability" session at the Winter Summit, an idea was hatched to form a working group dedicated to understanding how equity services can benefit a client's pro forma. Our first step (of course) is to identify the range of services captured under "equity services" and we'd love to speak with... Read more

Hello, all! I'm working on an in-depth article about adaptive thermal comfort. I'm looking for interviewees who have real-world experience of working with ATC on a project, including occupant feedback. If you have that kind of experience, I'd love to hear from you!

This is happening on a very tight timeline, so please get in touch with... Read more

SDL folks,

I wanted to make sure that you all saw that the call for presentations is open for AIA Houston’s Gulf Coast Green conference.  GCG is the leading sustainable design conference in the region and has historically had some great participation from this group.  The theme this year is Sustainability + Technology.  Details here:... Read more

Hello all, excuse the blast and the short timeline -- while not explicity sustainability-related, this is a great way to connect with the future of the profession, and can be a great opportunity for SDL firms on the west coast (a number of SDL firms already participate), specifically in Tacoma, Olympia, San Francisco, Sacramento, or San Diego.... Read more

Evaporative coolers use far less electricity than conventional refrigerant-cycle air conditioners and they operate without the use of refrigerants, both features that make them attractive for green buildings. However, their suitability is limited to drier climates, and most products use significant quantities of water.

BuildingGreen... Read more

Medium-density fiberboard (MDF), particleboard, and interior-grade plywood can emit formaldehyde, a known human carcinogen. Some materials  come from non-sustainable sources.

BuildingGreen-Approved Panels

Products meet California Air Resources Board (CARB) ultra-low emitting formaldehyde (ULEF) or no-added-... Read more

Hey SDL,

I'm curious if anybody out there has developed specification language requiring a certain level of airtightness (as assessed via one or a series of blower door tests) for a commercial project when it is not going for a Passive House certification and a blower door test is not required by code--basically, something in the... Read more

The current Stantec/BuildingGreen featured topic is Material Health. Read on to learn the essentials, and then dive deep to earn CEUS.

Also see the Resilient Design featured topic, and also a survey of topics trending in Stantec’s regions.... Read more

I was wondering if any of you have experience with integrated PVs and/or solar glass. If so, can you could recommend manufactures for each? We are working on a multistory freestanding building in an urban site for a mid-Atlantic city. Because our site and roof area are limited we are looking to maximized the areas where we can generate power.... Read more

We have an MEP engineer that is calculating peak loads at about 6 times passive house levels on a large commercial building that is at or near passive house levels of insulation and air infiltration. We suspect one reason is that he is figuring a 50% efficiency level for the ERV. We are showing him ERV systems with 80-90% efficiency, but they... Read more