This came up a number of times at the SDL Tempe Summit so I thought I would share. If you have not already I highly recommend this recent research paper from the UW-IDL on the tradeoffs of operational and embodied carbon in envelope design in different climates. As a Passive House nerd it made me question the super-insulated envelope at least... Read more

Hi all, 

You all know how much the Living Building Challenge and other ILFI programs have transformed the aspirations of our industry, right? This year ILFI has the privilege of being included in Washington's GiveBig campaign! For the next two days, you can help bring attention to the site, raise support and draw people to the page where... Read more

If you’ll be attending AIA24 (or if you live in the D.C. area), join us for the BuildingGreen Show & Tell on June 5th from 6:00-8:30pm at ZGF! This will be a free joint reception with members of US Architects Declare, and it’s open to all Peer Network members. Light refreshments and beverages will be served.

Here is the link to... Read more

I've been asked to author an article on urban heat mitigation, and I wanted to include a plug for the above pilot credit, which I think is a really powerful new addition to LEED. Beyond introducing the "intent" and "credit requirements", I was also hoping to do (2) things within the article:

1) provide some feedback from those who have... Read more

Avoiding Toxic Chemicals in Commercial Building Projects

We’re excited to issue our special report, Spec This, Not That.

In updating the report in 2020, we engaged a respected toxicology and regulatory-compliance firm to review and assist in our revision of the entire publication. This edition reflects the latest science in... Read more

I came across these open roles recently on Gensler's career page. Sharing them here if there is any interest in this group. As I understand it, though the roles listed are in NYC and NJ, they would be OK if the person reported to one of the following offices: NYC, Morristown, Boston or Toronto.

Sustainability Specialist – NJ: https://... Read more

Good Morning everyone.  i just wanted to send Congratulations out to the new class of fellows, with a shout out to Jonathan Weiss, Paul Hutton, and Ramana Koti.

Well done Gentleman!

Hans “Grumpy” Grimm

Welcome to the quiz portion of Resilient Design—Smarter Building for a Turbulent Future.

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


1. List three motivators for resilient design and at least three actions that address each motivator.
2. Explain why climate change isn't our... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Re-forming the Building Industry: Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion!

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


1. Define equity, diversity, and inclusion, and explain their relevance to the building industry as well as how they contribute to occupant and... Read more

I really appreciated our day on Tuesday--seems that we had a great inaugural Summit, and covered a lot of important ground. 

Here are the raw notes (flip-chart pages) from the day. Some of us came away with Action Items--see the list on the last page. 

Five-minute presentation decks and a more polished report to follow shortly. We... 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

I’m writing to see who would be interested in collaborating during the month of December on a position paper that would be given to the incoming Biden administration, outlining things that firms in our industries (i.e. architecture, engineering and construction) would be excited to see advanced as part of Biden’s Build-Back-Better (BBB) program... Read more

This article just came up in my news feed. I thought you’d all like to read it. I will point out that C&D-specific MRFs have told me that they are really good at single-stream C & D waste, as long as the drywall is pulled out.  Any drywall in a single-stream C & D dumpster ends up in the landfill. Drywall just breaks apart and gets... Read more

Seeking a dashboard system that will take energy use data from individual (college student) apartments to display in the lobby. Something where the display is both educational, easy to understand, and that could inspire a little friendly competition. Welcome any recommendations you have installed on projects or have seen that would be cool to... Read more

Greetings Gurus!
Please sign up and spread the word (even if you can't attend, sign up and get follow up info!)

This is one of a series of Hackathons to crowdsource alternative design details that are intentionally meant for disassembly! The outputs are meant for public consumption so that anyone who doesn't have time (that's... Read more

Does anyone up here do or have familiarity with anyone who regularly does NEPA EIS? If you need a definition for the acronym, please see here: https://www.epa.gov/nepa/national-environmental-policy-act-review-process#EIS. I've been asked if I know anything about it, to which the answer is no, but I'd like to get smarter about it and I'm hoping... Read more

Hi folks,

On today's call James Peterson will be introducing a conversation about how COVID might have changed our ways of working.

If there's time afterwards, we can take a look at this draft article from the USGBC research team. They're interested in our input on how we might want to analyze the info on electrification rates in... Read more